Deep Dot Web Surfacing The News From The DeepWeb
Those of you who frequent the darkweb should be familiar with VPN (Virtual Private Network) services and have done some research to find a trustworthy provider. For readers who are just starting to explore the darker catacombs of the Internet a VPN is a mandatory tool for online anonymity.
But not all VPN services are created equal.
>>>Click for DeepDotWeb’s Chart of Best VPN services For 2015<<<
For n00bs
A VPN provides a secure connection between your computer and the VPN servers. All communications between your computer and the VPN are encrypted and sent through a secure tunnel over the Internet, preventing outsiders from spying on your web activity. You can securely connect to a VPN service and surf the web from their servers, using their IP addresses.
There are lots of reasons to use a VPN service such as establishing a secure connection over an insecure network, accessing censored or region specific web content, or hiding p2p sharing activity that is often frowned upon in the US. But if you’ve made it to DDW you’re probably starting to understand that there are parts of the web where more nefarious things happen (which DDW acknowledges but does not condone) and anonymity is of the utmost importance.
The connection between your computer and the VPN is secure, but the connection between the VPN and the rest of the web isn’t. Your activity on the web can be monitored and traced back to the VPN IP addresses, but cannot be traced back to your own IP address. When you use a VPN no one can trace your web activity back to you (insert obligatory meme).
In theory.
For Everyone
A VPN service’s main selling points are security and privacy, but privacy is interpreted differently among VPN providers. Just ask former lulzsec member Cody Kretsinger (a.k.a. recursion), how private his VPN service was.
Kretsinger used a popular VPN called HideMyAss and engaged in activity that linked him, and his online persona “recursion,” to several high profile hacks, including unauthorized access to servers controlled by Sony Pictures. As it turns out HMA keeps logs of users’ IP addresses and logon/off times. A UK court order was issued to HMA to turn over the logs related to the offending account, which were then used to identify and arrest Kretsinger.
VPN providers can log web activity over their network, but it is more common to see VPN providers log users’ IP addresses, logon/off times and bandwidth usage. This logging activity allows providers to identify individuals abusing the service for fraud and spam, but in doing so they acquire information that can be used to identify individual users.
You can be absolutely sure if a VPN provider is pressured to cooperate with authorities and they have any information to identify you as the suspect you will be up shit creek and you will be there without a paddle. No one is going to go to jail for you.
This is why some VPN services go out of their way NOT to log any information that could possibly identify their customers. They cannot be forced to hand over incriminating information that they do not have.
The Devil is in the Details
It is mundane but it is so incredibly important when considering a VPN to read the company’s Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy, and these documents need to be in plain English not lawyer-eese. A VPN provider who legitimately cares about customers’ privacy will lay it out in black in white what information, if any, is recorded and for how long.
Good VPN providers state that they store “personal information” necessary to create an account and process a payment (for example: name, e-mail address, payment data, billing address), but state that they do NOT log users’ IP addresses, logon/off times, or bandwidth usage.
Great VPN providers go a step further to minimize the amount of “personal information” required by accepting bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, eliminating the requirement for billing information. This further insulates the user’s true identity by requiring an as little information as an e-mail address to create an account.
An honorable mention must go out to VPN provider MULLVAD who do not even require an email address. Visitors to the website click “create account” and they are given an account number without entering any information at all.
VPN Providers to Avoid
If you intend to use a VPN to hide your p2p activity on the web or go to the other side of the great virtual divide we recommend that you steer clear of these VPN providers. We want to be fair, VPNs who make this list are not “bad” VPN providers but they do participate in logging activities that put their users at risk. These VPNs do not provide true privacy on the web.
Privacy Focused VPN Providers
The following is a list of ten VPN providers who openly state that they do not log any information that may be used to identify anyone using their VPN service. To be considered as a privacy focused VPN provider the service must have the following qualifications:
- Does NOT log any information that could be used to identify the user.
- Requires minimal personal information to sign up.
- Accepts cryptocurrency.
You will note that there are VPN providers based in the USA on this list. It is a common misconception that US VPN services are legally required to log activity on their network. This simply isn’t true, but they are still required to cooperate with US law enforcement while other countries are not. Required cooperation is partly the reason they dutifully do not log activity on their networks. These companies cannot be held liable for withholding information they do not have. Choosing a VPN service, and which country it is based in, is up to you, but we do not want to discourage people from supporting small businesses in the US based on hearsay
Anyone concerned with their privacy for any reason should consider one of the following VPN services. As a DDW Disclaimer: You shouldn’t rely on a VPN provider to protect you from the authorities. It’s really best if the authorities don’t have a reason to be looking for you at all.
>>>New on DeepDotWeb: Updated VPN Comparison Chart<<<
I would not suggest a canadian vpn as there are laws coming into place requiring all vpns and isp to log customer details for a period of no less than 6 months.
Seriously? One might not no scheist about vpn etc. But one can count on the relentless rap on the door from your big friend
I run VPN services in Canada with an official policy of ‘we don’t give a rats ass about Canadian government’ and will not log nor respond to government requests. Good luck with that.
Absolutely correct. I use Hong Kong based Ivacy, it also does not keep logs.
No mention for cyberghost?
CyberGhost is a Romanian based corporation mostly based in germany and they dont keep logs, they where forced to hand over servers to the government but the government found nothing because they store nothing
No logs… no evidence. Simple.
Cyberghost sucks big time and i found it 80% of the time they are waaay too sloooow, don’t waste your money or time, they have already been ransacked, NOT safe.
TorGuard is rock solid, never had any issues.
TorGuard had potential – until I looked at my portal after login and it shows my password in plain text. What kind of shit service doesn’t hash passwords? I wouldn’t use an online store that didn’t do this and I’m certainly not using a VPN service that can’t even get this right.
Serious amateur hour.
I’ve been using CyberGhost for over a year now and I like it much. Yes, the free service has been used and misused by trolls and many of the free servers have been blocked or black-listed on many websites. However, using the premium service I find it fast and very few of the servers have been black-listed.
