How safe are VPNs?

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king_harkanian
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How safe are VPNs?

Post by king_harkanian »

I know, a very noobish question to be sure, but the thing of it is, I intend to install a VPN (in this case, Hotspot Shield) so I can access sites without those pesky Google bots gathering my personal information, to download Super Smash Bros Brawl hacks without Mediafire getting stuck in an infinite download verification loop, and to bypass those jackholes who set up the block at upload.to for US IP addresses. My question is, with my home network being set up the way it is (main PC is wired with a CAT5 cable, two other PCs are connected wirelessly), will installing a VPN mess up and/or interfere with the network connection in any way? I installed it, but I haven't started to use it yet. Is doing this safe? I would use proxies, but they have a higher security risk.
kode54
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by kode54 »

Well, it may default your traffic to go through the VPN, in which case whoever controls the VPN server can see your Internet traffic. I'm not really sure, though.
odditude
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by odditude »

from the description on the site, it looks like all http traffic is directed through the tunnel and subject to ad/survey/etc injection. there's no mention as to whether non-http traffic is tunneled, nor does it say that US-originating traffic uses their German site as the endpoint (meaning it might not do a damn thing for you if you're trying to workaround a site which has banned US IPs in an attempt to prevent itself from being sued out of existence).
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king_harkanian
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by king_harkanian »

Ah, crap. Are there any decent free VPNs I could use?
Rashidi
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by Rashidi »

google trackings
yeah, i hate em.
especialy since google began using https for that purpose, making my proxomitron stuff being less effective against'em.
kode54
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by kode54 »

Wait, I thought Google only used SSL for tracking if the hosting page is SSL? I can understand dodging a country wide IP ban, but dodging tracking bugs is approaching paranoia.
king_harkanian
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by king_harkanian »

Meh. Either way, a free, decent VPN would be nice for at least country-wide ban. I'm not paranoid, but I don't like the idea of having people know where I am and so on. Kinda feels like a violation of privacy.
grinvader
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by grinvader »

Do you own a cellphone ? 'Cause if you do, I have some bad news for you.
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Noxious Ninja
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by Noxious Ninja »

If there's one thing I've learned from movies, it's that the NSA can remotely activate your phone, track you with near perfect precision even inside of buildings, and record from your mike with excellent clarity.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a grain of truth in there. </paranoid>
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grinvader
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Re: How safe are VPNs?

Post by grinvader »

I'm only aware of pinpointing location anytime the phone's active, which fits the
king_harkanian wrote:I don't like the idea of having people know where I am
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