Hotspot Shield (for Mac) - anonymous surfing?

[Black]

silvarios wrote: Which is good, but I better trust that service because they can see everything going through their servers.
Nathan

Good point, of course. But what could they do with it? Could they easily farm logins and passwords? Could they tune in and see through your iSight if you left it broadcasting?
Guessing it wouldn't be too hard to identify a user that was using a p2p program, right?

[IronMac]

silvarios wrote:

If I use a service that creates a secure proxy for all my traffic, then my data is secured as well. Which is good, but I better trust that service because they can see everything going through their servers.

So, what would make you place your trust in such a service?

[silvarios]

Not sure really. Prior use of another product or service would help. Review by a respected security conscious professional would also be nice.

I could be mistaken, but I don't see how making an SSL connection to an untrusted service is any more secure than making the original unsecured connection. Isn't the SSL connection to Hotspot Shield decrypted by Hotspot Shield? As the same process of making an SSL connection to something important like your bank's website, the end point has to be trusted. After all, the endpoint has to figure out what data you just sent it.

If you have verified the service, then great. I trust you to make good choices for your security. I have not done the necessary research yet to really comment further. I was simply speaking in generalizations. Oh, I would carefully consider if Hotspot Shield truly anonymizes traffic. Their own terms of service indicate that they have to respond to DMCA take down notifications by banning your account and I would imagine any subpoena would have to be responded to with the best of their ability to divulge any information they have about the specific user.

[IronMac]

In other words, it seems like you're unable to "verify" any service to keep your data safe. You may as well stay off of the Internet.

[silvarios]

IronMac wrote:
In other words, it seems like you're unable to "verify" any service to keep your data safe. You may as well stay off of the Internet.

Or not. I've verified many of the services that I use. Some better than others obviously, but I do my best. One way is to check for valid site certificates, researching the companies past history, and performing the usual Internet safety checks. You could always send email to the companies requesting more details. Familiarizing yourself with the basics of how the Internet works, and the technologies behind SSL, VPN, and the like would also be helpful.

Since you seemed to be an experienced Internet user, I judged your own ability to determine safe services to be sufficient. If I am mistaken, your own inability to judge the security of systems is not indicative of my own. Or if your comment was more along the lines of how hard Internet safety has become, well yes, I agree.


Nathan

[hotspotshield]

Hello. I work for Anchorfree - makers of Hotspot Shield. I'd love to know how the mac version is working for you. Feel free to email me if you have any issues.
cheers
art
art at achorfree.com

[silvarios]

hotspotshield wrote:
Hello. I work for Anchorfree - makers of Hotspot Shield. I'd love to know how the mac version is working for you. Feel free to email me if you have any issues.
cheers
art
art at achorfree.com

Nice sentiment. People should take Art up on his offer. Assuming Art is actually an Anchorfree employee.

Just teasing.

Thanks again.


Nathan

[hotspotshield]

silvarios wrote:
[quote=hotspotshield]
Hello. I work for Anchorfree - makers of Hotspot Shield. I'd love to know how the mac version is working for you. Feel free to email me if you have any issues.
cheers
art
art at achorfree.com

Nice sentiment. People should take Art up on his offer. Assuming Art is actually an Anchorfree employee.

Just teasing.

Thanks again.
Nathan ------------------------

By the way, we have recently launched a support portal for people to see existing issues and report problems - www.HssHelp.com.

Art

[hotspotshield]

Black wrote:
[quote=IronMac]
[quote=Mini 9]
trying to figure that part out.

:banghead:
:-)

Nothing happens when you launch it . . .
Is your icon in the icon tray "Green"? If not, please click on the icon and then select the option "Connect". Your browser should open a page that validates the connection. You should be able to browse internet in secure mode. If you are not able to connect, could you please tell me the version of the software and the error message(s) you may be getting?

art@anchorfree.com.

thanks!

[silvarios]

Thank you again. I may have come across as a big Mr. Negative, but I am genuinely appreciative of the fact that companies such as yourself are attempting to tackle this rather complex problem.


Nathan