It’s important to note that I am not affiliated with CyberGhost in anyway other than being a paid-user.
@Shillster, got a link to info about the Canadian law changes? Interested to read about it.
@Willhelm, I reviewed many more VPNs than made this list. CyberGhost doesn’t log data and does a good job to separate their payment data and user log in info, the only thing that would keep them off this list is they don’t except cryptocurrency.
Hey guys,
just wanted to draw your attention that Cyberghost has implement Bitcoin payments, so cryptocurrency payments are available 😉
Andrea, your totally right. I just checked again and CyberGhost accepts bitcoin. It requires a different checkout process, so I missed it the first time, but they certainly do accept btc.
You didn’t miss it they just implemented the BTC payments
We’ve had Bitcoin payments since May, but you’re right, we should promote it better. We’re working on placing an announcement on our homepage, too
Thanks again for the kind words regarding CyberGhost!
Ahh ok sorry, i had the impression it was new…
andreea,
absolutely ! Cyberghost is a GREAT VPN
I’m definitely staying with it.
I can attest that Cyber Ghost has a nice and easy user interface. I have been using the trial version and was on the verge of ordering a one year subscription when I came across this article. After reading these comments I’m definitely all in. You really do have a good product and after today a new customer.
Nope, cyberghost only works like 2 hours and after that: DEAD. it’s not completely dead, but it keeps failing to connect.
Unable to connect to the proxy server/Error 130/net::ERR_PROXY_CONNECTION_FAILED
ERR_MANDATORY_PROXY_CONFIGURATION_FAILED
Whean active, it can’t connect, ehan not active, it’s just useless.
Cyberghost is EASY to connect to.
they say 3 hour connect but it’s more like 6 AND once it DOES disconnect you can immediately jump right back on again
I use it and it’s been great.
really good service.
256 bit crypt and no DNS leak.
The law was not vote. But it is worsth. We know now that canadian agency ask information to telecom company whitout ask court.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/04/29/telecoms_refuse_say_how_often_they_hand_over_customers_data.html
I was banned from using bitcoin while having torguard as my vpn due to activity that couldn’t discuss. I wouldn’t accept the notion that torguard has you covered with cryptocurrency one bit
” For readers who are just starting to explore the darker catacombs of the Internet a VPN is a mandatory tool for online anonymity.”
How is this so ? TOR is obviously mandatory. One could argue that TAILS is mandatory but how is a VPN ? Some might say using a VPN to access TOR so your ISP doesn’t know you are on it. Is that really necessary or 100% effective though ? In some cases, using a VPN in that manner can be more of a risk. If there are reasons for being denied TOR access then you can use bridges. So, although VPN’s are nice for clearnet surfing, I hardly think they are necessary for the dark web catacombs.
I do appreciate the list though. It is hard to find objective, honest VPN reviews. Most review sites get kickbacks.
Glad you liked the VPN lists! Thanks for the comment.
Your right that using a VPN is something that is necessary across the clearnet. What were trying to teach people here is that there are lots of security threats around the interwebs, something darknet veterans and rookies are aware of more than most. We want them to implement a VPN when they are surfing the clearnet, for security and privacy protection(and fun reasons like region specific content, i hear UK netflix has a bunch of TV shows not available in the US).
Using a VPN to download Tails and Tor will also help to protect you from ending up on a fancy NSA list. (thanks fort he reminder, Whillhelm)
But your right about VPNs on the darknet, the grugq would agree with you. YES to Tor to VPN connections, NO to VPN to Tor connections.
Could someone please explain that again? whats the correct sequence, and whats not? i turn on my VPN and then use TOR, or I open TOR and then use a VPN?
I’m also confused about this.
One commenter in another thread on this site said that either way doesn’t matter–whether you start Tor first or VPN first, you’re still “VPN over Tor.”
(whatever ‘vpn over tor’ means…I think over means under)
That commenter was uninformed. There is a major difference between connecting your VPN first, and then connecting to TOR vs connecting to TOR first, and then your VPN.
The TOR wiki has a good breakdown of the differences between the ways you can use TOR and VPN connections:
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/doc/TorPlusVPN
In short, if you connect to your VPN first and then connect to TOR your ISP won’t be able to see that you are using TOR and if someone were to break TOR and track you, they would run into your VPN and would have to compromise them as well. Any activity you do will be traced back to TOR since that is the final step before reaching the internet.
If you connect to TOR first and then your VPN, your VPN doesn’t know who you really are since the connection to them came from TOR (not your home IP). Any activity you do will be traced back to the VPN since that is the final step before reaching the internet. So as long as you paid for the VPN anonymously like with bitcoin or cash and gave fake info, it’s a dead end.
Tor does not encrypt the traffic between an exit node and the destination server.. So it is a good idea to use a VPN.
noob
If you had to choose a FREE VPN service, which one is the best choice???
Most of these VPNs have short free trials, NORDVPN has a list of free proxy servers that you can use with free software, so that is a good option. and the cheapest is SHADEYOU VPN which is 3.95 a month of 22.99 a year (1.92 a month).
@lemur the nsa is trying to monitor all tor users a vpn could help create distance if used correctly
Hey thanks for the support. Also looks like CyberGhost JUST implemented bitcoin support so they would make this list in the future. Good call.
@ Willhelm
I think it can only help create distance, as Iburnez pointed out, using it to visit the TOR website for downloading Tor and / or TAILS. That and going TAILS —-> VPN, which I think is unnecessary unless you are a dark market admin or a top 5 % vendor (or doing something really sinister).
But,even if you go the VPN route to download TAILS(which all dark market users should be using), your ISP will know that you are using TAILS. Unless perhaps you use bridges, but even that is no guarantee. We all know that the gov can get whatever info they want from ISP companies. Likewise they can probably figure out most bridge sites/nodes.
Going VPN —> TOR is not a good idea based on Jolly Roger’s threads. I think, among other reasons, due to the possibility of who could be running the proxy node you would have to go through.
