Is it safe to use VPN?

Internet-Security

Millions of people cannot imagine their life without Internet today. We connect to global network from anywhere: homes, schools, offices, cafés, hotels, bus stops and even public beaches.

How safe is this?

Have you ever think about your network security and privacy?
This is question is especially actual if you are using unsafe public Wi-Fi zones.
In some countries like UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and others Gulf countries your online privacy is not only a question of your wishes to be anonymous. This could be question of your freedom.
That is why you should not risk and rely on doubtful services.
VPN service is really a perfect solution to make you protected in the Internet. But VPN service providers can be different.

What items you should consider to select the best vpn providers for your needs?

1. Privacy policy.

You must be aware that many free vpn service collect your personal information for some unknown needs. How they use these data? It is better to read Privacy policy before using the service.

2. Data logs

Many providers have log files on their services and store this information. This means that they can review your Internet activity anytime! And see what you are doing on-line.

3. Collecting your IP Address

Some vpn providers collect your IP Address. Ask – why do they do that???
To tell the truth – some vpn provider can store your sensitive data for very long time – even longer than your Internet service provider.
What privacy are you talking about in this case???
A VPN service you can rely must wipe all data logs regularly. The best is within hours of them being created. In such case any requests for the data cannot be fulfilled.

What questions do you need to ask?

So if you are going to use a VPN service what questions should you ask in order to determine whether or not they take privacy seriously. Here’s a few suggestions.

Do they have a privacy policy?

You can be surprised to discover that some VPNs don’t even have a privacy policy.

How long do they retain logs?

The best if VPN does not keep log files over 24 hours.

Where the VPN service registered in?

Knowing what country the VPN is registered in will let you research the country’s laws pertaining to online privacy.

What kind of personal data VPN service retains?

It is great to know if your VPN provider can link your account to a real identity.

Spider VPN guarantees you

100% safety and security

with our premium personal VPN solution!

 

Proxy VS VPN – what is Better?

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Many people ask us:

What is proxy and what is vpn?

Are they the same?

What is difference between proxy and vpn?

What is better: proxy of vpn?

Today Sahrzad tells your about vpn and proxy and you can decide what is better for you.

Also you can read about the difference between proxy and vpn we wrote before.

First of all let’s find out what is proxy and what is vpn.

According to Wikipedia:

 Proxy server is a server (a computer system or an application) that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server and the proxy server evaluates the request as a way to simplify and control its complexity. Proxies were invented to add structure and encapsulation to distributed systems.

If the destination server filters content based on the origin of the request, the use of a proxy can circumvent this filter. For example, a server using IP-based geolocation to restrict its service to a certain country can be accessed using a proxy located in that country to access the service.

Web proxies are the most common means of bypassing government censorship, although no more than 3% of Internet users use any circumvention tools.

In some cases users can circumvent proxies which filter using blacklists using services designed to proxy information from a non-blacklisted location

An anonymous proxy server (sometimes called a web proxy) generally attempts to anonymize web surfing. There are different varieties of anonymizers. The destination server (the server that ultimately satisfies the web request) receives requests from the anonymizing proxy server, and thus does not receive information about the end user’s address. The requests are not anonymous to the anonymizing proxy server, however, and so a degree of trust is present between the proxy server and the user. Many proxy servers are funded through a continued advertising link to the user.

A proxy can keep the internal network structure of a company secret by using network address translation, which can help the security of the internal network. This makes requests from machines and users on the local network anonymous. Proxies can also be combined with firewalls.

An incorrectly configured proxy can provide access to a network otherwise isolated from the Internet.

 

In simple words: proxy is some computer that pass through all your traffic.

Proxy is the simplest way to hide your IP address and avoid Internet filtering.

However proxy works only for your browser. If you need it only for surfing – you can use Proxy.

The next level of secure can be reached by VPN.

And again, smart Wikipedia sais about VPN:

virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network, such as the Internet. It enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network, and thus are benefiting from the functionality, security and management policies of the private network. A VPN is created by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of dedicated connections, virtual tunneling protocols, or traffic encryption.

