Now THIS is What a Private VPN Looks Like

[@HerpApandader]

Im convinced now Menatal outlaw's channel is a honey pot.

[@samwhaleIV]

Long con

[@yowassup46]

😅😭🤣

[@jomo_sh]

why?

[@Randorandom232]

@@jomo_sh barely watched, but he seems to be a noob and gets to things late.

[@2h0]

@@jomo_sh The comment is Satire

[@Omi_Kasigi]

Was working for a US-based VPN fairly recently. Handled reporting bugs and doing QA testing with the software as well as customer feedback. In one of our internal tools, there was a "folder" that contained all the subpoenas from local law enforcement as well as from the FBI. If the gov't asks for info about a specific user, you hand it to them on silver platter.

[@nadeoki]

that's america, you can't speak for other sites. also, if you don't keep logs the company can't hand it over. VPN's that don't keep logs are safe.

[@definitelynotobama6851]

God I hate the government so much

[@merkava9122]

Doesnt your company have no logs policy?

[@DahSkinniestKEECAT]

@@merkava9122 Thats not how that works. If the FBI wants your info The FBI gets it Blame Bush and the Patriot act

[@Sebastian-pc1li]

@@merkava9122 it’s literally illegal to permit government interferences

[@HonestlyJustSomeGuy]

What gets me pissed is I'm not doing ANYTHING remotely criminal at all, and I HATE how I have to look "suspicious" just because I'm following my dear old dad's advice of not telling people stuff they don't need to know. People don't NEED to know exactly where I live unless they're sending me something to my doorstep. Most people aren't going to DO that, so I don't want them to know. You don't tell somebody your blood type when you meet them (unless you're doing Japanese dating), so why should I have information like that extracted from me and given to people who don't need it? Mindboggling.

[@RAEJDER]

Yeah I feel you, I also specifically hate the "I dont have anything to hide so what does it matter?" group. Right, Im not saying you are hiding something but you wouldnt let anyone in on your bathroom visits either right?

[@indexwell6546]

What does blood type have to do with japanese dating?

[@SwornInvictus]

Seriously though. I just want to protect my privacy.

[@startedtech]

@@indexwell6546 weird japanese culture thing

[@PlaceholderforBjorn]

How should all the companies otherwise find new ways to sell you things you don't need? They need to know you better than your spouse or any other family member. The last 20 years that have been the highest priority in western society. Hopefully now when the economy seems to change, people may start to question this data mining aswell.

[@nandoxus]

The 21st century, the century where Paranoia is your bestfriend.

[@nandoxus]

@Locked no

[@Shimpriv]

It has always been this way for those who required privacy and/or anonymity. Thankfully i'm not old enough to witness the full power of the kgb, but even at the end of that era we had to be pretty paranoid about what/where we talk about things. I would imagine they'd be super happy to know we now carry bugs on us completely willingly and even buy them with out own cash.

[@nandoxus]

@@Shimpriv oh man. Where I'm from in the 90's it was a civil war between extremists and the military. bombs everywhere. I remember going to school everyday paranoid af if the car parked in front of me was going to explode or if I was going catch a stray bullet. And in the end a bomb did blow up next to my school while we were in class. Paranoia saved me countless times. But now it evolved into something annoying af, because it's accompanied with PTSD. Sorry for the rant

[@DF-ss5ep]

@@Shimpriv Did anyone you know ever get arrested? Asking out of curiosity, it's one thing to read it in the books, another to ask someone who lived through it.

[@Shimpriv]

@@DF-ss5ep Not any close relatives. My granddad and basically entire family from father's side were well off in the 1920s, so he had to spend almost his entire life in the military to protect them from persecution. Some family stories mention colleagues that would be "transferred", but we didn't talk about it much. When i was old enough to witness it all myself the state was already out of gas - yeah a couple of my acquaintances were questioned after a raid on a private rock concert for "west influence" but it felt like nobody was too sure of why they're doing it any more. Well, there's always a chance now to say something unsuitable about current events, i guess - one side would jail me, the other already cancelled me for being born on a certain territory.

[@danielianello]

Switched to Mullvad over a year ago after listening to Michael Bazzell, replacing PIA. Much happier with it, and my router has direct integration with its Wireguard protocol.

[@roybuscht.9997]

Which router do you use? I use L2TP with mine and its unreliable

[@Ooooooooooo]

@@roybuscht.9997 Probably GL-iNet, they're quite ok. Asus seems to have a few models that can handle decent WireGuard throughput, too.

[@danielianello]

@@roybuscht.9997 GL.inet; they make a 400 mbps VPN router for around $120. Pretty happy with it, they are supposed to be energy efficient and compact, which is nice and all, but I would prefer more performance when adjusting settings in the web interface. Very customizable. Throughput has no issues though, I even played FPS games through my connection and maintained sub 20 ping in most games.

[@Scranny]

Dan, can you explain to me why this router is preferred over a TPLink or Linksys? Also, can you install open source firmware on your GLinet (e.g. Tomato, openwrt, etc)?

[@Bambotb]

@@Ooooooooooo are you sure VPN makes you private ?

[@wintrywind]

Mullvad is a godsend, not only for privacy but piracy. Setting up port forwarding is so easy than other vpn services.

[@magiricod]

@@ReconScammers yeah I use speedify and it's basically 1 click

[@EnzoBergstrom]

I run my tor exit relay over mullvad, works great.

