VPNs - do you use it

[serje]

I have nothing to hide! So that's why I don't use VPN or TOR ... but when I want to do something I know how hide myself!

I have a perfect combination between VPN/Proxy/TOR that works perfectly!

[AuroraHF]

I do use it to access certain sites that my ISP block.

[Lorenzo]

Hi!

As I have understood, VPNs (Virtual Private Networks, used to hide online identity) are popular among many BTC users. Do you use a VPN and if so why/why not?

Also, I would like to hear which VPNs accept Bitcoins.

Regards,
Sword Smith

If you look at the footer of the forums here, you'll see:

Sponsored by Private Internet Access, a Bitcoin-accepting VPN.

That was the VPN I signed up to earlier this year, although I paid using fiat rather than BTC. I have it set up on my computer, but I hardly ever use it. I do use TOR and proxies sometimes however although mostly for reasons unrelated to anonymity.

That said, paid VPN's are a fine thing in some ways but mostly protects from some sort of DNS-hijacking that could occur in private WiFi networks easily (metasploit has some fine examples, like redirect from facebook.com to login.facebook.at) where the page asks for confirmation etc. Most avg users will give you the user/pass for fb, twitter and so on. Another way that doesn't work these days is sniffing non-https connections, but almost every website have an https.

That one seems to redirect to the German login page for Facebook.

[Simon8x]

No for me. But I do use Tor to assess some sites, which have blocked access from my country.

[ashe]

I use VPN`s since I dont want any person want to know my location.

[screwUdriver]

I have nothing to hide! So that's why I don't use VPN or TOR ... but when I want to do something I know how hide myself!

I have a perfect combination between VPN/Proxy/TOR that works perfectly!

Even if you have nothing to hide, if you were to even access a site with an owner with malicious intent that is related to bitcoin then the site owner would know that you likely own some amount of bitcoin and now has your IP address (a way to connect to your computer).

Also if you are ever using a public network (school, library, public wifi, hotel internet) then it would be easy for someone to "listen" to your internet traffic and get credentials to any site that you login to or potentially steal cookies that are sent to you, allowing them to stay logged in to your accounts.

[ajareselde]

I use nVPN , fast servers, reliable, and you can also make payments in bitcoin.

Bypasses any restrictions and closed ports from ISP.

You should all use some kind of VPN, weather you are trying to make anonnymous transactions,  download copyrighted material etc..

[whiteflight31]

Usually I don't care of connecting through VPN, unless I'm doing something what really needs anonymity.

[btcguys]

TOR is much better option than VPN

[Hazir]

Personally I don't use VPN I have nothing to be afraid of. If someone really want to have my info and hack me, get my data or track me they will probably do it with or without VPN. But I agree it can help you with minor things like keeping your basic anonymity.

[zvs]

TOR is much better option than VPN

VPN is much faster than TOR. TOR gave me migraines w/ its slowness.

VPNs are cheap.

[hugs1BTC]

TOR is much better option than VPN

TOR will leak the fact that you are using TOR while VPN will not necessarily leak the fact that you are using a VPN.

TOR is much slower then most VPNs will be. There are also a lot of sites that block access to TOR exit nodes

[Lorenzo]

Also if you are ever using a public network (school, library, public wifi, hotel internet) then it would be easy for someone to "listen" to your internet traffic and get credentials to any site that you login to or potentially steal cookies that are sent to you, allowing them to stay logged in to your accounts.

Is/isn't simply using HTTPS on a public wi-fi hotspot secure enough? I thought HTTPS would encrypt all the data between the client and server.

TOR is much slower then most VPNs will be. There are also a lot of sites that block access to TOR exit nodes

Even this site does that apparently. Surprising considering the fact that the founder (satoshi) used Tor himself.

[scryptasicminer]

Even this site does that apparently. Surprising considering the fact that the founder (satoshi) used Tor himself.

Is that the reason why no one figure out his identity?

[kingama]

No third-party VPNs for me but ssh tunneling or vpn of some sort is a must if at public wifi. The more people use any of these anonymizing services the better for everyone. Use TOR. Also check out projects like i2p and cjdns to see where things can be going.

[BIGbangTheory]

Also if you are ever using a public network (school, library, public wifi, hotel internet) then it would be easy for someone to "listen" to your internet traffic and get credentials to any site that you login to or potentially steal cookies that are sent to you, allowing them to stay logged in to your accounts.

Is/isn't simply using HTTPS on a public wi-fi hotspot secure enough? I thought HTTPS would encrypt all the data between the client and server.

Not all sites offer HTTPS and HTTPS could potentially be vulnerable to a 0 day attack.

[Tammy Chan]

TOR is much better option than VPN

VPN is much faster than TOR. TOR gave me migraines w/ its slowness.

VPNs are cheap.

TOR is much better option than VPN

TOR will leak the fact that you are using TOR while VPN will not necessarily leak the fact that you are using a VPN.

TOR is much slower then most VPNs will be. There are also a lot of sites that block access to TOR exit nodes

True and true.
The best feature of Tor is that it is completely free.

[eid]

I use a VPN. For anonymity and to get around my ISPs censorship of sites it deems inappropriate. Also useful when I use my tablet away from home. I tried Tor but it was too slow.

[seandaniel]

TOR is much better option than VPN

VPN is much faster than TOR. TOR gave me migraines w/ its slowness.

VPNs are cheap.

VPN is safer and stable

[wolfYella]

TOR is much better option than VPN

VPN is much faster than TOR. TOR gave me migraines w/ its slowness.

VPNs are cheap.

VPN is safer and stable

I don't think VPNs are safer then TOR as TOR is open source and has ways to prevent any of the nodes from attacking you while VPNs only use one node and have a central point of possible attack. You much trust any VPN that you use while you don't need to trust any TOR nodes.