Hide My A** VPN Service

Hi all,

Background: I was looking at VPN options for myself so that I can download/connect to sites blocked in the USA (fileserve, filesonic, to name a few).

I found the following VPN service: http://www.hidemyass.com/vpn/

Anyone here use HideMyAss VPN service? Is it good (speedwise and reliability).

$60 for 1 year service and access to over 30,000 IPs in 49 countries.

Is this a good deal for a VPN service? Any alternatives?

FYI most all "private" vpn services record all your activity and openly give it to authorities. Since it sounds like you are wanting to commit crimes I thought I'd throw that out there...

I like StrongVPN [strongvpn.com]

In regards to anonymity, read this article [torrentfreak.com].

Quote from nizzy1115 : FYI most all "private" vpn services record all your activity and openly give it to authorities. Since it sounds like you are wanting to commit crimes I thought I'd throw that out there...

Quote from menace33 : I like StrongVPN [strongvpn.com] In regards to anonymity, read this article [torrentfreak.com].

Yeah I just found out that Hide My *** is not a good option anymore.

Does StrongVPN have dynamic IPs (if I disconnect and re-connect to the VPN, do I get a new IP address)?

Quote from daniel32 : Yeah I just found out that Hide My *** is not a good option anymore. Does StrongVPN have dynamic IPs (if I disconnect and re-connect to the VPN, do I get a new IP address)?

No, you basically manually configure your VPN client to read from a config file that is configured for the VPN server you intend to connect to and use. However, there are hundreds of VPN servers worldwide to choose from though they recommend connecting to the one closest to your location for the best bandwidth.

Quote from menace33 : I like StrongVPN [strongvpn.com] In regards to anonymity, read this article [torrentfreak.com].

VPNs are never about anonymity, period. As long as anyone has the ability to backtrack from a given destination IP back to your source IP, you don't have anonymity. All the VPN does is shift who can eavesdrop on your traffic, in this case, from the ISP to the VPN provider.

That’s why using a VPN can actually INCREASE your vulnerability. It drives all your traffic to the VPN provider where you ***hope*** they can be trusted (please don’t peek, Mr. VPN man!). And that’s the 64k question, why should you? On what grounds? Any bored, 14 year old teenager w/ a PC and a minimal amount of tech savvy can setup a VPN, publish it, get customers, and have a ball!

If you want anonymity, you need an onion router (e.g., TOR). Now your traffic is encrypted and driven through MULTIPLE proxies, and no single proxy ever has access to both the original source IP and destination IP, making it virtually impossible to associate one w/ the other. Even so, it assumes once the traffic reaches the final proxy (where it must obviously be unencrypted before sent to its final destination) doesn’t inadvertently “leak” revealing/personal information (the worst case being the originating source IP, perhaps in some header! LOL).

So it’s important to know precisely what you’re trying to achieve w/ a VPN and understand what it can and can’t do, and its own vulnerabilities. If someone is merely trying to skirt MLB TV blackout restrictions, and the login to MLB TV is secured w/ SSL, then the risk is relatively low (the VPN provider has nothing worthwhile to spy on, if they were so inclined). But if you use that same VPN to illegally transfer copyrighted material from web-based file storage, even one that doesn’t require a login, it *could* be backtracked to your original source IP should the VPN provider becomes a target of authorities.

Well that's a very logical and very technical way to put it. I happen to disagree with the first part that it is not about anonymity when a lot just want to be invisible from the web site they are trying to access. I know that's not true anonymity but the common user that is trying to hide does not think that the VPN service will dish out its information in case of a legal issues.

Quote from menace33 : Well that's a very logical and very technical way to put it. I happen to disagree with the first part that it is not about anonymity when a lot just want to be invisible from the web site they are trying to access. I know that's not true anonymity but the common user that is trying to hide does not think that the VPN service will dish out its information in case of a legal issues.

Let’s put it this way.

Anonymity is a sliding scale. Where you fall on that scale is a function of the level of obfuscation you’re able to generate between you and the target. VPNs are at the lowest end of that scale, and deserve to be because you’re never more than a subpoena away (perhaps less for an unscrupulous VPN provider) from having that anonymity drop to ZERO. Anyone banking their anonymity on the belief/hope the VPN provider won't turn over that information if pressed, is living in a fool’s paradise. For all you know, the VPN provider ***is*** the authorities!

So I’ll concede the point. For a very narrow set of circumstances, a VPN will provide a teensy-weensy bit of anonymity. My concern, however, is that ppl vastly overestimate the strength of that anonymity. And your own comments about the VPN provider only strengthen that argument.

Believe me, I know, I agree. I've been seen a lot of dunces that think they know what they're doing or know what they're talking about feeling they can get away with anything because they think they are anonymous and that leads me to believe that they get these VPN services because they think they will be hidden and safe from repercussion.

I've said it before, and I'll probably say it a hundred more times...

The FBI Setup a VPN service in 2005 to bust a bunch of credit card thieves:

http://castletips.blogspot.com/20...ngpin.html

If it's already been done, how long before they will do the same for people downloading torrents?

Yeah with all of the crap going on in the US and around the world, I'm thinking the budget to create those torrent sites is a bit on the low end of the priority chain. That's just my feeling on it.

Dudes, my goal is to access websites that are not accessible in the USA (for example the Olympics on BBC). I might also need to download an occasional file from fileserve, etc. No P2P or torrents or hacking or scamming involved in this.

i suggest ibVPN. it provides free 2 hours trial to make sure it works for you. It convinced me

Quote from daniel32 : Dudes, my goal is to access websites that are not accessible in the USA (for example the Olympics on BBC). I might also need to download an occasional file from fileserve, etc. No P2P or torrents or hacking or scamming involved in this.

Ok, well it's been a week, have you found anything? Olympics are almost over.