[@wintrywind]

@@ReconScammers well then i guess it's just my experience with mullvad and other vpn services i tried, some of them didn't even have port forwarding like NordVPN

[@ahmadramzy2716]

What's port forwarding? Complete newbie here if anybody got the time to explain will be greatly appreciated

[@coler154]

@@ahmadramzy2716 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJe2faupaZWmf9k

[@chip2508]

When a sincere video by someone who just knows what they're talking about is more convincing than thousands of dollars in advertising

[@grrman]

Haha, this great because glowies in Europe recently tried to raid Mullvad offices and came away with NOTHING

[@Cromie45]

Absolutely based and anon pilled

[@DeZmanStudios]

The "private" in VPN means LAN aka private network. VPNs were developed for the task of linking private networks together or user and private network, over WAN. Privacy was never intended, just promoted for the $$$.

[@Todija]

That is an interesting thing I've heard today

[@xCwieCHRISx]

This should be the top comment.

[@TheLoveMario]

LogMeIn Hamachi is a VPN. Around 2013-2014 everyone used it to make running a small Minecraft server with their friends way easier. That's the kind of thing VPN technology was meant to be used for

[@darkcatapulter]

VPN. AKA Virtual Private Network. AKA tunneling. AKA encapsulating an IP header within another IP header. Example of such [VPN] technology is “GRE Tunnel”. AKA Generic Routing Encapsulation. Known for creating VPN tunnels with no encryption. Can be used for sending IPv6 packets over an IPv4 only network (IPv6 over IPv4 tunnel). Another example for such technology is “IPSEC”. AKA IP security. Known for creating encrypted VPN connections. Is very commonly configured with old and insecure crypto settings (using IKE version 1 instead of IKE version 2, or configure insecure DH groups like 2 or 5 instead of the more secure 20 or 21). Third example of such technology is SSL-VPN. Known for creating secure VPN tunnels using SSL certificates for authentication. AKA VPN tunnel over HTTPS. Mostly only used by companies to give employees secure access to company intranet.

[@jeremyreese54]

The big thing is that vpn encryption prevents sslv break and inspect by your ISP.

[@zenithzv]

Mullvad is genuinely the best VPN I've ever used, been using it for 5 years and have constantly said that it's the only VPN I would possibly take a sponsorship for (too bad it seems like they don't do sponsorships lol)

[@therearewormsundermyskinth2928]

omg tf2 pedo

[@cloudynguyen6527]

I mean you could promote them for free.

[@zenithzv]

@@cloudynguyen6527 i already do to everyone who asks lol

[@danielrobinson3654]

I just saw a mullvad banner on a bus just outside of Chicago, so there's that

[@aaaaaa-hh8cq]

​@@danielrobinson3654interesting. it's fine as long as they don't sponsor KZbinrs and celebrities

[@ShuskiCross]

"If you truly want to be anonymous, you use TOR" - Proceeds to immediately tell you TOR is actually weak and can in fact be, not anonymous.

[@iirekm]

Exactly. Let's face the truth, money is the thing that governs the world, but regular users have no financial incentives to run TOR nodes (just like it's in e.g. Bitcoin case). My bet is that most of TOR nodes today are just honeypots run by governments.

[@ForsenArchive]

@@iirekm I think this is an overly paranoid take. Many people go to great lengths to build ever more and more private software who have nothing to hide but their own privacy. I'm willing to bet that a lot of TOR nodes are actual privacy minded individuals.

[@iirekm]

@@ForsenArchive I guess nodes run by privacy-minded individuals are a very tiny minority. For 3 reasons: - running node on VPS / cloud services / even old PC in garage costs money, Tor doesn't have any incentives to refund those individuals at least the cost of electricity and risk (read below) - Tor exit nodes are just like any other IP on the internet. If someone commits a crime using your Tor exit node, you will have anti-terrorist police pack at your home at 5 AM, arrest and long trial... unless you're a honeypot made by a government - Running a lot of Tor nodes and lots of "competing" VPN services is simply too good idea for governments not to use it for finding criminals and obtaining intelligence. Want privacy? Use apps with privacy built-in (signal, proton mail, mega drive, Duck Duck Go search engine, physical cash or z-cash/monero, ...), multiple computers and accounts for multiple activities, public internet e.g. in random cafes, SIM card bought in country which still didn't introduce showing ID on card registration. Tor or VPNs over privacy-incapable apps and websites nowadays have little to no sense.

[@arrowhead1235]

@@iirekmnah bruv, I run multiple nodes because I’m just a huge supporter of internet privacy. I hate the fact that companies and the gov have so much personal info they don’t need abt us

[@33Thrty]

@@arrowhead1235 thankyou

[@LiborTinka]

For EU users it should be noted that no, GDPR does not protect you. Although companies should comply, the state institutions do not. The state and its institution can use your personal data virtually however they want.

[@maxine3978]

Based communist

[@GaiaGoddessOfTheEarth]

As someone who switched to mullvad after the PIA buyout I'm happy to see you covering them.

[@Bond2025]

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.

[@battokizu]

You actually shouted out the best vpn. Actually great speeds and no bs for torrenting. God bless them.

[@Freak_Gamer]

My biggest issue with TOR is that people/your ISP *knows* you are using tor. They may not know what for, but they know you are. And when probably only a handful out of many thousands of people in a city use tor, they become persons of interest. Edit: I know there are guard nodes, but it feels as if quite a few of them must be tapped.

[@kevinbarber2795]

What’s a guard node?