A VPN spanning the Internet is similar to a wide area network (WAN). From a user perspective, the extended network resources are accessed in the same way as resources available within the private network. Traditional VPNs are characterized by a point-to-point topology, and they do not tend to support or connect broadcast domains.

VPNs allow employees to securely access the corporate intranet while traveling outside the office. Similarly, VPNs securely connect geographically separated offices of an organization, creating one cohesive network. VPN technology is also used by individual Internet users to secure their wireless transactions, to circumvent geo restrictions and censorship, and to connect to proxy servers for the purpose of protecting personal identity and location.

VPN may be classified by:

  • The protocols used to tunnel the traffic
  • The tunnel’s termination point location, e.g., on the customeredge or network-provider edge
  • Whether they offer site-to-site or network-to-network connectivity
  • The levels of security provided

VPN services cannot make online connections absolutely anonymous, but they can increase privacy and security.

The VPN security model provides:

  • Confidentiality such that even if the network traffic is sniffed at the packet level : hacker can only see some encrypted data
  • Sender authentication to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the VPN
  • Message integrity to detect any instances of tampering with transmitted messages

Tunneling protocols can operate in a point-to-point network topology that would theoretically not be considered a VPN, because a VPN by definition is expected to support arbitrary and changing sets of network nodes. But since most router implementations support a software-defined tunnel interface, customer-provisioned VPNs often are simply defined tunnels running conventional routing protocols.

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Why VPN Better than Proxy?

VPN provides you:

  • better privacy and security
  • faster speed
  • best stability
  • Works on all systems (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, Routers) while proxy works only for browser.
  • Unblock all restrictions.

What you can do with VPN and cannot do with most proxies:

  1. Access any blocked sites worldwide
  2. Stay safe with VPN outside your browser
  3. Encrypt your Internet connection
  4. Stay protected from phishing and malware
  5. Fastest surfing and watching videos
  6. Be anonymous is applications and games

To summarize all written above I would like to say that VPN wins!

It is much more secure in conparison with proxy.

 

Security Risks in Mobile Networks: is VPN a solution?

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Without a doubt, the use of mobile networks is here to say. In fact, the design of mobile phones continues to get better as mobile phone manufacturers invest a lot just to be ahead in the competition. But whether we like it or not, there are a lot of security risks while you are enjoying the advantages of this latest communication technology.

So far, the biggest security risk in mobile networks is loss of privacy and stealing of personal information, especially when you are browsing the Internet in a public Wi-Fi zone. No matter how secure your operating software is, you are still not totally safe. Smartphones may have security features against robbers, but not against hackers and online thieves.

To give you a better idea, imagine exposing yourself in a crowd of total strangers such as train station or coffee shop. Once you visit a website or make an online transaction, it’s like telling them all your personal details. As compared to using broadband network, your data via Wi-Fi is being transferred via wireless connection. Everyone is using the same network.

The problem arises when a third party tries to intercept your data. And because the network system is not capable of detecting interceptors, your online activities are exposed. As an additional problem, you and everyone in that area don’t have any idea that your data can be stolen. This is why you should use a VPN (Virtual Private Network).

As the name suggests, VPN allows users to use a public network privately. It hides your real IP address by assigning a temporary IP address while you are using the network. But unlike other ways to browse the web anonymously, VPN traffic is highly encrypted. This means that no third party can easily intercept your data and you are now secured.

In case you are not yet aware, many business owners use VPN to protect their vital information. They allow their employees to access their data while working in remote areas using Wi-Fi. But if you also plan to use VPN, you should know which type of VPN is applicable for your needs. You don’t want to spend money for something you will not use.

And although you can use a free VPN, don’t expect the same quality of service you can get from the premium ones. First of all, free VPNs also need money to maintain their service and they get it via advertisements while you are using their service. You should not also expect a free VPN to have a stable and fast connection, as well as great customer service.

Again, the use of smartphone is now becoming a part of our daily lives.  It is also a necessity for faster communication and searching for information. On the other hand, online safety should not be taken for granted. So far, VPN is still the best way to secure your data. Just like the old saying goes, “Prevention is better than cure.”

