Re: VPN service for personal devices

[Scott Klement <pctech@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Dan,

Usually banking websites use https (HTTP with SSL/TLS) and therefore 
will be secure even over public wifi connections.

The place where you need to be concerned is any site you connect to that 
uses plain text (i.e. unencrypted) data. In my experience, this is 
primarily when connecting to work (or a customer/client's server) 
because public web sites that share confidential info (such as banks) 
are already set up to keep themselves secure.

Work/customer/clients usually have a VPN set up on their network, which 
provides a lot of security.  Once connected, not only will all 
communications go over the VPN (and therefore be encrypted) but it also 
lets you past their firewall, making your computer appear as a PC on 
their network, and therefore have access to all the trusted resources 
(that you are authorized to.)

Connecting to a public VPN service does not provide the same level of 
security.  It will, of course, solve the issue of someone eavesdropping 
on your Wifi.  But, the data is only encrypted between your computer and 
the VPN service, so it still needs to be sent in plain-text over the 
public network from the VPN server to the final site you're wishing to 
communicate with.  As you point out, someone at the VPN service could 
eavesdrop on your data -- but I think much more likely, someone on the 
public internet could potentially eavesdrop if one of the networks that 
the data passes through should be compromised somehow.

Whereas when connecting to a business VPN, your data is usually just 
destined for that business -- so it never has to go unencrypted out to 
the public internet.

So, I would start by getting an idea of what exactly you're trying to 
protect against..   are there plain text sites that you visit that would 
be too dangerous to broadcast over public wifi?  If so, a VPN service 
might be a solution.  but if you're worried about more than just the 
public wifi, or if all the sensitive sites are already SSL anyway, then 
it's probably not worth it.



On 2/11/2015 1:11 PM, Dan wrote:
> Due to new circumstances, my job has me in locations (mostly hotels) that
> do not supply secure wifi internet connections. As a result, I am
> investigating subscribing to a VPN service so I can use services such as
> online banking while I am away from home.
>
> I chatted at length with someone at FlashRouters.com, and was advised to
> check out IPVanish.  They currently have an offer through FlashRouters to
> add three free months to their 3- or 12-month plans (@ $27 and $78,
> respectively).  IPVanish appears to have some nice selling points, but as a
> noob in this area, I'm not sure how they stack up against other players.
> So, any advice on this type of service is welcomed.
>
> Also, I am curious as to why I can trust a VPN service to keep my browsing
> information private.  What guarantees are there that a VPN service
> can't/won't use my browsing information?  It is for this reason why I
> considered setting up a VPN server in my home, but the FlashRouters rep
> suggested that it can get pretty complicated and very difficult to support.
>
> FWIW, I am on a budget, a working stiff just like all/most of you.
> $78/year is below my pain point.  A one-time cost (i.e. setting up my own
> VPN server) of, say, $200 - $300 is within the realm of possibility.
>
> If this is not the best forum to post this, please advise.
>
> Thanks!
> - Dan