[@greatac5082]

@@kevinbarber2795 in the context of this I'm assuming it means an entrance node which some how some way makes it so that your isp doesn't know

[@ray8776]

If you live in a 3rd class country, random not-so popular city, and only a few people within a mile radius uses Tor. Then it could be a problem. (?)

[@johnmachenzie1613]

@@ray8776 You & the OP forgot bridges (Tor) exists

[@Bond2025]

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.

[@steini19o4]

There is also IVPN. Mullvard and IVPN are the best ones out there. Mullvard is cheaper overall for the same features, IVPN is cheaper if you use all available device-slots for the 2 and 3 year plans for the same features. One of the best features these two VPN providers have is port-forwarding which allows you to expose a single service on one of your computers (e.g. ssh, webserver, password manager, ...) at a static public IP on the internet without having to open your home firewall to external requests or making your own IP known to DDOS script-kiddies.

[@alpha12081]

What about X-VPN for general browsing and research stuff?

[@EasyOCE]

​@@alpha12081 ye no 😂

[@Kiwi-9381]

Always get excited when I see your videos, you have literally been my favourite youtuber for a long time now. Keep up the great work

[@isheamongus811]

Alongside Som€Ordin@ry Ganner

[@vladaguljas4258]

Its here, finally!

[@electrified0]

I'd still challenge the premise that a VPN doesn't help you be anonymous, since masking an otherwise public IP can go a long way in some scenarios. For example, in peer to peer situations, whether it be BitTorrent or attrocities like GTA Online (where everyone with a mod menu can see your IP), even a shitty KZbinr-sponsored VPN with your credit card on file will be enough to keep peers from obtaining your identity who could otherwise obtain it with ease. They won't necessarily stop Government agencies from getting your data, and the VPN company themselves can potentially use the data they gather on you in ways that violate your privacy, so they're still overall not good tools for anonymity, but in both those examples, Tor is out of the set of options and so a VPN is among your only options to add a layer of anonymity.

[@pucktoad]

Yes. Many think VPN = anon, but in reality VPN = hiding from some specific parties. I use mine at work connected to my works wifi. They know my device and how much data I use, but the use of a VPN makes them unable to snoop on the domains I am connecting to. I am not checking anything bad, but prefer to keep that away from my employer.

[@almaefogo]

Just saying but you don't need a mod menu to know someone's IP, it's a lot easier but if you only have 2 or 3 people in the session you figure it out pretty easily without a mod menu.

[@xCwieCHRISx]

i dont get it. whats so bad when someone got your ip address? they can locate where you live and that information is problably about 50-100km wrong. if you dont want to bypass geolocation restrictions a vpn is a waste of money in my opinion.

[@itsme7570]

I'm with the author of this thread. I use mullvad with bad opsec and do illegal stuff all the time.. Not in jail atm

[@jeremyreese54]

Every machine has a unique profile. While your home IP may be a very easy way to announce who you are, you need to mask much more. A solid firewall is a must. If you aren't restricting your traffic out, anyone with a brain can figure it out.

[@TruthBehindTheLies]

I've heard you recommend against connecting to TOR while using a VPN a few times in other videos but I'm not sure the reasoning. Could you or someone knowledgeable explain why that's a bad decision? I'm new to privacy and I'm just trying to understand it so I can make better decisions in the future.

[@MentalOutlaw]

Guard nodes already provide the service of hiding the fact that you're using Tor.

[@TruthBehindTheLies]

@@MentalOutlaw Okay thank you, I'll look into that

[@freerobuxgotomychannel7179]

@@TruthBehindTheLies idk truth, you acting kinda sus as a roblox youtuber on tor :/

[@isheamongus811]

I heard if u use VPN with tor VPN goes before tor guide nodes hide better in most cases but if ur in China it's good to have VPN before tor coś it's easier for vpn to bypass firewall i heard that from nordvpn and I'm not sure

[@isheamongus811]

I think ud have to use VPN wire wall or something

[@CubeBag]

8:25 It's probably not just them giving a discount out of the goodness of their heart -- I'm sure the discount is also because these card companies charge merchants up the butt with fees, so Mullvad can afford to drop the price a little bit for payment methods that are almost free to use.

[@kk-gu1zv]

@@ethgod yes + 25-50 cent on top as a flat fee

[@genkiferal7178]

the discount CODE is so that the YTer gets credit for sending business to VPN.

[@JansHeikkinen]

They may not have at the time the comment was posted, but they specifically state that this is true on their website: "Our accepted cryptocurrencies are discounted at 10% due to lower fees and less administration." This is on the pricing page, under the question about discounts. From what I've seen, most stores that accept cryptocurrencies have discounts like this; Mental Outlaw's store does the same ;-)

[@t74devkw]

I feel like real anonymity is unobtainable while Internet is paid. Your ISP will always need your billing info. The only hope would be to wait until fiber optic infrastructure becomes so cheap you can get it for free, which is not realistic. And again, supporting privacy is not in the best interest of corporations and states, so...

[@darkcoeficient]

Too bad you can't phreak I guess.

[@reforcoescolar7881]

I mean, you could use someone else connection, thus someone else, ISP? It's illegal but it's a way nonetheless lol

[@darkcoeficient]

@@reforcoescolar7881 yeah, at that point is like... What the hell are you even doing? I was even going to suggest public Wi-Fi.

