To VPN or not to VPN with TOR

Have you always thought VPN was a no brainer and would always be the safest way to surf the web? You might want to think again and give this video a watch as I go over the pros and cons of using a VPN while browsing TOR...
Also of note...not sure why I kept saying guide relay it is definitely guard relay...whooops

[@isyutaru8129]

great videos it’s really rare to find a small videos that get to the point and give you the juice directly

[@AltFunktion]

Thank you! I have a pretty short attention span I find I need the information to just get straight to the point. Glad you're enjoying the format!

[@ultravioletiris6241]

There are two main reasons one might want to use VPN and tor together: 1. To hide the fact that tor is being used at all from ISP. ISP will know that tor protocol is being used but won’t know the contents of the encrypted packets. This is still enough of a problem for some people in certain countries or with certain threat models. 2. To hide the origin IP from the tor entry node. The tor entry node would see the origin IP as coming from the VPN. This might be if someone was concerned about their traffic being logged by an entry node. You pretty much described both uses succinctly, nice one!

[@MrSam-mg5ut]

Agreed

[@AltFunktion]

Thanks for your thoughtful comment! Much appreciated :)

[@senoumix51]

One more subscriber. I can't believe I already watched all your videos. Very interesting and informative. Thank you for sharing!!!

[@AltFunktion]

Thank you for your support! Really glad you like the videos I'm hoping to put one out a week on Wednesdays so stay tuned!

[@jaredgeorge2181]

I dont think I have ever used ToR sans VPN. There is no absolute protection, heck by admiting here I use ToR or a VPN to access ToR is foolish. Great video very fair and gave great information. Liked and Subscribed for the future!

[@AltFunktion]

Thanks for your comment! I had seen a lot of other videos that stood strongly on one side so figure I'd play in the middle since it really does depend. OPSEC is also of course very important and you give good insight on this element of digital communication :)

[@YlhBi]

why i think that your are ai talking to us anyone here have the same view

[@AltFunktion]

Yup I'm totally a robot...beeeedoop

[@user-lu1lv2bf5f]

Linux Tech Tips suggested a solution which is to just start your own VPN. Run the VPN software hosted in another country (usually).

[@SwizzCheeze]

It depends... You took the words right out of my mouth. If you're just a normal user and don't plan on using your VPN tunnel for nefarious actions, you will be just fine with a VPN. Now, if you're planning on hacking the US government, you may not want to use a VPN and should just stick with Tor. Then again, you're not safe with either. lol

[@AltFunktion]

Exactly! I had seen a lot of videos that where very opinionated one way or the other so I figure Id make something more neutral. Thanks for your comment!

[@jimdoe9827]

Negatives are all fallacious, strawman arguments.

[@AltFunktion]

I don't agree but respect your opinion.

[@jimdoe9827]

@@AltFunktion Thank you. Why do you disagree? Do you suggest that responsiveness is a factor when one needs to maximize anonymity, or that intermittent TOR usage, and such visibility to a VPN company is a indicator of evildoing?

[@AltFunktion]

@@jimdoe9827 I think it is a multitude of things and it really just comes back down for each user to evaluate their use case. Slow performance can definitely be a negative and if the user is more worried about speed then anonymity then this is definitely a consideration. Additionally I feel that VPN services have positioned themselves with marketing strategies to be the end all meets all to security but there are two sides to that coin. I do love to put my tin foil hat on sometimes and consider that my data may be sold to marketing companies from untrusted or shady data collection sources like, a VPN org especially the free ones. As far as it relates to TOR? I like the idea that the user is well informed to the possibilities since your general user has been taught that VPN at any quality or company is a magical privacy tool. Thank you for the thought provoking conversation. Greatly enjoyed