Re: VPN service for personal devices

Scott, thanks for busting some bad preconceptions I've apparently had.
Maybe it's just old information, back when HTTPS was more the exception
than the norm, and you couldn't count on websites for which sensitive
information traversed back and forth utilized HTTPS. I do note which
websites use HTTPS and those that don't, and I wouldn't use a website that
doesn't use HTTPS on pages for which sensitive information is communicated.

Frankly, I don't (think I) really care if a snoop (ISP, hacker, whoever)
sees the names of the sites I visit. As long as they're not seeing the
content going either way, have at it. I would be willing to listen to
arguments as to why I should care, but my browsing habits are fairly
boring. I have no plans to overthrow the gubbermint, I have no plans to
take over the world, I'm not into illicit drugs, etc. So, I guess what
I've learned here is that HTTPS is all I need to be secure, even on open,
unsecured networks. (Of course, I've got anti-virus, anti-malware tools as
well.)

Thanks,
- Dan

On Wed, Feb 11, 2015 at 3:28 PM, Scott Klement <pctech@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

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

--

This is the PC Technical Discussion for IBM i (AS/400 and iSeries) Users
(PcTech) mailing list
To post a message email: PcTech@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
visit: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/pctech
or email: PcTech-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
at http://archive.midrange.com/pctech.