[@reforcoescolar7881]

@@darkcoeficient tru, forgot about em

[@madokalover]

even if u could connect urself to the internet physically you would still need to pay the iana to get an ip address

[@Dystopikachu]

Mullvad is doing a massive ad campaign right now in the subway and at bus stops in Stockholm, Sweden. One of the banners reads something like (translated from Swedish): "If you see this ad, it's completely by accident". Genius.

[@SaintJames14]

I don't get it

[@Jack-oc2fc]

VPN's are anonymous to an outside observer. The problem is if the VPN company is connecting data.

[@Livity.]

Mullvad has an unique ability bypass public paid wifi, such as (college) dorms or hotels. If your in a dorm type situation, you could test this out.

[@J43rv1]

Not a good idea at all. Remember how they caught the kid who posted bomb threats to get out of finals at Harvard? He was even using TOR.

[@ghostymytoasty7007]

@@J43rv1 He was caught because he admitted to the authorities he did it. Mental Outlaw even said himself a few times don't admit to anything, they knew he was using TOR yeah and that made him suspect #1 but just using TOR wasn't what got him caught. That said though if they seized his computer I am almost positive they would of found more evidence.

[@J43rv1]

@@ghostymytoasty7007 They correlated his usage of the internet with the same time the posts were made. What I'm saying is, for the original question, it doesn't matter if you're using a VPN or TOR on Public paid wifi/university wifi, you can still be identified. Unless I don't understand his comment.

[@mnageh-bo1mm]

@Livity that can't be true

[@slicepie410]

But how?? Dont they "ban" your access to internet untill you pay? Or does it just put some sort of limit making it impossible to surf the internet comfortably?

[@Mina_Bennington]

Interesting! Will give this a look. Also that FBI back door cellphone is terrifying.

[@miodrag.aleksic]

Regarding using an android phone as a Tor node: you shouldn't recommend it. Battery management on mobile phones is horrible, and even LTT mentioned in a few videos how they've had every single device explode due to being used (as far as I remember) as a server to remote into for some project. Most people would just set up a Tor node on a mobile device and forget it, instead of bothering to implement a system of charging it's battery only when it gets low and stopping once it's full. Even LTT didn't bother to do that. So there would definitely be explosions if that use case is promoted.

[@anubmusing9749]

Lipo battery inside mobile phone wouldn't just suddenly explode when overly discharged right?

[@seronymus]

Wait what

[@sigmamale4147]

@@anubmusing9749 i think it is more about the temperature, as phone batteries can get pretty hot when using the device while charging it

[@beardalaxy]

@@sigmamale4147 you'd have to find a phone that lets you connect directly to the wall without a battery which i don't think exist

[@anubmusing9749]

@@sigmamale4147 I am pretty sure most smartphone now will just shut off when your battery or cpu is overheating.

[@hansmichael6270]

Mullvad is based on Sweden. And Sweden is part of the 14 eyes.

[@Blood-PawWerewolf]

True. But there really isn’t trustworthy countries to begin with. Want to escape the 14 eyes? Go to a sketchy country (ie China, Russia). Oh? You don’t trust sketchy countries with your data? Well, who would you really trust? Nobody

[@lazar2949]

Mullvad doesnt hide that fact, they talk about it on their website. They are pretty transparent about that stuff which i respect. Being part of 14 eyes doesn't mean they are definitely monitoring.

[@philcooper9225]

@@lazar2949 definitely monitoring doesn't matter. Possibly monitoring does

[@marcusaurelius3487]

And theyve had multiple court proceedings, and they show the court details, they provide nothing. Dont underestimates swedes love for piracy

[@fryphillipj560]

ANOM was genius, and it is precisely the type of stuff we mean when we fight against complete surveillance and advocate for targeted surveillance of known criminals. Change my mind.

[@thealexdn-k9d]

Problem is, how would any law enforcement or intelligence agency know for sure that person they're surveiling is in fact a criminal? (It is especially true for various crimes coomon today, like fraud, money laundering etc). Criminals aren't fools. Plus, it's not only law enforcement who is surveiling people, it's also intelligence agencies.

[@Ultrajamz]

The issue I see is no non-sketchy way of getting monero in decent amounts

[@junosoft]

Buy a good GPU and mine it.

[@f0rest10]

invest in alts use interest / gains to transition into moreno

[@vanish3408]

buy with cash from a P2P market

[@Andrew-jh2bn]

@@junosoft Actually Monero isn't mined with GPUs, it uses a cpu only algorithm.

[@gigibecali699]

@@Andrew-jh2bn it's minable using a GPU,albeit I wouldn't recommend it,since it doesn't make full use of the gpu

[@MarlonSardini]

Would be nice to expand on the issues involved in hosting a tor exit node. It seems like a pretty high risk.

[@itsawill9268]

It does seem that way but tor has been through the ringer with gov agencies trying to take it down or mitigate its uses

[@spyj1900]

For anyone: Anonymity and secrecy are inherently contradicting each other as any anonymous software require external (therefor less secure) servers as a proxy. Also windows version of tor browser is relatively vulnerable to traditional cyber attacks as well. Tails linux equipped with end to end encryption tools such as pidgin paired with xmpp and https everyware may mitigate the risk of it. Though there is a risk of MiTM attack from exit node.

[@itsawill9268]

@@spyj1900 It just doesn’t seem very likely to happen

[@DigitalNomadInvestor]

@@itsawill9268 Yet it was created by the military?

[@brands2131]

That's why you don't do that... He runs a tor relay, two different things.

[@afrofantom6631]

an important thing to note is that the talking points used for the VPNS in ad reads has started to shift towards the "Watch British nflix in America" thing more than privacy (but still mentioning it).

