VPN

[whitbey]

I am hearing a lot of ads for secure VPN.
With all the secrets appearing out of big tech, it seems like something to think about.
Anyone use this?

[Matt K]

Yeah; I use one when I'm not at home. The basic idea is that if you're connecting to wifi, whoever has access to that (including people who shouldn't because security is misconfigured) can at least see where you are connecting to. If you aren't using HTTPS for the sites, they can also see what you're communicating to those servers as well. This is especially true of password for emails if they aren't configured securely. There are also some more advanced things that can be done to attack you depending on the level of malicious that is being dealt with but are generally rarer situations.

In general, look for a company that claims to not store logs. That signifies that they aren't selling data, aren't compromised by a government, etc. Most of the lists that I see for "Top N" VPNs are pretty accurate.

That said, depending on what you mean by "secrets appearing out of big tech", you probably aren't going to be able to avoid those other than by not using them. So if you search with Google... doesn't matter if you're on a VPN or not, if you're logged into the account, you're identifying yourself to Google. If you post something on facebook, doesn't matter if you're connecting with a VPN or not... facebook IDs you. Now, if you have an alternate account or something that isn't identifying you that's a bit of a different story but in general it just depends on what threat level you're talking about; VPNs work very well for the problems that they are set up to solve.

[ssking2b]

Secure VPN only works from you, point A, to your destination address, point B, if point B supports the VPN you are using. Virtual Private Networks do not exist every where, and willfully protect you from virus and malware issues..The will make your communications from point a to point B encrypted. A company like Norton offers VPN service that works from you to them. They then forward your data stream out onto the internet to the address you are trying to reach. This is pretty secure if you are using public wifi, but will not save you from malware on the other end. Great in a coffee shop, airport, or the like to keep hackers from capturing your data stream. Anyone with a similar service will have to buffer your outgoing and incoming data to some degree, meaning they have full access to your data stream, and they will keep logs for troubleshooting purposes. What they do with the info they will have on you is another question subject to their ethics, and legal responsibility.