Personally I think we should make TOR more known to the general public and less taboo. Then we can get more node volunteers thus increasing bandwidth as well as reducing the risk of man in the middle attacks.
Yes, Mr agent man I use TOR because I remember a time when privacy was something sacred and not something I had to make an effort to obtain.
@Lemur I can see your point however it was my understanding that using a vpn prevented your ISP from knowing it is tor you are connected to and also the traffic over the vpn is also encrypted by tor hence even a bad link would not be able to see any information. I can see your point about using a vpn for security being largely unnecessary. My main reason if that I don’t appreciate being added to watch lists just for liking my privacy!
@iBurnEZ I wasn’t aware they supported bitcoin payments but cyberghost’s free service is also excellent for those on a low budget.
I’m new to this whole experience. How do I set up my tor browser to use a VPN? And thanks by the way. I now know what a VPN is! : )
I agree about the privacy issues. I’ve been using SlickVPN and their Bitcoin payment option for a little over a year now. They have no record of my name or any personal/identifiable information and I’ve been able to use it without any decrease of speed or a single hiccup. People who don’t research what these providers are going to share about you when they’re pressured puts them in serious danger.
Some shitvpns i had the misfortune of dealing with,
blackvpn
earthvpn
purevpn
incompetent barely working service, asshole support staff.
adding to this ……
vpnmakers.com – no customer support – no emails answered – and now my fav… 😉 they didnt even send login details. Im still waiting on a refund from those dim f..ks.
Believe only to your own created proxies/VPN, etc, if you can make it anonymously. Don’t believe to any provider, not even to any data center.
How about blackVPN? We’re located in Hong Kong which has NO data retention laws so we can keep as little info on our customers as possible. Naturally we also accept Bitcoin!
Anyone look at surfeasy in Canada?
what about VIP72?
I would also like to know if VIP72 is considered a trustworthy VPN provider.
FYI your info is wrong about AirVPN. There is no ip logging and have some of the highest levels of encryption out there, esp for ios.
Bit shady your results are in a flat file that can’t be crawled.
Excerpt from the AirVPN privacy policy:
“Air servers and software procedures acquire only personal data which are strictly necessary for the technical functioning of the service, for example IP address.”
https://airvpn.org/privacy/
Info is not logged. They aren’t native English speakers. Suggest you contact them rather than doing a topical review.
They only store your IP for current sessions (you can connect up to 3 sessions at once). They have the option to store details longer if you want, but turning it off removes all data. They don’t even require a valid email address let alone any “personal info” to sign up.
I am sorry to dissapoint you, but they DO REQUIRE email address upon registration: airvpn.org/register/
“They don’t even require a valid email address” – they require adress but you can enter any fake email.. thats it
Yeah, I don’t get why people are saying AirVPN logs IP addresses.
As far as I understand, all VPN providers, while you’re connected to their server, have to keep track of your IP address (otherwise how will they correctly route your internet traffic to you and not another client connected to the same server?).
But if you actually read the privacy policy linked to here, as soon as you disconnect from AirVPN, that information is deleted. That’s what not keeping logs means.
So as far as I can tell, AirVPN’s privacy policy is just being more honest about how VPNs work. Any VPN claiming that they are not keeping track of your IP address while you’re connected to their server, I don’t think is being honest.
Addendum: That’s what they mean by “necessary for the technical functioning of the service” in the quote above from their privacy policy.
And if you keep reading: “Data transmission is performed between Air servers network exclusively in order to erogate efficiently the AirVPN service. Data are deleted as soon as they are no more necessary for such purposes.”
“Erogate” is an attempt to literally translate the Italian “erogare,” but is not really a word used in English. It just means, I believe, the technical administration of the AirVPN service or more simply in order to provide the service.
They all keep logs. Petraeus they are responsible since its their ip
Astrill is a good VPN provider, inexpensive and a lot of options. They do not keep any user activity logs.
TorGuard is double-edged sword.
Pros
– Loads of servers and server info (current status) as premium user
– TorGuard VPN Client = very easy to use and automatic server update on start up
– Knowledgebase = Lots of simple to setup guides e.g. general how-to’s, proxy how-to’s, vpn how-to’s,…
– User Support = 24/7, BUT not always helpful…
Cons
– DNS = If you just connect with your TorGuard-Client to the internet (without extra config.), you’ll be assigned DNS from GOOGLE! = Make a test on dnsleaktest dot com and read the txt. below! Now you’ll understand how dangerous that is, especially that we are all aware about the connection = Google-NSA… = “Solution” = TG is offering “secure dns”, which you see, when you’re premium user. Bad thing about = They are the ONLY servers, which seem to be secure, so lots of users have set them up and web-browsing on clearnet is damn slow… 3-5 Mbit/s…
= So, if you’ve know other secure dns, which are faster, there’s no reason to disdain TorGuard.
– Located in USA = I would like to link to what the author of this article said:
— You can be absolutely sure if a VPN provider is pressured to cooperate with authorities and they have any information to identify you as the suspect you will be up shit creek and you will be there without a paddle. No one is going to go to jail for you. —
I started using Cyberghost almost a year ago. And you Can download the trial version and It never stops working. It just keeps offers for you to upgrade to pro or whatever..
But u can DW it and use the free trial NON stop as long as you want..
