Comments by "Bond25" (@Bond2025) on "Now THIS is What a Private VPN Looks Like" video.

Privacy and Anonymity are completely different. Tor was compromised in 2013, users can be identified by rogue nodes and traffic staining techniques. That is why GCHQ runs a lot of Tor Nodes. The Tor Browser Bundle was altered, possibly with the agreement of the developers to assist Law Enforcement with Operation Onymous in 2014. All the default security settings were changed to the lowest level and scripts were turned on. The script feature was also left operating despite the setting being set to off/blocked in later releases - to assist further with police investigations. The way it worked was that sites run a script when a user connected and the Tor Browser Bundle firefox sent replies outside Tor, back to Law Enforcement. Certain sites were given ID numbers and once the user connected, firefox run the script and identified the real IP address of the person. Tor Project would never answer questions over this. They also presented for download a version in November and December 2013 that had a "profiler trojan" built in, but only identifiable by Kaspersky antivirus at the time, because that company would not assist with exposing users. Some sites had pictures and videos that were modified, so they would cause a video player or picture viewer program to call for extra resources or a CODEC. Unless you blocked this or set VLC, for example, to connect out on a random IP and Port, you would be connected to Law Enforcement and they tracked you. Other files were just remote access trojans and law enforcement just sat watching what users did. VPNs are dangerous. YouTube affiliates only advertise them as they earn up to 40% of each referral. Most are only Proxy Servers, not VPNs. They operate on rented equipment in datacnters like M247 Ltd - who are forced to hand over all data in the UK at the request of police with a Production Order. The VPN collects, inspects, manipulates and redirects your data and sifts through to see if there is anything they can add to a user profile. Some VPNs want email addresses, phone numbers, WifI info, contact lists, PRECISE LOCATION and also your credit card details as your verified profile is sold for more. Even if the VPN doesn't collect all your data, the Host Company can and does sell it to whoever wants it A VPN only hides the IP, technology has moved on in the past 10years, now it is possible to trace anyone anywhere. Security Services can locate a person using facial recognition, using input from doorbells, CCTV, phones, ANPR etc. They can also tell who is with you if you are talking near a phone or alexa, or some TVs.
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@wintrywind I definitely would be using KAPE/Nord and all the others running your data through the same Datacenter proxy servers. All your Data is logged, stored and assigned to the profile associated with your credit card account. The Data is then collected and sold again by the hosting company. ALL VPNs log your data, if they say they don't, or say no one does, they are not being honest. They all cooperate with Police and Security Services. If your data goes through anything in the UK, it must be made available to GCHQ. This is why PIA stopped using UK hosts, they had their UK servers located in Amsterdam. It doesn't stop anything, the Police ask a partner country to get the information under different local Laws. Only one or two VPNs respect privacy and make it impossible to supply data on users, they are PRQ and Mullvad. Beware of the many VPNs that are set up as a front, some like WeVPN were even being recommended by idiot influencer types just in it for the money, they never got paid! We have suspicions about Proton. Will this ever be the next Excrochat, plenty think it will.
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They know all the guard nodes too, what you might want to look at is the settings to make Tor settings look like Microsoft update data. This can help on DPI/DPI systems, but newer ones cross reference the traffic and IP, so it is pointless depending on who you are hiding from. A guard node is as insecure as an exit node. I could set one up and inspect and modify traffic. Police and Security Services in the UK do this all the time. Look how many sites that are aimed at privacy still insist on the lowest security settings on Tor Browser and demand scripts are run! That is so they track you and know your real ID. A lot of exit and middle nodes are run by GCHQ and NSA to play with. They can stain traffic going in to see where it comes out, so get the real IP that way. Two university students were threatened or paid not to give a talk on how to de-anonymise Tor users when they went to DEFCON. The talk was pulled as it would have revealed users can be traced easily and ruined the work of the security services. Tor Browser Bundle had firefox changed by developers - because they say it was not hacked - to facilitate Operation Onymous in 2014. Scripts were all set to run, but the program was like that from default instead of how it was previously with everything set to OFF. That was pressure being put on the team by Security Services and they rolled over. Then they allowed all scripts to be run no matter if the setting was on or off. Again, to keep police and security services happy because they were running exploits on Tor Users. You really can't trust anyone.
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@johnmachenzie1613 Doesn't make any difference. If you look ay DPI/DPI, Deep Packet inspection and Deep Packet Injection, the traffic type is identified and can be manipulated easily. They still know it is Tor Traffic, so can block that guard node easily or compromise that system and monitor it. The only way to use Tor is via free WiFi from a distance!
