Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, are popular services for (supposedly) increasing your security and privacy on the internet. They are often marketed as all-encompassing security tools, and something that you absolutely need to keep hackers at bay. However, many of the selling points for VPNs are exaggerated or just outright
    • jet@hackertalks.comEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      Tor browser is not free. The cost is externalized. It is run by people who see value in the community.

      If you use mullvad, or safing spn, your paying directly to support the network without externalized costs. Both are good options.

      If you have the means, and ability, I highly recommend donating to run a Tor node or running one yourself.

      https://donate.torproject.org/

      • mozz@mander.xyz
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        8 months ago

        Makes sense. I don’t use Tor for much of anything, just have an awareness of it, but I do donate money to lemmy.world and SDF for pretty much exactly this reason.

  • azimir@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    VPNs are not the security panacea that marketers would have you think they are. Using a VPN does provide some obfuscation as to your origin, but it does change your trust model. The VPN service provider may tunnel your traffic through your ISP to hide data from the ISP, but now it’s visible to the VPN service provider instead.

    There are plenty of use cases for a VPN, but just like any other technology or service, you need to know what it actually does so you know what it actually achieves or doesn’t achieve.

  • DerisionConsulting@lemmy.caEnglish
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    8 months ago

    The article is correct that most VPN ads are full of lies, but that doesn’t mean that people don’t still need them.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      Exactly.

      Yes, it hides your IP, but that’s not all that important if you have a competent ISP or firewall on your router in terms of security (it’s more important for privacy). Yes, it (usually) encrypts your traffic, but so does pretty much every website, and adding a second layer doesn’t meaningfully improve things.

      VPNs are important for privacy, that’s it. They change where your traffic appears to come from so people (attackers and servers alike) can’t tell where you’re accessing it from. That’s it, and that’s a pretty important thing, especially in this day and age with swatting and whatnot.