Great List btw
Why SecurityKiss and AirVPN is bad? I used SecurityKiss by a long long time and its good VPN.AirVPN? its enough to configure with bridges and running Tor trough socks proxy so how can they store personal data?
ivpn.net
Based in malta, bitcoin payment, non-logging, Fastest speeds of any VPN provider I have ever used
hotspot shield should be put on that stink list. They also log IPs and logon/logoff times
Are you 100% sure? Anchorfree implies they do not collect that info. but if you have information to the contrary I’d luhhh to know: anchorfree.com/privacy.php
Cyberghost5
I am with Private Internet Access VPN Service
They do not LOG & they have a great way to pay
anonymously They accept GIFT CARDS from many leading retailers (shops) all over the world Big List on Their Site
You just walk into the shop & buy a gift card ( No Questions Asked @ Shop so no Identity is Compromised ) then pay with it to the VPN site privateinternetaccess.com
Hadn’t heard of this company (privateinternetaccess.com) seemingly located in Colorado. Looks like they indeed don’t keep any logs and more importantly allow pre-paid cards. AirVPN really dropped the ball when they initiated relationships with US based payment processing firms as they require all your private info to use a pre-paid card (pre-paid cards need to be registered using real info for international purchases). I also like that they have a contingency (like a self destruct button) if they are every unlawfully pressured into breaking confidentiality and would rather close up shop than betray the trust of their customers. This is how to operate!
Vizitor, I’ve been using Private Internet Access for a year now and while I’m encouraged they have a no-log policy, I agree with others that being a US company bound by US “laws,” PIA hasn’t earned my trust. I’ve also had a lot of speed issues (from over 50 Gbps without to 1-4 Gbps with PIA, and quite a few disconnection issues that have prompted me to contact PIA customer support. I don’t know why every time I get in touch with someone he is rushed, very rude, and unhelpful. I make it a point to be very polite when the chat begins, but the other person doesn’t give a blank; they just want to get rid of me. The person usually just IMs me a long list of the same instructions for whatever problem I’m having–involving changing ports or some complex routine then has never proved helpful. And unless I say “thank you” immediately and sign off, the person disappears, I imagine to “help” other customers, for upwards of twenty minutes, by which time their system disconnects me and I have to start all over with a new customer “support” rep. I’m grateful there are VPN companies, but my experience with customer support has been universally negative once problems arise. I’d pay a LOT more for a reliable service with excellent customer support. The only reason I’m still with PIA is that I cannot find a more reliable service–and I’ve tried Mullvad, BlackVPN, and at least a half dozen others whose names slip my mind. There are always technical issues requiring too much of my time to “fix.” While I’m not a computer technician myself, I’m reasonably competent with computers so don’t find the technical complexities I encounter acceptable.
All in all, I’d love to leave PIA as soon as I can find a more reliable service, regardless the cost.
I have the opposite experience with PIA. That’s strange.
They’ve always been very helpful in the CS chat.
Buster, I wouldn’t call it “strange.” We just had different experiences with the same company. Congratulations that you’ve had good luck with PIA. My family used them on two separate occasions, and we had bad luck both times–drastically reduced speeds (different parts of our state), curt technical “support” via chat, always the same lengthy and impotent cut-N-paste fix-it advice that never solved our problems, and an Internet block on VPN disconnect that highjacked our computer so that we eventually had to reformat our hard drive even after following PIA’s instructions on removing their software from our machine. PIA made using the Internet for us unpleasant, and obviated paying for an Internet connection in the first place. Our experience today without them on our machines is a much happier one.
Hope you continue having good luck with them.
mull vad sounds good, No logs of anything!
Rob, I tried Mullvad about a month ago. It didn’t play nicely with Tunnelblick, and even after I sent their support department 3 messages, I never heard back from them. EVER. I remember trying them (trial membership) about 2 or 3 years back with the same results–would stay connected on my machine (then I used a PC laptop, now I use a MB Pro running latest OSX), and they’d never return any of my messages. Customer support/service is as important an aspect of business to me as the quality of the product. I want help when something goes wrong, and I’d be willing to pay for that. Also, from what I recall, Mullvad has only a very few servers to choose from. That would have been OK with me if they’d just gotten back in touch with me to help me solve the connection issues. I tried them solo & with Tunnelblick. No dice either time.
Ok , just use a Virtual Box with a bridge conection , so you can change MAC and others when you want, than use free VPN’s at least 3, ultrasurf, spotflux, hidemyip at same time, thats must keep you safe, but remember even if you got the best conection ever is gonna be laggy …
Where is perfectprivacy.com it’s one of the worlds best and safe vpn provider and u even dont write a word of it. and cyberghost will give out all the data they have need to be on stink list.
Bastard0, I looked up Perfect-Privacy’s pricing, and notice their monthly price, even on a year membership, is many times more than the monthly prices of several competitors who also don’t log (beyond, apparently, what’s necessary–thanks, Mike Wilkerson) and yet appear to offer comparable services. Any idea what justifies the significant (relative) price increase?
As previous commenters have pointed out in regards to the AirVPN service provider, they do not store logs of any kind and as anyone with any technical knowledge should know the IP of the connecting computer is required to enable access to those services provided. AirVPN has stated throughout their forums that the connection information is purged once the client disconnects.
I have cited several forum links below that the AirVPN staff have taken part in to address these issues directly, and even offer tips for creating a ‘partition of trust’ between the company and the user.
https://airvpn.org/topic/9717-logging-on-vpn-servers/?hl=logs
https://airvpn.org/topic/10171-logs-get-deleted-after-disconnect-so-better-to-do-regular/?hl=logs
https://airvpn.org/topic/54-using-airvpn-over-tor/#entry1745
I hope this helps to clear up any confusion as this can be misleading to prospective readers and cause a loss of business for AirVPN.
Why is airvpn still on the list of VPN providers that log then?
Ok, so what about a free service, “vpnbook” that runs with the ip in Romania? Does anyone know if they log ips,bandwidth use and on/off times? They change passwords every two weeks and can do something about spam. They seem ok but didn’t make your list. No currency hassles of any kind since they are free on the “basic” service.
VPNBook is free but we presume monitored, either for marketing data, or for government, or both. Maybe it’s also a non-Tor pool for government to hide some activities, nobody is sure.
Cryptostorm’s Cryptofree is a 256k service that is 100% free with an exit in Iceland. I have used this for chat and various Tor/I2P adventures, it’s plenty fast enough and stable for that.
Thanks for the article Iburnez.Why using a VPN when you can use a DNS service like UnoTelly? The DNS option is much faster and easier to use.