[@masterzoroark6664]

And that's why war for privacy shouldn't be sidestepped with "fixes" like VPN. It should be fought with being outspoken and action. "Fixes" like VPNs are not fixing things at all, they justs swep the problem under the rug so you, consooomer, don't need to "worry" about it.

[@Tyro555]

My neckbeard has long awaited the day a youtuber has mentioned mullvad with a well produced video

[@TonCulte]

You've shown what to look for into VPN's as well as DNS's an TOR, I'd suggest making a video about proxies to complement these topics would be helpful.

[@genkiferal7178]

YES, PLEASE

[@wilux2469]

Mullvad also has public billboards here in their hometown of Gothenburg. Fun too see them doing well.

[@jeremyleonbarlow]

A Calyx Institute MiFi Hotspot ordered with a computer running Tails over a public WiFi bought with XMR shipped to a mail drop for a Wyoming LLC at a registered office ran by your attorney and forwarded to you by the attorney's office is about the most private access point you can get as an entry point to the Internet. After that connect via Tor over a VPN paid for with XMR. That is about as anonymous and private as you can get thanks to Attorney-Client privilege. Of course never put the sim into that hotspot anywhere near a location that can be associated with you.

[@joeybuddy96]

This guy's doing the thinking for all of us. ☝️

[@jeremyleonbarlow]

@@joeybuddy96 For bonus points, you hire the attorney with cash and give him a psuedonym.

[@wrockd]

Using TOR over VPN is doing nothing but making latency based correlation and MITM attacks easier for them.

[@jeremyleonbarlow]

@@wrockd it is adding one more hop of obfuscation and adding yet another layer of fruitless investigative sourcing. The ISP doesn't know you were connected to Tor. Tor doesn't know where you are coming from, and the VPN provider only knows that you came from a mobile hotspot and went out to a Tor node. It removes single points of failure.

[@wrockd]

@@jeremyleonbarlow TOR Guards work much better for that purpose, as they mitigate that exact single point of failure that you're talking about. VPNs are Centralised and Your ISP can figure out exactly which VPN Provider you're using just by looking at the IP, after that all it takes is an email exchange between two governments to hand over your data from that VPN company (14 eyes and 7 eyes exist). And now you've got a single entity with logs of all your activities, that's a single point of faliuee. For obfuscating TOR usage using TOR Guard nodes is much better, they Obfuscate the traffic behaviour to look like common traffic, and by the time they get recognised/registered as TOR Guard nodes by your ISP they are already replaced.

[@corbonthec0b]

The most complex 12 minute ad read I’ve ever seen. Shoutout Mullvad

[@愛]

YESSSS I EMAILED THEM ASKING FOR A MONERO OPTION AND THEY DID IT

[@mikerotcherson]

Careful. According to Kenny you're now identified since they have an email address for you.

[@YeePie]

a few hours ago i saw an ad for mullvad on a bus in stockholm, this getting into my recommendations feels like a targeted advertisement

[@Slugbunny]

One thing I've liked about Vtubers is that they haven't had sponsored ads on streams. Probably because they're with an agency, but the result is the same.

[@nadeoki]

imagine marketing yourself as authentic and "down to earth" but breaking the status quo of no sponsors xd

[@justwatching6118]

I'm waiting for Kenny's VPN! :)) Monero will be the only payment option and on landing page will display "connect to this site from coffee shop's wi-fi or tor" :D

[@coin6607]

What I also love also Mullvad is they don't offer huge bulk discounts like many other big providers. Most VPNs try to suck you in giving you $2-3/month deals for a 2 year plan, but a $8-10/month deal for monthly subscriptions. With Mullvad, it's 4.5 euro a month with any plan.

[@cristianespinal9917]

One major VPN use of mine is to connect to KZbin somewhere outside the US during election season so I don't get flooded with cringe political ads. Using it for that, any free nonsense VPN does the job.

[@DotHackProject]

Thanks, I've watched the old videos about this topic but I think I need this kind of video from time to time to remind me about how vpn sucks.

[@Ultrajamz]

Maybe Mullvad is trying to honeypot by appearing so good but they still get your ip and that is plenty

[@RedSntDK]

It's well proven by now, that if a well meaning company grows too big, becomes too corporate, they end up becoming the bad guys, so yeah. Although, might as well ride the wave while it's radical. 🏄‍♂

[@MrEdrftgyuji]

They are based in Sweden, which has a terrible track record for privacy.

[@catpurrn]

@@MrEdrftgyuji Bro what are you on about lol

[@EasyOCE]

@@MrEdrftgyuji what lol

[@SuperEbbandflow]

MO out here doing the Lord's work. Criminally underrated channel

[@Cefst]

oh fuck yeah i love mullvad, switched to them after a few years of pia

[@V3locities]

pia better, worst decision

[@subtractahandletocontinue]

@@V3locities Look at who owns PIA

[@marcfabricatore1506]

@@Lex_InvictusKape Technologies, a company that used to develop malware.

[@mindgamesnl]

Been using mullvad for a long while now, love it

[@IFlipRizla]

I bought NordVPN about 5 years ago using Tor and bitcoin bought with cash, so it's not the only company that offers this. Although now I wouldn't trust NordVPN. Just saying this seems like a sales pitch for Mullvad.

