Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
1–10 of 170 posts
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#2[deleted]
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#3Nice. I like the idea of splitting trust so that the clients IP + browsing data are not linked unless the two servers collude. This feels very similar in spirit to VPN cascading though?
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#4So, essentially the same idea as iCloud+ Private Relay in Safari?
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#5[dead]
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#6This looks like two-hop Tor but I guess it's faster because you pay for it.
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#7Interesting concept. The blog has a lot more details[1].
One comment/question about the exit nodes. Can someone correct or validate my thoughts:
It’s a WireGuard tunnel from the user to Mullvad, so while Obscura can’t see the user traffic, couldn’t the Mullvad exit node see the traffic, and using knowledge of the users WireGuard public key, associate all that users traffic with that key? So even if they can’t associate it with an IP, they could still potentially identify and track you.
This assumes they use a customised version of WireGuard to somehow log & associate each decrypted IP packet against the users public key.
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#8This looks like two-hop Tor but I guess it's faster because you pay for it.
From the OP:
How does Obscura compare to Tor?
We have immense respect for the Tor project (and encourage you to support it), but its volunteer-run network can be slow and susceptible to DDoS issues, making it infeasible for everyday use.
Obscura uses two dedicated, high-performance hops for maximum speed and reliability – meaning you get many of Tor’s privacy benefits without sacrificing everyday usability.
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#9Interesting concept. The blog has a lot more details[1]. One comment/question about the exit nodes. Can someone correct or validate my thoughts: It’s a WireGuard tunnel from the user to Mullvad, so while Obscura can’t see the user traffic, couldn’t the Mullvad exit node see the traffic, and using knowledge of the users WireGuard public key, associate all that users traffic with that key? So even if they can’t associa…
Also, Obscura can collect metadata on when you use the service, how much data you send/receive, etc.
Even if Mullvad doesn't do it, someone else might. Mullvad is, I expect, now a valuable target because it is the VPN service of choice for so many people concerned with security. Does Mullvad have the budget and expertise to protect itself against determined, highly-resourced attackers?
Finally, is it possible for a third party, intercepting traffic between Obscura and Mullvad, to identify the public key used to encrypt it? I don't think so - the only way to validate a signature is with both keys; that's kind of the point. But maybe there is an attack I'm unaware of?
Re: Obscura VPN – Privacy that's more than a promise
#10So, essentially the same idea as iCloud+ Private Relay in Safari?
Doesn't Apple control both hops?