You can add Toonux.net in the “privacy focused VPN providers”
toonux.net/confidentialite/
They collect only what you give them : your name and email.
The owner, Bluetouff is a well known journalist on the internet, he has done several papers on internet censorship. Example : reflets.info/freeanouzla-maroc-telecom-tu-es-vraiment-trop-con/
I notice Cyberghost and some other VPN venodrs allow more than one device to be used per VPN account.
With this in mind, how do Cyberghost (and other providers that claim to keep no logs) monitor how many devices an account holder is using with their account?
Surely the MAC address or something must be logged somewhere?
Can we get clarification on this point please?
Hi,
IPVanish has just come to my notice. Appears to be a free service. Any comments about it?
Regards
Not free. I’ve been using it for a month and I’m still looking. My speeds are just OK – around 15 mbs without IPVanish, about 9 mbs when IPVanish is running. I also no longer have internet access unless IPVanish is running. To get internet going without IPV I need to delete my NIC from manager and reboot to rediscover the hardware. Is this normal behaviour for a VPN?
When I connect with Ipvanish and then disconnect, I still have INTERNET access. The issue that I have is that when I connect with IPvanish, my 100mbps goes down the tube when I connect to Malaysia, Signapor, Russia, etc… from the drop down list. The connected speeds are in (ms)… for example, Malaysia connects at 448 (ms) , thus rending my connection almost useless… Frustrated.
Congratulations on discovering that the internet has latency the further you go outside your network. You might have 100mbit, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get it at every point on the internet. Its all to do with routing, and some counties have bad routes, purely because they can’t afford peer with as many people as others.
IPVanish is not a free service. You have to pay for it and believe me it is worth to pay for IPVanish services. I have been using it for mmo rpg
Does anybody know about this Chrome Extension
DotVPN – Free and Secure VPN or the site dotvpn.com/en/ How does it stack up to others on this post?
I personally wouldn’t use Google Chrome if you wish to stay “under the radar”. BTW, CyberGhost allows Paynearme which is another anonymous payment option. Another one that appears to be a great option is hide.me vpn. I second one of the earlier comments about PureVPN being bogus. They require documents to prove who you are when you sign up! They attempt to block all P2P and then delete your account with no refund if you manage to access one.
PureVPn is not a good choice. I have been using it for 2 months and almost every thing got stuck, their app their client. Then I switched to IPVanish through VPnAnalysis, since now I am very happy with their services specially their gaming servers.
I am wondering why IPVanish isn’t on the list? They don’t log, they allow anonymous payments, they own their own Tier-1 Network and they seem to have no problems with torrents (source: http://www.vpntips.com/hidemyass-alternatives/#ipvanish).
Sure, every VPN provider could potentially access your data and cooperate with law enforcement, IPVanish is no exception. At the end of the day it all broils down to a matter of trust, doesn’t it?
Agreed! IPVanish is surely being overlooked; and I guess it’s mainly because they are a U.S. company.
I use VPNcompany.com as they keep no logs.
vpncompany.com/logging-policy/
I like the fact they say they keep no logs and encourage you to use bitcoin. I’ve been using these guys now for 3 months and have done a load of p2p and other stuff and have never had any issue. They seem to allow you to do just about anything as if they don’t care. This is what I want.. freedom to do as I want. The price is really good too and the connections are solid. I run a home seedbox server 24/7 to the London gateway using OpenVPN and it’s hardly ever gone down. I highly recommend these guys.
Dave, Dan, did either of you find any consumer reviews on VPNcompany.com before signing up with them? Would you mind sharing why you trust them? Thanks…
Guys, I just read a review of VPNCompany (I’m not sure this link will post: http://vpncoupons.com/article/vpncompany-review-fast-and-secure-vpn-service/). According to the author, VPNCompany holds connection logs for 5 days, and the company is based in the USA. At this point, I won’t do business with any VPN company based in the USA again. Good luck with your searches.
I recommend Private Internet Access, great reviews and super fast
I’ve been a Private Internet Access customer for nearly a year, on multiple machines (Macs, PCs, Android tablets, Ipad), and in multiple cities in the USA. I’ve noticed consistently slower Internet access with PIA, and on contacting their support team, am always given the same “fix it,” which doesn’t help (change ports). And the VPN frequently disconnects from my machines when they sleep. I’m so dissatisfied with them I’m now looking for a new VPN.
Do I have it correct? Start my TOR first, then use IPVanish for my connection to Darknet Websites?
Interesting article, but one that doesn’t bother me too much, living in Asia where other more difficult issues arise, such as blocked access and the continual anti-vpn fight that goes on. Just trying to find a provider that can get me out of the GFWofC is enough of a headache. Many VPN sites are either blocked or refuse connection from my location, and using a VPN to get to them to sign up, means that if the service fails, I cannot get any assistance (since things like email are lost as well as the website).
So to me, your problems are chicken feed LOL.
Thanks for the article.
Hello,
Tell me how Private Internet Access can be trust if their location is in USA. If something really happened they will be forced share data and even servers. The same with CyberGhost with based in Germany ?
PHX, I have the same question.
And what about VPNSECURE.ME ?
Can you test them please ?
Anyone use/d or know of connectmine? Got to the homesite and the site looks intentionally blank (it says under construction), so there’s no info online. Got plenty of contact info, prices are reasonable, but a speed test screen shot (in an advert) shows amazing speeds up and down, and yet omits the locations LOL.
Hope someone can relay good or bad feedback. Thanks
anyone know anything about SwissVPN
ipredator.se
Just wondering whys Ipredator on the hate list i always thought it was safe?
I’m new to VPN, but I’ve used a free service (privateinternetaccess.com) a few times without problems, although my email won’t work while connected to it. There’s probably a fix for that, but I haven’t looked into it yet. There’s no privacy policy listed on the site and there’s no registration. You simply use the servers and password listed on the site and use your OS to set up the VPN. I may try other VPN’s in the future, but I’ll see how this service works for a while.
