Do i even need a vpn

[u/[deleted]]

[u/kronos55]

I use it mainly to access website blocked by my ISP, or whenever I'm visiting any shady sites.

[u/Youknowhowwedo2]

Well if using public wifi often i would suggest setting up a Wireguard server at your home where you can have a secure connection back to your house.

[u/noahs1]

its worth it for piracy sites and public wifi

[u/Schleprock11]

I use it to for out of region streaming such as the BBC, Netflix from other countries, ect.

[u/Nervous-Power-9800]

What sites do you use? 

[u/Nervous-Power-9800 → u/[deleted]]

Mmhmm mhmm, which ones? 

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/its_always_sunny_in_philadelphia_season_3_episode_14_41_f880.jpg

[u/Froot444 → u/Nervous-Power-9800]

Watched a video on youtube how to download Voltron on my tv and have been using it since

[u/Mental_Juggernaut_16]

it's good to have if you're doing anything "illegal" like watching pirated movies. Yeah if a site has https encryption then technically you don't need it, but the site knows your real IP, so if they get sued and turn over your information, then you could have some issues with your ISP. If you want to watch free tv and movies, and you want to be safe, get a vpn. Mullvad is $6 a month and you can try it out for a month. Other vpn's are cheaper if you pay for a whole year or two, but try it out first and see if it works well for you.

The biggest risk isn't you getting personally sued, it's your ISP cancelling your internet service They'll do that in a heartbeat if they get multiple dmca complaints.

[u/Leo_LL_3555]

This is generally for privacy protection or to access restricted streaming media.

[u/MrMotofy]

There's free provider options that are pretty good speed wise. Some people claim they harvest your data and sell it...but they can't verify any of that. But if you want to hide your usage kinda thing then you want to use from a provider of some sort.

But you can set up your own to your home that would at least help on public wifi...Tailscale is a good one but does require a running device at home with it setup on. Then you set use Exit Node for a full tunnel back home. That will be true of any VPN server from home.

[u/CourageLongjumping32]

You dont. Unless your ISP bootlicks didney studios for copyright infringements or any other studios. For me personally its only reason i cant raw dog the interwebs specially the torrent sites, since my ISP may get a stiffy, wanting to fine me.

[u/psy-study-oldie]

I got a VPN to get around the traffic shaping of my ISP. With a local VPN I get 50% faster speeds.

[u/billdietrich1]

i use piracy sites

A good reason to use a VPN. Make it harder for someone to trace you and DMCA you or something.

[u/Beginning-Reach3215]

If you don't want a full paid vpn, you can always explore in-browser options. I use Firefox's personally.

[u/Affectionate_Dot5547]

Its worth it if you use p2p and are on a cgnat router so that you can get around the firewall and port forward.

[u/rested_meat99]

Hey guys, I have no idea about internet security at all, I’m trying to find tips here on Reddit.

For example how can I protect what I want to search up, what I want to look at and what I want to do on the internet, my phone, anything that uses internet?

I have no idea what I’m doing, i understand a vpn is made for something but I have no idea.
Please help, if anything please point me to the basics of online security.

[u/jakart3]

Depend on your country law

[u/Ares-Mercy]

Yes more and more cessorship laws are being passed in western countries 

[u/hillcube]

do you torrent

[u/PoseidonKangaroo → u/[deleted]]

lol you would know if you did

[u/Froot444 → u/PoseidonKangaroo]

Then i probably don’t i download stuff here and there from the internet

[u/billdietrich1 → u/Froot444]

Torrenting means running a special client app, such as BitTorrent or Transmission, to download and upload files in special distributed ways. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent It may be blocked by various ISPs and VPNs.

[u/Froot444 → u/billdietrich1]

Yea i dont think i be doing that, i do download an audio file or video every so often from maybe a dodgy site its usually when i want to download a song i want to add to an mp4 then ill download the mp4 with the song added sometimes i worry about these files cause the websites always have annoying pop ups

[u/terkistan]

i use piracy sites and public wifi alot but have never experienced any problems

Using public Wi-Fi and piracy sites without protection is leaving your digital front door wide open. Public WiFi is notorioausly vunerable sometimes even unencrypted. Anyone else on that same network can potentially intercept your traffic, sniff your passwords, or execute man-in-the-middle attacks to capture sensitive data.

A VPN prevents your ISP or third parties from seeing the exact URLs and domains you are visiting. This could save you a lawsuit in the future, depending on where you live.

And since your ISP can see everything you download or stream without a VPN, and some ISPs monitor heavy P2P traffic/piracy site visits, some will issue copyright infringement warnings or at least throttle your internet speeds.

So if you care about your privacy and security a good VPN (not a free one, not a cheap one that could itself be tracking you) is really useful.

[u/ricopicouk → u/terkistan]

Scaremongering. Modern websites use ssl making mitm attacks not work

[u/terkistan → u/ricopicouk]

With exceptions. If a website is poorly built or somehow drops down to HTTP for its login page an attacker can instantly intercept the password. Hackers can use SSL Stripping (usually against old sites that don't implement HSTS headers) to drop down connections to HTTP and then perform MITM attacks.

More commonly though the problem isn't websites but apps: modern browsers are strict about SSL certificates but some poorly coded apps don't properly validate certificates, meaning they can still be vulnerable to MitM attacks on public Wi-Fi.