Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

ProtonVPN

protonvpn.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 205 posts

Re: ProtonVPN

#51

Post by bogomipz »

hedora wrote: post #9

I have mixed feelings about protonmail. On the one hand, they tend to be on the right side of political / legal issues, and this transparency report is nice: https://protonmail.com/blog/transparency-report/ On the other hand, they recently reduced the level of detail in the transparency report. There is also the fact that they are Swiss, and their privacy laws were severely weakened by a recent referendum. In particu…

>ProtonMail fought the referendum, but hasn't updated this "Why Switzerland?" page: https://protonmail.com/blog/switzerland/"

Agreed, and that referendum was back in September of 2016. That's almost 9 months ago. This seems really disingenuous.

And the referendum didn't just eek by but it passed by 65%.

So if the Swiss domicile doesn't offer the protections it once did, why would I choose this provider over any of the half a dozen others well-known companies in the space.

Re: ProtonVPN

#52

Post by dahoramanodoceu »

jorvi wrote: post #28
daxorid wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's prudent to assume (even if not accurate in every case) that any VPN provider that reaches PIA scale has already been compromised by the relevant State Actor working its jurisdiction. It's the tragedy of success in the privacy industry.

Except for the fact that PIA has been subpoenaed by the FBI and state police multiple times and PIA could give them dick all. Yes, their servers could be compromised illicitly, but if the NSA or GCHQ is willing to go to that much trouble just to monitor you, you have bigger problems.

>[...] but if the NSA or GCHQ is willing to go to that much trouble just to monitor you, you have bigger problems.

This type of argument contains the assumption that it would be too much trouble for them/not worth it to monitor an affluent anarchist or semi- anti-authortitarian with an above-average IQ.

We've seen that A) their resources are as virtually unlimited as their paranoia B) tech developments have driven down the cost of sophisticated surveilance strategies C) xkeyscore and all of the other releases is confirmation.

This type of argument does us all a disservice by subtly shaming those who care about state-surveilance of private (and peaceful) citizens who value their privacy and/or who exercise their right to actively participate in progressive movements that challenge the establishment.

Re: ProtonVPN

#53

Post by bogomipz »

jorvi wrote: post #28
daxorid wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's prudent to assume (even if not accurate in every case) that any VPN provider that reaches PIA scale has already been compromised by the relevant State Actor working its jurisdiction. It's the tragedy of success in the privacy industry.

Except for the fact that PIA has been subpoenaed by the FBI and state police multiple times and PIA could give them dick all. Yes, their servers could be compromised illicitly, but if the NSA or GCHQ is willing to go to that much trouble just to monitor you, you have bigger problems.

>"Except for the fact that PIA has been subpoenaed by the FBI and state police multiple times and PIA could give them dick all."

How is/was this claim substantiated?

Re: ProtonVPN

#54

Post by fictioncircle »

rbritton wrote: post #38
tyoma wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN gets regular "what VPN should I use?" questions and my answer is always the same: Algo [1]. It is designed to be simple to set up, simple to tear down, and usable with numerous cloud providers or your own Linux server. [1] https://github.com/trailofbits/algo

I don't use Algo, but I can vouch for using your own as long as the tradeoffs are acceptable. Pros: - You can choose a VPS provider close to your network for better speed. - Less likely to be blacklisted. - No connection limits Cons: - Not as anonymous to governments or IP-based tracking.

No VPN can reliably anonymize you against government agents so I think the con is a non-issue. VPNs are only really useful when the local network is hostile and/or you want some degree of privacy from the sites you visit.

Anyone with sigint capability is going to figure out who you are with a VPN. (i.e. Government agents)

Re: ProtonVPN

#55

Post by elmigranto »

sr2 wrote: post #31
vgfgtffcf wrote: post #10

I would be interested in hearing what the security pros think about this..tptacek, grugq, dguido, idlewords. At this point, these are the guys I trust with security advice. Worth mentioning their VPN recommendations: algo by trailofbits and freedome. There is another paid service they recommend but I can't recall the name.

Another two I heard TheGrugq mention in one of his talks are Mullvad and PRQ https://www.mullvad.net https://prq.se/?intl=1

Those prices are… pricey! At least the ones at PRQ.

Re: ProtonVPN

#56

Post by tptacek »

Using public commercial VPN providers for serious security/privacy is a very bad idea. Get someone to set up Trail of Bits "Algo" for you (or do it yourself, if you're comfortable with Ansible).

Re: ProtonVPN

#57

Post by mnm1 »

I've been using the beta now for many months. For my use case--hiding from ISPs / other malicious non-government actors who want my IP--it's been pretty good and plenty fast. Not really sure what they plan to do with our beta plans, but I'd pay a couple of bucks a month for their speed / reliability (haven't been knocked off once). Or maybe this is just normal service and all the other VPNs I've tried in the past have been shit. Hard to tell really.

Re: ProtonVPN

#58

Post by sr2 »

middleclick wrote: post #45
sr2 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found malware in the PIA installer. Not sure if it was planted by PIA themselves or I was subjected to a MITM attack, and so I would never use any bespoke VPN software again. Best just downloading the OpenVPN config files and plug them into something like Viscosity[0] (which I trust over the more bespoke VPN clients made by the VPN providers themselves). [0]: https://www.sparklabs.com/viscosity/

As a general rule of thumb, I have used various VPN services and made sure to never use their clients. Downloading an OpenVPN configuration file IMO seems the best way to go about it.

Yeah and use a decent client like Viscosity, or if your O.S supports OpenVPN config files natively, just use them.

Re: ProtonVPN

#59

Post by nickpsecurity »

tyoma wrote: post #25
saintfiends wrote: post #6

How does this compare to TunnelBear [1]? - TunnelBear is a bit more expensive (4.99$/mo, paid annually vs 4$/mo). - TunnelBear supports up to 5 connections per account vs 2. I use TunnelBear regularly for my browser and phone. Both works great. My subscription is going to expire soon and I'll be open to try other VPN providers, not that there is anything wrong with TunnelBear. Any recommendations? This site [2] has f…

HN gets regular "what VPN should I use?" questions and my answer is always the same: Algo [1]. It is designed to be simple to set up, simple to tear down, and usable with numerous cloud providers or your own Linux server. [1] https://github.com/trailofbits/algo

Description of the Why behind it here:

https://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/12/12/meet-algo-the-vpn-th...

Re: ProtonVPN

#60

Post by bdcravens »

nthcolumn wrote: post #13

what a dreadful buggy site, failed to signup. gives up as does not auger well for the reliability of the service. is it some pointless phishing thing?

Their reputation is well established. Possible the site is under heavy load.
Post reply on HN