Why such articles never mentions Hideninja VPN? It’s a great service!
shadeyou comply with dcma they have stopped my account and they kept a log of what movie I downloaded , warner bros requested them to.
Privateinternetaccess worked well for myself, as far as their logging/compliance who knows. Never got any problems with torrent downloading or anything of the sort. For the people who had ‘slow speeds’ you had to r-e-a-d their FAQ’s to learn of their 3-4 ‘gigabit’ servers that were recommended for faster speeds. Don’t forget, latency will happen if you are not physically located close to the server you pick. You won’t get 100mbit service but it was decent.
I’ve used Private Internet Access for about 3 months. My internet has been turned off twice now for downloading specific torrents (Both times for episodes of 2 different tv shows). Currently looking for a new vpn service.
That isn’t the VPN’s fault if you torrent files. It is actually your fault for not researching first! Most clients like uTorrent will actually include your REAL IP ADDRESS in the packet itself and not just the header. Application-level leaks are a serious matter and no VPN (nor TOR) can prevent this!
That means it will expose you not only with whatever you are transferring via bit-torrent but also associates you with any other activity you are engaged in during that period of time!
The bit-torrent protocol was specifically designed to be RESILIENT not ANONYMOUS. Do NOT use bit-torrent over VPN or TOR. You are not safe doing so and again… doing so associates your post VPN/TOR IP with your REAL IP… which completely exposes you!
Here is what you can do! Get a seedbox(much like VPNs do choose carefully one that doesn’t log and takes bitcoin or pre-paid cards etc). The seedbox does the downloading and seeding for you(nice on private trackers that have a ratio requirement) and your computer simply directly downloads from the seedbox thus never exposing your IP address as having downloaded anything.
Your ISP will thus be none-the-wiser. Connect to the seedbox via VPN if you are extra paranoid, but that probably isn’t necessary.
If you intend to use bit-torrent without a seedbox, then at least don’t attempt it over VPN or TOR. Also go into your client settings and enable forced protocol encryption and maybe random ports. It won’t protect you much, but at least you will less likely have your ISP interfere with your torrenting (they won’t know what you are sending)
THAT is amazingly important advice that I never heard before.
I am dismayed that I haven’t read it before because I spent hours learning about how VPN’s work and I never saw any warning about the use of torrents. In fact I have seen three articles about recommended “Torrent friendly” VPN’s!
I would like to recommend BadAss.Sx. It is the first VPN provider where you have access to your own log files. So route them to /dev/null or throw them away whenever you want.
Depends on the vpn provider if tool is paid so it is good for a long time and if it is free means there is no good benefits. I am using vpnranks for choosing known vpn tools and trust me it is good.:)
Logs or not, for me speed is more important and I found speeds of HAM and PIA not great, tried few of the smaller VPN providers and ended up with the free trial from monkeyvpn.com which turned out to be much faster, FWIW.
I currently work at ActiVPN company.
Firstly, we never had a request from authority for a complaint !
Secondly, logs are not recorded except for a period of 3 days in order to monitor our network only for that.
I don’t know where you got your info but BoxPN claims that they do not log anything. Why are they on the list of bad VPN’s?
wilderssecurity.com/threads/mullvad-just-got-usa-servers.344111/
What about privateinternetaccess.com ?
good or evil?
do we need VPNs if there is TOR?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
An extract of a Top Secret appraisal by the National Security Agency (NSA) characterized Tor as “the King of high-secure, low-latency Internet anonymity” with “no contenders for the throne in waiting”,[9] and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology deemed it, with approximately 2.5 million users daily “by far the most popular anonymous internet communication system.” [10]
donate to those guys running those servers!
there is even an easy and free to use TOR app called “ORBOT” for your Android
GO AND GET IT! NOW!
CryptoStorm = the best VPN service I have ever used. No logging. None. Crypto-currencies accepted. No PII needed. Connections are rock-solid and customer service is great (actually the best service I have ever seen from ANY VPN service). Highly recommended. Enjoy… cryptostorm.is <—<< Check them out.
I use IPVanish. lil higher priced, 8 a month i think? But has never did me wrong, cept every time I use it it adds a Link to net … up to like 80 now…
OH… Sorry an I seen a recently posted comment. I can an do USE it from my Iphone.
hide.me best VPN service
Most useless comment ever
What about Netshade for mac. Been a lot of VPN lists lately but NS is never mentioned?
Is IronSocket a good vpn provider?
I read this on a forum, what do you guys think?
———————
what do you think of this statement?
———–
VPN’s do *NOTHING* to provide anonymity. That’s a very common and dangerous misconception about the technology. What a VPN (Virtual Private Network) does, is provide a path across public infrastructure with a level of confidentiality equal to a private path. This is mainly used for groups of people (companies mostly) that are geographically spread apart but need to operate as a whole, requiring confidential communications links. In the past big companies would get hugely expensive leased lines from a telco to connect their locations. The internet makes this much easier. Communication between points on the globe is already possible by default, the VPN technology just adds a layer of cryptography on top of that to provide confidentiality.
The VPN crap you see offered on the internet these days does nothing for you really, apart from evading very local law enforcement for content pirates by shifting your connection’s apparent endpoint away from your home and to some VPN provider instead. Useful for evading region-locks on streaming video, but not much else really. You have *NO REASON* to trust any of these providers. The only way a VPN is useful, is if either you or a truly trusted party control both ends.
For example, I run a VPN between my home and a couple of close friends to exchange digital media and have a resilient online backup scheme amongst ourselves. The outside world, like the NSA, is easily able to see this pattern of traffic flowing between our group. The anonymity of this construct? Damn close to zero. Confidentiality of the information we share? Very high.
You want anonymity, you use TOR and a number of safe practices while on there. VPN’s won’t help you.———–
TOR has been US government developed from day one. Those using it, should consider EVERY action they take visible to the US government in real time. That doesn’t necessarily defeat the purpose they had in developing it as a free tool to breach the Great fire-Wall of China, but it does make it a worthless tool for folk concerned about keeping their activities from from the prying eyes of the NSA or FBI.
can we have is your vpn legit or shit 2015 edition, please? i wish you also estimate f-secure freedome.
