Which product is the best for VPN?

[phenomlab]

@gotwf This is a great response ! Thanks very much. I’m certainly going to have a look at this for myself and perhaps @jac should do the same

I personally haven’t heard of this VPN, but it’s certainly great to have choices. My preference has always been NordVPN but I’m not necessarily married to them and certainly willing to look elsewhere for comparative deals and packages.

Thanks again for the input. Much appreciated.

[phenomlab]

Just read this review - actually a comparison between the two products. A good read, very informative, and certainly no bias which is always refreshing to see.

I think my only casing point - one of immediate concern - is the lack of independent audit evidence from SurfShark.

[gotwf]

@phenomlab Pentest-Report Surfshark VPN Extension 11.2018

Link is to a pdf report from an independent audit firm: Cure53 from November of 2018. Yeah, could use a few more independent third party audits. As alluded to above, they found some low priority stuff but overall conclusion was fairly glowing:

The findings stand out with relation to being very rare for the VPN browser extensionproducts2, which commonly suffer from various issues. Strengthening reliability of theresults, it can be added that Cure53 employed white-box method during this assessmentand reached a good level of coverage. Despite this premise and extensive efforts, theSurfshark VPN extensions held up to the scrutiny of the Cure53 testers. To sum up,Cure53 is highly satisfied to see such a strong security posture on the Surfshark VPNextensions, especially given the common vulnerability of similar products to privacyissues.

[phenomlab]

@gotwf Thanks. This is more for the application and network security though. There’s no attestation that I can find that there has been an independent audit (and by definition, validation) that no logging of traffic actually takes place. I know it mentions 100% RAM but this would not stop anyone siphoning the logs elsewhere to (for example) syslog etc.

An independent audit would verify that. For those who insist on true privacy, this might just be the straw that broke the camel’s back, and it’s one of the reasons why I chose NordVPN in the first place.

I’m still very tempted by the offer though so will be digging a bit deeper into this.

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

perhaps @jac should do the same

I will be looking into this more myself, I have head of this company many times when searching for VPNs.

Will dig deeper

[phenomlab]

@jac the last time I looked into getting a VPN client service was around 2 years ago, so given how SurfShark is relatively new, it’s probably why it didn’t popup for me before.

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@jac the last time I looked into getting a VPN client service was around 2 years ago, so given how SurfShark is relatively new, it’s probably why it didn’t popup for me before.

I don’t think it’s too new is it? I’ve definitely seen it around a fair few times over the past few years when I’ve looked into it, which in all honesty is something I probably should have got years back.

[JAC]

@gotwf said in Best VPN:

If you opt for the two year deal you will be presented with an option for a 3rd year, bringing the total to approx. $75 US for three years.

This offer didn’t seem to appear for me.

[phenomlab]

@jac really ? I was under the impression from @gotwf that it was only released in the last year or so. I may be wrong though ?

[JAC]

@phenomlab I think it was released a few years back, I’ll check…

[JAC]

@phenomlab launched in 2018 mate.

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@gotwf Thanks. This is more for the application and network security though. There’s no attestation that I can find that there has been an independent audit (and by definition, validation) that no logging of traffic actually takes place. I know it mentions 100% RAM but this would not stop anyone siphoning the logs elsewhere to (for example) syslog etc.

An independent audit would verify that. For those who insist on true privacy, this might just be the straw that broke the camel’s back, and it’s one of the reasons why I chose NordVPN in the first place.

I’m still very tempted by the offer though so will be digging a bit deeper into this.

Just looking more into it now. What do you make of adding this to the package, is it necessary? - Surfshark One access -https://surfshark.com/alert

[phenomlab]

@jac not necessary, no. Virtually all password managers have this feature built in

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@jac not necessary, no. Virtually all password managers have this feature built in

Great, I was thinking BitDefender will have them features won’t they?

[JAC]

@phenomlab here’s another one to throw into the mix. Zenmate.com.

[phenomlab]

@jac Yes. Your can use bitdefender’s wallet feature for that

[phenomlab]

@jac Yes, but it has poor reviews and no independently audited security. Okie, there are various complaints concerning the quality of support.

Cheap, yes, but questionable quality.

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@jac Yes, but it has poor reviews and no independently audited security. Okie, there are various complaints concerning the quality of support.

Cheap, yes, but questionable quality.

I’ve read up more on SurfShark and apparently it’s not as fast as they suggest. I suppose the only way to find out is to try it.

[phenomlab]

@jac Yes, probably a good idea. Do they have a trial ?

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Best VPN:

@jac Yes, probably a good idea. Do they have a trial ?

I’ll check now…