[@lucywucyyy]

im so glad monero is slowly gaining popularity, even one of my fave anime reviewers takes donations in monero

[@bina7513]

Can you talk about tor guard? It managed to become court proven by refusing to give up logs to the company/companies throwing copyright lawsuits against them in regards to torrenting, and instead opting for making it so that only US servers can't torrent (but other servers can).

[@Randomynous01]

I luv ur sense of humor Mental, Ur my type of person who would be fun to hangout with..

[@unrule.]

he's not gonna let you hit

[@Randomynous01]

@@unrule. hit what?

[@ayakas-kh5mk]

MULLVAD FOR THE WIN!!!

[@RocketLR]

They are the best Wireguard vpn provider IMO, I have benchmarked so many VPNs and Mullvad comes out on top all the time. Better speed and better battery life.

[@Bond2025]

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. KZbin 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.

[@Communist-Doge]

Nah.

[@DevideNull]

I just used my latest VPN subscription to watch this video and leave this comment, I feel super safe/private/anonymous. 😇

[@Clancydaenlightened]

Unlike vpns, people can black list tor exit nodes, tor also don't like captchas Seems harder to block, filter, or ban VPN based ips Tor is more secure typically because you're trading bandwidth for the cost of better data privacy

[@enzoduvernay4540]

Oh thanks there's finally videos about Mullvad!

[@julikaiba]

isnt mullvad located within a 14 eyes country and thus basically forced to give out your IP address, without informing you, whenever anyone wants it? not saying nordvpn wouldnt do that, but they at least are outside the 14 eyes. While sure they need an email address one could theoretically create a throw away email using tor, and activate it by purchasing a one year gift card in some electronics store. You also seem to be able to pay with monero now, but no idea what data they want for you to be able to do so. again, I'm not saying nordvpn is good or bad, i just dont think mullvad really is much better. or am I missing something?

[@trik9464]

Its entirely possible mullvad is another cryptoAG jr. They have been on the nsa radar since 2009

[@joey199412]

Yes Mullvad could be completely compromised but the point of the video is that it doesn't even matter if they're compromised since they never get your information besides an IP address anyway. It means they could still be valuable to use even if the internet connection runs straight to the CIA headquarters.

[@MrEdrftgyuji]

Sweden has a terrible track record for privacy, as does the rest of the EU. Don't know why he keeps shilling them ($$$)

[@julikaiba]

@@joey199412 I mean if they got my IP they basically got everything they need to know who I am, in which case I could have just used my credit card in the first place

[@ekkkkkknoes]

@@julikaiba No. In order to even connect your IP to you, they need to have some sort of pressure on your ISP, like law enforcement. And even then mullvad would have to keep logs of what traffic exactly goes to what IP address. Then, and only then, would it matter that mullvad is in a 14 eyes country.

[@lalosalamancat4550]

Just switched to mullvad, thanks to the content bro!

[@h.hristov]

When you buy Monero on an exchange, you buy it using a debit/credit card/PayPal and you provide the exchange with your personal identifiable data.

[@GhostofTradition]

But they just know you have, ni idea what you do with it once its moved

[@mikerotcherson]

But the Monero blockchain is private, so as long as you don't send it directly from the exchange to whomever you're paying, there is no way to trace what you did with the moneroj. In other words, just withdraw it from the exchange to your own wallet first, then pay anyone from there, and there's no practical way to trace that trail on the blockchain. And for anything else you can use something like Incognito app kzbin.info

[@ezhumbug]

The waifu thumbnail got me into watching your video. Although I'm in mixed bag with privacy, I'll probably use it when I move out of family house in future when living my own.

[@xmvziron]

How do I not know Mental Outlaw is a FED honeypot?

[@elielbourrelly9902]

Huh, a channel that recommends stuff without affiliate link! What kind of awsome sorcery is this!

[@amnottabs]

I love how from the description alone you can infer that the ANON Phone was an obvious scam yet real criminals that operates outside the law fell for the meme, it is almost comical

[@SkyenNovaA]

Mullvad seem to be chads. When I eventually bother getting an external VPN it will probably be these guys.

[@devdylan6152]

I don't use a vpn for privacy but I do value my privacy.... I self host my own vpn so I can take advantage of a secure wan into my own network at home. I am currently using my own self hosted openvpn and I have deployed others before as well, would be cool to see something covering how well secured those solutions tend to be and if they have some privacy issues as I wouldn't be surprised if they have some telemetry reporting services packed in. It is open source but most people including myself don't have the time to comb through all that and even if I did I am not a cyber security expert and even someone who is could miss things. happens all the time. Too me a vpn is a way to make a cheap wan.

[@meow-iskander]

You're here too

[@devdylan6152]

@@meow-iskander ..... do I know you from somewhere else?

[@gabriel-x7x9g]

What do you mean you self host it? And if you self host does it mean that you're doing it from your location? Doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose? Cause your location would still be known.

[@devdylan6152]

@@gabriel-x7x9g self hosting a vpn does add some additional protections but the goal isn't so much to do what your assuming. I can use it as a WAN solution to interact with my network and hosted content within it while remote.

[@CarsFer]

The only reasons someone would need a vpn is either 1- you are doing something illegal or 2- you live in a very restricted country that doesn't allow you to visit any social media or 3- you want to watch netflix on other regions (Which if that's your only use why are you paying for a paid vpn just use a free one)

[@CarsFer]

@@SkyenNovaA but you don't have privacy when you use a vpn either you are just trusting your vpn provider instead of your isp

[@jeremydoerksen5988]

One could also pay for other vpn services via prepaid cards, or similar. There would have to be additional steps taken to keep your identity somewhat sterile, in registration, and use; but, it wouldn't be impossible.