IPVanish is the worst payment VPN that I’ve ever try, contantly disconnections with no killswitch or WebRTC protection at all,terrible bad software.. if you are using IPVanish for download torrents when connections down the torrent client still downloading showing your real IP, IPVanish is the best way to drop your many to the garbage.
Any VPN server file (.opvn) used with the OpenVPN freeware software and some kill-switcher like (VPNcheck pro)it works thousand times better than IPVanish,
VPNbook is a Interpool-NSA-Private companies honeypot, DO NOT USE IT!
Seems you’re chatting shite. I use IPVanish client on a mac. It now has a Killswitch and i’ve never had a problem using torrents either. First thing I checked tbh.
WebRTC is a browser based issue, and nothing to do with your choice of VPN provider.
hide.me for me is one of the best, the only “flaw” is that it requires email for registration, but does not record log, excellent Privacy Policy, accepts BTC, server very fast and stable, and especially is based in Malaysia, which I believe is the safest country for Privacy.
Ok, going to say it again but PIA, and most of the above list of “good” vpn’s should not be trusted.
My picks are mullvad and airvpn, along with cryptostorm.
To put it briefly i got pinched a little while back due to a minor glitch in my own opsec that i paid dearly for. The pigs had numerous bits and pieces on me but no clear connection to me actually doing anything naughty. And thanks to mullvad and airvpn, neither of these providers (mullvad and airvpn) rolled over on ANY of the requests, formal demands and subpoenas issued. A wall of deafening silence so to say.
so take it from someone who knows first hand not some fucking nerd computer geek that mouths off about some fucking privacy policy being “vague” or says fucking mullvad support never got back to them…. yeah whatever asshole, fuck off back to dungeons and dragons cunt
What about NordVPN or CyberGhost? Do you have any experience with them?
Iron Socket!!!!
Should i use one caz i haven,t all this time,seems to be ok thou i,m only a small peronal buyer
if you want to check vpn, just use them to visit jihad forums and tor drug markets, and if you are followed after that by cops or secret service, VPN provider made fake statement about privacy.
I used cyberghostvpn but romania is good for NSA and CIA (secret prisons, what to say about spying servers), hide.me looks like better option but…
I tried but can’t find owners of hide.me and I read somewhere they worked in the past for government, in such case, it is risky to use them, they could work for secret service. incorporation in malaysia (eVenture Ltd) doesn’t mean anything, humans are security problem and not company. they wrote on their site they use google analytics (a small snippet of javascript code is executed within your browser which submits information about the device from which you are connecting such as your browser user-agent, language, screen resolution, referring website, etc. to the Google Analytics service. To enhance your anonymity, hide.me have opted to only allow Google to collect only a portion of the IP address. Google Analytics may also store a web cookie to facilitate the identification of users who revisit the site. If users are concerned with being tracked by Google analytics scripts on hide.me or any other site running Google analytics, we recommend installing a browser add-on which allows you to opt out)…
I have used during the last two years VPN services from a quite
well known player in the market. I decided that I wanted to change
the VPN service provider since I had the impression that my privacy
and anonymity was not being guaranteed anymore.
I decided to go for PIA since there were some good references on the internet. I signed up firstly for a monthly package since I wanted to be sure that service provided fulfilled my expectations.
Unfortunately I cannot say that I am satisfied with the service since PIA’s VPN still does not work on my DD-WRT router after several E-Mails/chats to/with customer support(9 days so far).
Technical support is bad since they haven’t really understood that having customers waiting for approx. 6 hours until they get an answer which does not solve any problem at all is not the way
to go. Neither having an incompetent online chat support which does not even know the kind of support they offer or instead solving issues request customers to send an E-Mail to customer support.
It doesn’t benefit me at all if I PIA offers privacy, anonymity and great speeds if you cannot even use it ! For sure it is possible to install PIA’s VPN application on windows and most likely it will work. However, if you offer VPN for DD-WRT based routers it must work as well.
Keeping new customers happy is not so difficult. Just invest some additional time to help them get their VPN running and that it !
Having another point of comparison I can grade PIA’s customer support as 1 out of 10 (one because they do respond to E-Mail support requests).
Needless to say that using my current VPN account with my current provider works seamlessly.
Short but sweet. Mullvad is by far at the top. You can just mail them cash with an account number you can create with them using no personal info ..even create it with another vpn through tor if you really want to….then cut and paste your number from newspaper clippings to a piece of paper …lol… then send the cash to their address along with your “clippings…lol.. account number” in an unmarked envelope(no return address) and download the certs(note:- this can be done while you originally create the acc number)… run openvpn or their(mullvads) app if u want or ddwrt or many other methods actually and your about as far as you can be. Bitcoin is not untracable for those who do not know.
Is ironsocket good?
Good. Using it one year. Connections are stable with any server. Many servers they have all around the world. Not sure about logging. Have seen one review indicate they keep 72 hours log. p2p available with many servers. Speed wise no probs. at all – depend how far are you from chosen server. Main con. for me is NO OpevVPN Client provided by them. Community OpenVPN client to be used. Hard to do initial configuration. Hard to “start-up” with Windows Task Scheduler. Not for average user. Might be I am not aware about good OpenVPN client existence. But I did study a lot to find one w/o success.
Any way I would recommend it to advanced users.
Also all the features like Smart DNS, Un-blocking Country specific media and etc. are describes on their web site. I do not use anything other than basic internet activity over OpevVPN.
Support looks like good. No much issues to call support.
VPN’s are legal in most of the countries especially it become atleast legal after NSA and Prism program. Apart from bypassing the restrictions on the internet VPN is all about security and privacy of your internet connection. do let me know one thing, would you use loud speaker on the road to tell your identity to one person, seamingly once you are on the internet, there are hackers, snoopers, evesdroppers and most of all NSA prism to get everything you do and say, in this regards protecting yourself is not a crime. but to some extent using it illegal is a crime.
