Why you probably don't need a VPN | Do I need a VPN?

[@Dar123abc]

7:08 Your traffic can be monitored by your ISP and VPN? Huh? Does a VPN encrypt the request before it leaves a device?

[@sideofburritos]

I should have clarified better. I meant if you're not using a VPN, then your traffic could be monitored by your ISP. If you're using a VPN, all traffic between you and your VPN provider is encrypted and not visible to your ISP. If you're using a VPN server, it'll encrypt/hide your traffic from your local ISP, but the VPN provider could monitor your traffic once it reached them.

[@Dar123abc]

@@sideofburritos I watch ALL your videos. That being said… I knew that you knew better. Or hoped so… Keep the vids coming.

[@skarbanan]

@@sideofburritos that's why you make your own vpn service 🥷

[@roflchopter11]

@@skarbanan Then you're trusting whoever runs the VPS you're hosting it on, AND relying on the VPS network to aggregate your traffic on the exit, which they are not trying to do.

[@mden2490]

Thanks for the video. I see the correction that you made regarding what can and can’t be seen depending on the type of service you have. So if I understand correctly, if I’m using proton VPN, all the traffic is encrypted from end to end, and yes, there is going to be a level of trust that if a company says a no log policy, then it’s a no log policy. And based from what I have read if they use ram servers, all traffic is wiped out each time that server reboots.

[@teacon7]

That warning against anchor bias at the beginning is solid advice, useful for all manner of decisions, not just VPNs...

[@bananajoe9951]

Yeah, comcast is draconic when it comes to torrenting and spying. I use VPNs to download mostly free repositories for graphic design, and sometimes for media I already own. Comcast does not like ANY torrenting, even after explaining what I am using it for. So I VPN, on top of checking my browser fingerprint. I only turn it off for video games.

[@sideofburritos]

Yea, I think they just have a blanket rule about it. It's not even worth risking them potentially suspending your account, especially if they're your only option for an ISP.

[@DlxyRekt]

If you're a pc gamer its almost required. In gta online a "hacker" can see your ip address with free hacks he downloaded.

[@RanEncounter]

@Hoxton So how many successful hacks do you need for examples from various devs (even AAA devs) before you accept the fact that most of them are not competent in online security?

[@sideofburritos]

That's an interesting scenario I wasn't aware of. I thought most games would relay traffic through the companies servers, but it sounds like it's more so P2P if your IP could get leaked like that.

[@Fr_g]

Personally I use Mullvad VPN for connecting to public wifi (I mostly do this for checking if my bus is late or not) or for connecting to my school wifi.

[@ScriptureFirst]

Obfuscating identify to hinder profile building requires more than VPN. Vpn helps secure those other methods. Agreed. Not for nor done by the typical user.

[@AnnLaustsen87]

If you're at work and googling things on your phone over company wifi, definitely use a VPN. I read that at work they can even track which phone apps that you use.

[@sideofburritos]

For sure, if you decide to use corporate wifi that is a great use case for a VPN. Personally, I try to stay off of it as much as I can. You're correct that they can infer what type of apps you're using based on the traffic. One of the appliances I used at a previous job was a Palo Alto firewall. They have profiles for different app traffic that let them determine what type of applications/protocols are likely generating the traffic (www.paloaltonetworks.com/technologies/app-id). While it's not exact, they can get a pretty good idea of what you're using. Even if you use a VPN, they can usually see that depending on the protocol you're using. Best bet is to use cellular data if you have it.

[@AnnLaustsen87]

@@sideofburritos Thank you so much for the detailed response. Maybe I should just upgrade to unlimited data if I think I'm going to accidentally google something I don't want the IT department to see? Btw, I bought a Google Pixel 6 from Swappa for $330. I'm going to put GrapheneOS on it when I have time. Thank you so much for all of your content.

[@penultimatename6677]

The reason you use it is exactly why everyone should have one. This is a crazy video.