[@RuthlessNoise]

I've never used a prepaid card, do you have to give your information to use it?, or can you put a random name on it?.

[@beardalaxy]

@@RuthlessNoise if you pay for a pre-paid card with cash then the only way the card itself can be traced back to you is if someone looks at surveillance footage and sees you buying it but even then i think there would have to be a lot of other factors coming together.

[@Crazy--Clown]

Remember one thing, all these VPN servers are in different countries around the world with different laws. Most are contracted datacenters that have their own rules and regulations

[@Bond2025]

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.

[@gravityshark580]

How did I keep getting tricked by hot anime women onto securing my Internet browsing experience

[@Maestro_manga]

Hackers are something else, these keeps blowing my mind😮 , these incidents relating to other incidents is like a puzzle

[@hershes]

you're really gonna gloss over how based it is that they accept cold hard cash by mail

[@Basement-Science]

That's kinda worse than using BTC. You'll have to take extra steps and even then the government or postal service can find out a lot about you.

[@beardymcbeardface69]

@@Basement-Science Extra steps like sending a letter without a return address or using a fake address? Get an envelope, sufficient stamps, fill out the details for the recipient, leave the return address blank or enter a fake address, insert cash and payment token number, then pop it into a postal collection point. If you're extra paranoid, handle everything with gloves, obscure your appearance and do so at night, to avoid CCTV identification. Not sure how the postal service can find out who this person is.

[@beardymcbeardface69]

@@Basement-Science PS, if serial numbering stamps became a common practice, or otherwise adding obscure but identifiable marks within the stamp imagery, along with serialised barcodes at Point of Sale to marry the stamp set to the purchaser (banking details or CCTV footage in the case of a cash sale), then I could see this avenue of anonymity being stamped out (ugh, sorry, pun not intended).

[@Basement-Science]

@@beardymcbeardface69 Yes, you'll have to go full paranoia mode and the postal service still knows where you deposited the letter, roughly when, who you sent it to and potentially if you did so repeatedly. (correlate letters going to the recipient with CCTV footage of people sending those letters.) Additionally the letters can be inspected in transit, can get lost without your knowledge (or claimed to be, by the recipient, or someone who steals it) etc. With BTC used with good privacy precautions (send transactions through TOR etc), the most significant thing people can find out is where your money came from (for example where you bought it) and where you sent it (which can be a new, unknown address each time) In the end one is not strictly more private than the other, they are just different. And of course most people use neither approach with maximum privacy anyway.

[@beardymcbeardface69]

@@Basement-Science "the postal service still knows where you deposited the letter, roughly when, who you sent it to and potentially if you did so repeatedly" Yes but the _"you"_ is unknown at this point. A person this paranoid should not be repeatedly using the same mail collection point and ought to be paying yearly to reduce their collection point visits. This person who is so paranoid, should also accept the risk of their payment being lost, since they are going to such extraordinary lengths to try to be anonymous.

[@Hadkek]

Don't forget that Mullvad is open source and written in Rust, which is a language that prevents many security issues usually propagated by bugs.

[@chickenbonelives]

Algorithm hacked

[@beardalaxy]

it's also worth noting that it seems like if you DO pay with a method like debit card or paypal, the receipt gets yeeted in 40 days. and you can pay with actual cash. since mail doesn't require a return address, i'd say that's pretty anonymous. of course, they can still see your IP address and who knows when/if they get rid of it. you just have no way of actually knowing. as far as VPNs go, though, they're the best you've got.

[@valleyd0g69]

so glad i found this channel, keep the content coming outlaw ✌

[@namonaite]

Tom Scott probably made the most honest vpn ad only to have the sponsors back down.

[@anonp2958]

In terms of running relays, you can also run multiple relays in containers instead of having to have one device per relay.

[@daLiraX]

It's a very, very old CCC advice: For torrenting speed mullvad, if speed isn't an issue, cryptostorm. For paranoia, a private box in romania.

[@انس-ص4ك]

I don't see the problem with putting a credit card to pay for your VPN, when you connect to a server it's a single IP address that is shared with multiple other users that are also using the same connection, how could the feds directly trace it back to you?

[@Z04RD]

By your credit card information. Card Number, the name is linked to the card, etc.

[@Marcus-kz7rw]

Currently using IVPN, in my opinion the only true competition to mullvad VPN. Both don't require email and phone number for using the service, both offer 1 month membership and longer.

[@caberful]

You can also opt for an overall privacy boost of the entire Internet by obfuscation, in that case trigger red flags for nothing would be a good strategy, I mean, people are already doing that. Don't forget that behind that frontface of everyday heroes there's a lot of creepy bastards.

[@MasterSamus]

Zased! I recommend Mullvad to anyone who asks me about VPNs.

[@testtest8399]

VPN should really just be used for unlocking geo-locked content and pretty much nothing else unless you know what you are doing. Same way ISPs puke data to police/fbi/whatever other government agency VPNs will do the same and lot of them said they have no logs policy but they are apparently required to collect logs or something like that. Like only benefit I really see is if you are from country X, VPN is in country Y and country X agencies cannot request logs from company based in country Y.

[@mohamedchaib5084]

I love your thumbnails, bud

[@TawaraboshiGenba]

2:41 Lol. At this point, the only way to be sure you're really anonymous, is to write the software yourself, and to design and manufacture the hardware yourself. And even then, as soon as you connect it to the internet or the mobile network, you might be able to guarantee under some circumstances that your communications are private, but you can never be sure that you're able to hide who you are and with whom you communicate.

