School me on VPNs

[ernest_t_bass 1196]

Received an interesting email (below).  This is the first I've ever had that I think is creepy AF, b/c the password that was sent in the email is indeed one of my passes.  I do not use a VPN, and our family definitely should.   What are the best free VPNs out there?

Email:

Actually, I placed a virus on the xXx vids (sex sites) site & guess what, you visited this web site to have fun. While you were viewing videos, your web browser started working as a Remote Desktop having a keylogger which gave me accessibility to your display and also cam recording. 
Just after that, my software collected all your contacts from your Messenger, social networks, and email. 

"xxxxxxxx" is one of your passwords. 
if you send me $993 as a donation through Bitcoin, I will erase the recording immediately. 
(search for in Google "how to buy bitcoin"). my BTC Address: 3DZJSkXGTv9Y3bvx1QbEtky3QPZih8mVfX 
If I don't get the BitCoins in 24hrs, I will definately send your video to all of your contacts, don't reply to this email it's hacked. xkQn

[horn4life 3775]

What exactly do you want to know about Vaginal Pussy Needs? 😉

[MillerEP 30492]

They probably just grabbed that password off of https://haveibeenpwned.com/ So I wouldn't worry about that.

As for VPNs, they are useful, they basically allow you to route through somebody else's server farms so your IP appears to come from a separate location. It won't save you from viruses or clicking on the wrong thing though. VPN providers usually have server farms spread throughout the world so one of the benefits is that you can "mask" your actual location by picking an IP coming from a different country. So to the outside world you can appear to be coming from pretty much anywhere. There are some free VPNs you can use, like Windscribe VPN, but generally they lock you down to a certain amount of data (say 5GB a month or something). If you're just concerned about privacy and really only want to use it for getting around region locks, like say watching BBC outside of the UK, then there are a lot of good and super cheap options. However, if you're wanting to really delve into the dark corners of the web, then the only real concern is making sure you pay for one not-bound by the "five eyes" countries treaties. If you get one whose servers are hosted in countries bound by treaties with the US government, then they can be subpoena'd by the government, so while you may be able to hide from the rest of the internet, you won't be able to hide from the government. 

[crash_davis 23114]

vpns aren't going to protect against viruses because you visited shady websites.

it will protect you from someone hacking you on a public network. not sure your situation applies to this.

 

in any case, you should be on VPN anyway. fuck prying eyes (your ISP, cell provider, the gubment, china, russia, iran, nork, hackers)

[torre 1286]

VPNs are a safeguard,  but what is your operating system (Windows.Mac) and Antivirus and  do you have the latest updates  ?   

Would do a complete scan and also with other available online free scans (Kaspersky, Norton,  Microsoft Safety Scanner,etc).    If not too much of a problem,  backup data and do a clean install.

RogueKiller is a good one.

https://www.adlice.com/download/roguekiller/

 

 

[ernest_t_bass 1196]

I mainly just want one for security from ISPs, Cell Provider, public WiFi.  Express VPN is what Shapiro always advertises. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13515]

Like posted, it's more likely your password was hacked from another site, and this is a scam. I would ignore, but if you are worried then ask them to provide 5 of your contact names that they claim to have captured. If they can do that, maybe you want to pay.

[crash_davis 23114]

5 hours ago, ernest_t_bass said:

I mainly just want one for security from ISPs, Cell Provider, public WiFi.  Express VPN is what Shapiro always advertises. 

it really depends on what you intend to do while behind a vpn.

if nothing illegal, then you don't have to be that picky about logging, retention, acceptable forms of payment, encryption type, etc.

if it's just to hide your online traffic from your isp, public hotspots, cell provider, etc, then look for one that has good throughput, high number of connected devices, good number of servers that you can choose from, that doesn't throttle, ios and anddroid apps for mobile devices, etc.

with that said, servers, bandwidth, hardware, space, power, tech support, programmers, programming are all pretty constant costs to running a vpn services. it's not cheap. so the cheaper vpn services are cutting corners somewhere. 

i use Private Internet Access. they have/had a positive rep but recently sold out to an israeli company with some shady shit in terms of privacy. don't know that i would recommend them. i will probably switch to mullvad vpn when my PIA contract runs out.

Edited March 24, 2020 by crash_davis

[rage-a-holic 4417]

32 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

it really depends on what you intend to do while behind a vpn.

if nothing illegal, then you don't have to be that picky about logging, retention, acceptable forms of payment, encryption type, etc.

if it's just to hide your online traffic from your isp, public hotspots, cell provider, etc, then look for one that has good throughput, high number of connected devices, good number of servers that you can choose from, that doesn't throttle, ios and anddroid apps for mobile devices, etc.

with that said, servers, bandwidth, hardware, space, power, tech support, programmers, programming are all pretty constant costs to running a vpn services. it's not cheap. so the cheaper vpn services are cutting corners somewhere. 

i use Private Internet Access. they have/had a positive rep but recently sold out to an israeli company with some shady shit in terms of privacy. don't know that i would recommend them. i will probably switch to mullvad vpn when my PIA contract runs out.

I'm in year 4 with PIA, no major issues so far.

[crash_davis 23114]

1 hour ago, rage-a-holic said:

I'm in year 4 with PIA, no major issues so far.

same here. i've been with them for over a decade.

the link details some of the issues with the merger. i know PIA responded to the criticisms but at this point, not sure who to trust. with there other reputable VPNs, i don't see any harm with switching. i signed a 2 year contract and am just starting my 2nd year. i'll ride out this year and then switch.

https://www.hackread.com/private-internet-access-pia-vpn-sold-israel-privacy-concerns/

Users took to different forums expressing their disappointment and how they were “ready to jump ship.” The reason? Kape happens to have a not-so-bright past shedding doubt on the ability of PIA to protect the privacy of its customers under their control.

 

To further elaborate, Kape Technologies was originally found under the name of Crossrider in 2011 developing advertising apps until they changed their name in 2018. However, their software was treated as malware by companies such as Malwarebytes and Symantec begging one to ask, how can such a company despite rebranding itself change the shoddy culture that it had?

The screenshot shows Malwarebyte’s security program detecting Crossrider’s software as malware.

 

 

 

But the connections don’t end there. The very first CEO of Crossrider, Koby Menachemi, happened to be once a part of Unit 8200 which is an Israeli Intelligence Unit in their military and has also been dubbed as “Israel’s NSA “. Teddy Sagi, one of the company’s investors was mentioned in the Panama Papers which were leaked in 2016.

[crash_davis 23114]

here's a more thorough article. again not sure how much is true. in any case, there seems to be enough smoke to warrant some thought. like i said, for me there are too many other reputable vpns to continue taking the risk of the buyer not being totally ethical.

 

https://restoreprivacy.com/private-internet-access-kape-crossrider/

[crash_davis 23114]

Questions.

I have VPN on my laptop. When I run ipleak.net tests, all the results shows that I'm at the location of where I connect to the VPN server. 

However, I installed MyRadar weather radar app from the Windows Store. When I enable location on the MyRadar app, it shows Austin as my location. The fuck?

1. How does it know I'm in Austin if all my web browsers show I'm at the VPN server?

2. How can I undo what MyRadar is doing to get my location?

 

Yes I know I can disable location services in Windows setting. I'm trying to understand how MyRadar is able to thwart my VPN location to determine the risk/hole to using a VPN.