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My advice is DON'T. I tried it and had loads of trouble in the UK. People don't understand that traffic is not from you on your IP, it is from a Tor Exit node. I would pay for a remote one or pay towards the project and they will run one on your behalf for a monthly fee. Some ISPs refuse to allow it. I was with BT in 2012 and they went wild. I tried it before then as a middle node and should have stuck with that.
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VPNs on sale today are nothing more than Proxy Servers in rented datacenters. All traffic is logged and stored and sold by the companies involved including the hosting companies. What makes me sick is the youtube people like Tom Spark promoting and reviewing services just to earn a bit of money from affiliate sales. Many reviews are paid with prepared scripts. He reviewed WeVPN without even knowing who was behind it and that it had been compromised a year ago. Other VPNs, Windscribe and TorGuard were so desperate for new customers, they give free subscriptions to users for the remaining time they had between UK Police/Security Services closing down the fronted service and end of contracts. They know customer data is valuable.
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I agree, I used a VPN to stop my ISP being nosey, but found there were stronger Laws protecting my info than with PIA or the HoneyPot VPN called WeVPN. What you need to do is see how many companies refuse to accept a VoIP number even if it is valid and you pay for it. They want to be able to track you. I got a Pixel and use Graphene, with FDroid and similar stores. I use a VoIP number and only use the SIM for data. That also means all permissions are switched off to avoid tracking apart from to the Cell Site ping. Your choice of Apps needs to be changed, for example, use Bitwarden and use Aegis Authenticator. Some 2FA Apps, Twilio Authy being one, take all the data they can through permissions you agree to and sell it on to others. They have never said what they do with the data they take or for what purpose. Never use Twitter on the App, or Youtube, use browsers on the phone and use Brave. You really need to section off social media, work and hone.
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When police and security services set up a VPN, they used the excuse that it was 6 people that had all left PIA when Kape bought them out. I was able to research and found the IPs coming from a UK Police IP range and stopped using them immediately about a year ago.
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The Hosting Companies running the proxy servers that VPN offer to customers also sell all the data and hand it over upon request - it all has to be logged in the UK for Security Services and police anyway. Look at WeVPN, a front for a service run by UK Police! What about Proton, ask who is really running that...
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Agreed. My ISP is collecting a lot of data about me and manipulating what I see, so is my home Router from TPLink and another from DLINK. Then Microsoft and Google take a bit of data, so do most of the Apps on my phones! It's so annoying.
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And that is how it works! Exactly how you are identified using Tor, they stain the traffic going in and look for it on the exit nodes. GCHQ and NSA monitor all Tor nodes are correlate the traffic.
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@J43rv1 He might have been the only person using Tor at the time on the college network, and there was a good chance it was linked, but there was NO EVIDENCE. He should have followed legal advice and said nothing, just left it for the prosecution to prove he had done something. If he had not confessed, he would have been released.
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@johnmachenzie1613 No he wouldn't, they would have gone through the amount of users on the network at the exact time. Then got a list of users and the IPs they connected to. The Tor Bridge/Guard would have stood out a mile and it would only have delayed the arrest. The police would look at people connecting to sites, check what sort of traffic was used and then see a guard node and think Tor.
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I hope you do not use a credit card or all that information in your profile is sold as verified! Try cancelling with them or even asking them why PayPal banned them.
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Apart from your DNA being taken off the intercepted post!
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Agreed, even home routers are inspecting and collecting all your traffic. Have you noticed how many of them hide it as antivirus monitoring or traffic shield systems.
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If it is in the UK like M247 Ltd, then all your data can be turned over to police and security services. Unfortunately Mullvad has servers located in their datacenter.
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ONLY your IP is hidden, Google and others still know exactly who you are from many different ways. Cookies, supercookies, canvas fingerprinting, browser and device fingerprinting, the way you type, what you look at, what you do online etc. Technology has changed, so a VPN is not protecting people. Most will connect to youtube via a VPN, log-in with their Google account and wonder how they were traced!!!
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You only need to look at VPN review sites and magazines all owned by the VPN companies. Then horrible affiliates reading scripts in return for payments. They offer affiliate links for everything!
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It doesn't matter which VPN or glorified Proxy Server you pay to use, if the Data comes in or out of equipment located in the UK, then by Law it has to be made available to GCHQ. Mullvad does not ask for a credit card to create a profile of all your traffic against confirmed identities. They don't care who you are so long as you pay!
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