[@rozrm]

Great video - you explains things so clearly and edit very well. Nice :)

[@sideofburritos]

Thank you! Every time I see your username I always laugh 🤣

[@JonathanCr0ss]

6:56 "...they can manipulate it in any way they see fit." - TLS will typically prevent the VPN from reading or tampering with data being sent to the websites they visit. Insecure websites / protocols are susceptible to manipulation though.

[@sparrowcide]

Another amazing vid!

[@sideofburritos]

Thank you!

[@false_positive]

let's not forget VPN has the adblocking and malware protection features

[@devadeep1842]

Amazing Video

[@sideofburritos]

Thanks!

[@triggersplace]

Another great video. Is there a better option to a VPN eg TOR or Linux Kodachi? Also, do you have any thoughts on the best system for overseas travel? Accessing banks using foreign ISP's has always been a worry.

[@sideofburritos]

Thanks! For *overseas* travel I would honestly suggest a Chromebook and use the "Powerwash" feature. Download everything when you get to your destination. I would not risk transporting any of my data on my device since they could make an image of the device. With verified boot you can be sure they didn't tamper with your device if they happened to confiscate it. That's not the typical "privacy" suggestion, but it will give you security and verify the integrity of your device. I think a VPN is fine as long as you know the benefit you're getting. If you want to connect to a trustworthy VPN when you're overseas to access your bank that would be a good use.

[@TLM860]

I need VPN to watch Netflix hehe

[@Heshhion]

Deeper network id a DVPN. Could you look at it and see if its better?

[@cjalmighty]

A question about the bit about making a request to a site that doesn't support HTTPS: the HTTP site will still see only the VPN IP, correct? and your ISP can't see that you're making a request to the HTTP site?

[@AlexApol]

I'm using a VPN to connect to work services.

[@sideofburritos]

That setup tunnels you into your works network to access resources, so they don't need to expose them externally.

[@GortFromAltier4]

Novice here, toward the end you're saying you like the VPN because you don't trust Comcast (I don't either), but wouldn't they still be able to monitor your traffic before you send it through the VPN? Like if I go to KZbin with a VPN the ISP will still be able to track that I visited KZbin right?

[@Dar123abc]

Wait for an “official” answer but I think the VPN app on your device scrambles your ip before it leaves your phone and goes to the VPN service. Comcast wouldn’t know his ip. I could be wrong.

[@RanEncounter]

Not really. The traffic is routed through the VPN server through an SSL pipe (or other encrypted pipe). Your ISP just knows you connected to the VPN server (does not have access to the data between as it is end to end encrypted), but does not know the server served you the site youtube. They could determine from the amount of data and data rates signatures that you visited the KZbin site, as it is very common and probably they have a lot of examples of data rates and amounts for KZbin, but they do not have access to the content of the data and they have no clue what video you watched on KZbin (unless that videos data rates and amounts are very common in that ISPs data collection for a specific area.)

[@sideofburritos]

Just to add to what RanEncounter said. Comcast would not be able to see that you visited youtube.com. What they would see is that your source IP (assigned by Comcast), sent traffic to an IP address (in this case a VPN server). They would see traffic back and forth between your IP and the VPN server IP. Depending on what VPN protocol your using (OpenVPN, WireGuard, IPSec) they could be able to identify that the traffic is VPN traffic. OpenVPN and IPsec traffic is pretty easy to identify. I believe WireGuard traffic is more difficult to fingerprint, but I don't know the specifics. All traffic in the encrypted "tunnel" between you and your VPN provider will be encrypted and not visible to your ISP.

[@MKBontwikkeling]

Hi, like your content but you sound very monotone. Maybe a little more intonation? 🙃

[@sideofburritos]

Tech job introvert -> speaking on camera publically, still working on the adjustment, haha. That is on my list to work on though since it sounds like an announcement at the grocery store, thank you for the feedback :)

[@MKBontwikkeling]

@@sideofburritos And I still watched all your videos 😉

[@quatie]

I don't use a VPN for torrenting.

[@sideofburritos]

You're a brave soul.

[@luigiramirez29]

Mullvad VPN for the WIN! 🦾

[@Fr_g]

Been using it for ages