I like Privatoria VPN, it does not keep logs and lets me pay with Bitcoin privatoria.net/blog/pay-for-vpns-anonymously-with-bitcoin/
If I have to choose one VPN, it would be PureVPN.
Very much reliable VPN service. Been with them for 5 years.
I used to use FrootVPN. im a limited budget at home. no cable so I would get tv shows from torrents. now frootvpn went money account only. what program would you guys recommend I run so I can be a little safer when I get my tv shows from the interwebs? I was trying sptflux but none of my downloads would download. I just tried OpenVPN but again my torrents aren’t moving. as soon as I disconnect from them. they light up green. but I rather be safe than sorry. I don’t want my isp sending me a letter for getting tv shows.
I am used to downloading at 400kb max speed. so speed isn’t an issue for me. anonymity is. what would you guys recommend I get? besides a better paying job. haha
I’m in exactly the same position, I also used frootVPN up until they closed all free accounts. Their service was great though.
But I’m thinking either mullvad or nordvpn they seem like the best choice for me.
What about Anonymizer? That’s what I’m using for the sole purpose of disguising my DW activities but just checked their privacy policy and it kind of reads like not a good idea to keep using them?!? Could anyone give their two cents on how this reads? Maybe being a little paranoid but I’d like to know if someone could help :)))) c&p’d this section from their privacy policy:
“Apart from this, we disclose personal information only when we have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure of such information is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request, as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on our Web site (b) enforce applicable terms of use or other contract rights, including investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues (including abuse of our products or services by spamming or other abuses of netiquette, and use of our products or services to attack other systems or to gain unauthorized access to any other system) or (d) protect against imminent harm to the rights, property or safety of Anonymizer, our customers or the public.”
if anybody has issues concerning connection making through vpn’s like cyberghost,just download a great freeware software named “windows repair” (download from majorgeeks)run al 6 steps and you’ll see everything works again because windows repair repairs windows settings,one of the best freewares ever
I’m an old non tech person but I’m curious about stuff and pretty private. On the suggestion of my nephew I decided to try a VPN. I just started using (1 month) hide.me VPN.
But after reading the comments here I’m not sure if I should be using any of them because I don’t have the technical know how to use them “right”. Heck, I can’t even make OpenVPN work with hide.me to try out different countries offerings.
After reading the comment about using a seedbox.
I realized I am in WAY over my head.Can’t teach an old dog new tricks so, I’m stopping. *tiptoes quietly away*
HOTSPOT SHIELD IS SH*+T BECAUSE WHEN U UNINSTALL FROM WINDOWS 10 IR DELETES THE ETHERNET & WIFI IP ADRESSES AND MORE! BASICALLY I’VE HAD TO ROLLBACK WINDOWS TO LAST BACKUP.
What do you all think of disconnect . me?
I used Cyberghost (paid) for 1yr…heard a lot about ipvanish & used the code SUMMERSALE to get 25% off…used it & my speed dropped from 160mb to 60mb at best, some were only 10-20mb. I cancelled during the trial, re-downloaded cyberghost & a speed test on free gave me 60mb The same as paid ipvanish !!.
Bitcoin payment (or any other anonymous payment) will NOT help you if your VPN service keeps IP logs.
Why not?
Let’s say a copyright holder (or their agent) traces you during torrent use, and tracks it to address W.X.Y.Z.
1. They’ll see the address range belongs to the VPN provider and contact them.
2. If you paid via Bitcoin, the VPN provider won’t have your name/payment details, but IP logging will show that you originally had address A.B.C.D. when they gave you that W.X.Y.Z.
3. The copyright holder will then see that range A.B.C.D. belongs to a specific ISP.
4. Just as in step 1 above, the copyright holder will then contact the ISP, who WILL have all your details.
At best, paying via Bitcoin only adds an extra step. So, beware that if your VPN service keeps an IP to IP log, nothing will truly protect your anonymity.
Last year we had joined spotflux, paid for a year subscription and used for a while the service (less than 4-5 months), until it stopped service and we had never been able to get service anymore.
More interestingly, recently I had seen they charged me on my credit card, without any notice or confirmation 30 USD! I didt get any of the services, morever I am charged for no service. I strongly criticise, how can they save my credit card details on their system and how can they deduct any amount they desire not feeling any need to ask confirmation? I want them to return back the amount to my credit card and cancel my membership.which is connected to [email protected] mail address
Is avast VPN reliable?
AIR VPN doesn’t work..
I was logged on and connected to server in Netherland, but I tried to log into gmail and it didn’t recognize my computer because I reset it. Since I don’t remember my secret question i tried to log on thru ipad.
I got on in ipad and gmail sent me a letter saying someone was logging in from such and such address that address was my accurate IP address and not the rerouted airvpn address.
Could you look into PureVPN as well?
vpn is very important now for any internet user i am use expressvpn from 2 years … it’s great vpn service, very speed and easy to use ….
What about flashrouters?
It is a point that no one has mentioned yet. If you use a vpn to connect to a service that you have used in clear (gmail etc) then you have blown your privacy for that session.
Each of these services also keeps logs and if you connect to your email and log in you are now tying the 2 IP addresses together and that is not even mentioning the people who know you in RL that also appear in your email list who will certainly be susceptible to rubber hose decription techniques.
Other places this might also be a problem are things like windows (or even linux) updates.
How in the world is there no mention of IPVanish which is the most used VPN in North America? Whats the full legal stats on them?
Nice article here…I decided to drop my hma to Nordvpn after reading this article but it seems they have few servers available(in France). And their servers have been blocked by few sites I was trying to connect to.Support service is very good though..SO here come another question: shouldn’t you consider
number of serversas well to make your reviewHi, Can someone tell me please why you recommend VPN for safety when nsa can crack?
freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/haldermanheninger/how-is-nsa-breaking-so-much-crypto/
Which one above, not get cracked??
Sorry for my bad English.