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VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

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Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#41

Post by staticsafe »

chx wrote: post #38

I had all sorts of VPN problems over the years with various Linux desktops OS. What I do instead is that I have a proxy server with just an OpenSSH daemon on port 443 -- if there's web traffic, add sslh to taste -- and then use the SOCKS v5 proxy built into OpenSSH client and then http://darkk.net.ru/redsocks/ I might be the weird case here but I found this infinitely easier to set up than any VPN.

SSH tunnels work in a pinch (OpenSSH is <3). However for coverage across devices such as smartphones OpenVPN works better long-term.

Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#43

Post by bdarnell »

andreyf wrote: post #37
bdarnell wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used streisand on DO (while traveling in China) and it worked well. There's also a similar project called algo[1] which provides a single protocol with maximum security, in contrast to streisand's multi-protocol flexibility (and increased surface area). https://github.com/trailofbits/algo

Why does he refer to OpenVPN as a "risky server"? Does it have a history of embarrassing security vulns?

I think "other risky servers" may refer to the lesser-known servers that streisand includes, like shadowsocks.

Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#44

Post by sjwright »

Perhaps one solution might be to poison the data and have your router/device make spurious random DNS lookups and HTTPS connections. Ensure the list of random websites includes the top few hundred companies likely to be in the market for usage data. If enough people did this it would make the data useless.

Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#45

Post by smnscu »

FridgeSeal wrote: post #20

No, they're not. The solution is getting strong, enforced laws that protect our privacy and punish those who break them. But for the moment, with advertisers viewing themselves as gods gift to the internet who think that all your information belongs to them simply by virtue of existing, and who will go to great lengths to acquire and store it all (for perpetuity), a solution is needed, and part of that is VPN's.

> advertisers viewing themselves as gods

Tangential point, I've heard from a friend how much you can earn by being involved in a "premium" ad network, and it's basically around 100x what I can make as a SWE freelancer. I also remember a HN user claiming they make $30k/month from a simple "YouTube downloader" kind of site.

Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#46

Post by staticsafe »

byuu wrote: post #36

Another thing often overlooked with VPNs is that they're just not that fast. I have a 600/40 connection, and I've tried at least six for-pay VPN providers. The fastest one I found (won't mention as my goal isn't to advertise for them) hits, at best, 100/30. And even then, only over L2TP. For whatever reason, OpenVPN is always slower on every PC I've tried this with. And obviously, you gain a good deal of latency, esp…

VPNs will definitely incur overhead and latency costs, yeah.

OpenVPN can be fairly slow if you are sharing CPU usage (ex. VPS provider) with other users. You are also most likely implementing NAT on your VPN server which is probably not accelerated unless you are paying for an expensive appliance that does so.

Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#47

Post by erentz »

pier25 wrote: post #28
JeremyBanks wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do VPNs protect you against advertisers?

Because ISPs can't read your traffic

But now the VPN provider can just track you and sell all your browsing history instead of the ISP, so how is this better?

Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#48

Post by chx »

staticsafe wrote: post #41
chx wrote: post #38

I had all sorts of VPN problems over the years with various Linux desktops OS. What I do instead is that I have a proxy server with just an OpenSSH daemon on port 443 -- if there's web traffic, add sslh to taste -- and then use the SOCKS v5 proxy built into OpenSSH client and then http://darkk.net.ru/redsocks/ I might be the weird case here but I found this infinitely easier to set up than any VPN.

SSH tunnels work in a pinch (OpenSSH is <3). However for coverage across devices such as smartphones OpenVPN works better long-term.

To each their own. I am hanging in there with proxydroid.

Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#49

Post by mirimir »

nosuchthing wrote: post #42
pier25 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because ISPs can't read your traffic

Yes, but every website you visit can potentially ID you with cookies or browser finger prints.

Well, you compartmentalize in multiple VMs. Using different VPNs, Tor, and nested chains of them.

Re: VPNs are not the solution to a policy problem

#50

Post by st553 »

byuu wrote: post #36

Another thing often overlooked with VPNs is that they're just not that fast. I have a 600/40 connection, and I've tried at least six for-pay VPN providers. The fastest one I found (won't mention as my goal isn't to advertise for them) hits, at best, 100/30. And even then, only over L2TP. For whatever reason, OpenVPN is always slower on every PC I've tried this with. And obviously, you gain a good deal of latency, esp…

I've been using PIA for a few years and have been disappointed to see an increasing number of websites blocking VPN access.
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