[@nadeoki]

false, the whole point of "OPEN SOURCE" is so you don't have to write the code but you're able to view it.

[@zac2384]

Just use a pen and paper

[@Bond2025]

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.

[@austingeorge6659]

If I ever became pres, I'd try to convince you to be one of my councelors.

[@tyas4505]

I considered connecting two VPS servers in a chain, placed in different jurisdictions that do not have agreements allowing the enforcement of crime investigations between them.

[@josephkelly4893]

Is it possible to run a TOR relay on a VM in Google cloud? I've been playing with some VMs on the free level google clouds, and the bandwidth is massive, could be a good way to claw back some anonymity through the all seeing google.

[@liamholcroft7212]

yes unless they block it

[@alemswazzu]

I doubt they will allow tor traffic through their servers.

[@bravefastrabbit770]

I don't understand why nobody is talking about Sybil Attacks in the tor network? It's old as shit and the glowies are all up in the mix since like foreeever, how people can be so ignorant to this just blows my mind. If you want a true VPN/onion router, then either set up your own personal exit node within the lokinet network, or fork the project as everything is open source.

[@robertpaulson8790]

We don't need more relays, we need more entrance and exit nodes.

[@tbjers]

@@bravefastrabbit770 The only argument I see for Lokinet vs Tor in regards to Sybil attacks is that you have to stake Oxen to run a node. As if governments and other "bad" actors couldn't afford this?

[@xanafein8453]

Nice to see mullvad getting mentioned

[@ImperiumLibertas]

How was the anon phone even legal? People have a right to privacy and at the point the phones were aquired there was no evidence of a crime being committed. Does the fourth amendment not apply all of a sudden?

[@lucasjames8281]

No fourth amendment in Australia

[@morganmcdougall3103]

The Four Horseman of KZbin! Choked on coffee with laughter!

[@ElectronNDubstep]

What's your opinion on double VPN? Using a VPN to connect your PC, then starting a VM and connecting to another VPN. Theoretically this would obfuscate your IP address to the point of near anonymity.

[@ethanmorris36]

Shouldn't work in theory, VMs are typically bridged to your physical adapter on your PC meaning that the traffic would both be going out from the same physical NIC and destined for two separate servers. Wouldn't be any different than running through a single VPN tunnel

[@ElectronNDubstep]

@@ethanmorris36 ok yes that makes sense. What about using your VPN to connect on a VPS and then chaining with another VPN? I know this is probably bogus but I try to think of methods to achieve this. Double VPN did something similar but was cancelled by the glowies.

[@skafiskafnjak971]

Mullvad VPN offers Double-Hop option. No need for VM.

[@ElectronNDubstep]

@@skafiskafnjak971 but couldn't it be tracked in the same sense as any other VPN even with double hop?

[@skafiskafnjak971]

@@ElectronNDubstep it can be tracked obviously, but it will take much more time & effort. you'll be tracked even if you use VM. encrypt your PC with veracrypt and use doublehop vpn, that's the best thing you can do.

[@airsoftwwbde]

Nord VPN ad's allways had glow vibes

[@Channel-he5fr]

The government can send CP to your TOR relay then charge you with distribution Tor IS the 🍯

[@ainzooalgown9952]

um sweetie how would they get CP to send in the first place? it's illegal 🤓

[@karolbomba6704]

@@ainzooalgown9952 I doubt what the OP is saying is true, but to be fair it's irrelevant to them; whethever it's illegal or not. The feds broke law before

[@Channel-he5fr]

@@ainzooalgown9952 from their large cache they call "evidence" or "forfeited property"

[@Channel-he5fr]

@@karolbomba6704 oh it's true. Whether it's practical or if the charges would stick is irrelevant - you are responsible for all traffic through that Tor Relay. Running a device that accepts CP from one user and sends it to another is still a violation of CP laws CP was just an example

[@Channel-he5fr]

@@ainzooalgown9952 a user like you downloads a Tor Relay - then gets trapped by the feds. You then agree to continue running your relay as an informant to keep yourself out of trouble - you refuse? You go to jail to await trial while the government continues to run your relay Tor is the worst opsec

[@GrimMetropolis]

Thanks for the info MO. ✌🎃🤘

[@BossManTee]

One question tho, is it your choice that your relay server is an end node, or an inner node? Can you choose? If not, then wouldn't that just prove that most of the end nodes are controlled by the feds? Because if they control both the end nodes that i use (the one that my packet enters and the one that it exists), then they can easily know who is sending which packet.

[@Bond2025]

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.

[@aliberro]

Funny thing I got the Express VPN Ad on this video

[@LolJolk]

problem with mullvad is that they use static IP for a long time for some servers, if you connect to a specific server and try it again in a few weeks then you will most likely have the same IP. so it's shared between many users and doesn't change often

[@FuckTheState]

So multiple users sharing the same IP is bad for privacy? No, it’s excellent.

[@hamster5327]

@@FuckTheState but not good for bypassing firewalls

[@wrockd]

@@FuckTheState multiple users sharing the same IP is not the problem here, the IP being static for too long makes it easier to correlate your traffic with you. That's why TOR shuffles all your nodes frequently. Also, shuffling your IP doesn't necessarily mean that you need to be the only one using that IP, TOR also shuffles but all their nodes still have multiple users connected.