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How to Access Blocked sites in UAE in Android?

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Internet filtering in UAE is a serious problem for many people living and visiting this wonderful country. A great number of websites are blocked by the government due to some reasons.

You cannot surf gambling or adult sites while you are in the United Arab Emirates. Any web resources which criticize politics or religion are strictly prohibited. You can find out long lists of sites banned in UAE.

Are there any solutions to avoid these filters?

Sure there are!

And there are many ways to open blocked sites in the Middle East. But today I want to point only the most reliable and safe solution for surfing blocked sites and this is VPN solution.

Via secured encrypted tunnel (which VPN is) you can open any site you need safe and easy. At the same time you can be sure that nobody can monitor what kind of sites you are visiting.

All the traffic is coded inside Virtual Private Network (VPN) so your anonymity is guaranteed while you are using VPN.

Today you can access blocked content even from your Android device. There are many vpn applications available on play market but we strongly recommend you to be careful installing such programs to your device. Of course, most of them will provide you a secure vpn service but also such applications can harm your device or your private info. Do you know for sure what this application do with your data? Especially if this is free vpn application?

The best way to be safe and secure is to setup vpn connection on your device using standard options. VPN is a system feature in any Android gadget so actually you do not need any application to use VPN in UAE.

Follow this simple guide and setup vpn in Android in a few moments!

How to setup VPN in Android

To create new vpn tunnel
1. Click Settings icon

2. Select Wireless & Networks and tap on VPN

3. Tap Add VPN Network

4. Input connection name (Sahrzad VPN), select the type of your VPN connection – PPTP VPN, input VPN server address from your account data.
Please be carefully – don’t use any additional symbols like spaces, http://, www, / …etc in the server address.

5. Input your Username and password that you received from VPN account service in e-mail.
Save it and tap Connect
For connection to vpn server:
Select Home > Menu > Settings
Tap Wireless & networks
Tap VPN settings
The VPN connections you have added are present in the list
Tap the VPN you wish to connect to (Sahrzad VPN)
A dialog box will open asking for your credentials, enter them and click connect
When you are connected to VPN, you will see an ongoing notification in the Status bar on your Android device. If you are disconnected, you will receive a notification and an option to go back to the VPN settings section.

After creating your vpn connection you can switch it on and off on the main settings screen.

See detailed guide here.

Is it safe to buy Spider VPN service?

Many people ask us if it is safe to buy vpn from our website?
The short answer is YES! And below you can find out why.

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1. Risk Free – money back guarantee

All orders are processed via Payproglobal payment system. Your order if absolutely Risk Free.moneyback

Payproglobal guaranteed you 30 days money back.

2. Certified by MCAfeeSecure

payproglobal.com is a certified site by McAfeeSecure

  • Valid SSL certificate detected.
  • No malware found.
  • No malicious links found.
  • No phishing detected.

3. Tested and certified by VeriSign

This site is tested and certified to be secure by the world’s largest dedicated security company. Make sure you’re browsing the safe web. Choose certified sites and stay safe online.

3. All the orders are processed in a secure environment, using the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) protocol with 128-bit encryption keys. Encryption is certified by VeriSign.

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SITE NAME: secure.payproglobal.com
SSL CERTIFICATE
STATUS:
Valid (Jan 20, 2014 to Feb 7, 2016)
COMPANY/
ORGANIZATION:
PAYPRO GLOBAL, INC.
Etobicoke
OntarioCA
Encrypted Data Transmission This website can secure your private information using a SSL Certificate. Information exchanged with any address beginning with https is encrypted using SSL before transmission.
Identity Verified PAYPRO GLOBAL, INC. has been verified as the owner or operator of the website located at secure.payproglobal.com. Official records confirm PAYPRO GLOBAL, INC. as a valid business.
Malware Scan One or more sub-domains within payproglobal.com passed the malware scan on Jul 27, 2015 (UTC).
Vulnerability Assessment This website is regularly scanned for vulnerabilities and the results are reported to the owner.

 

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Anti-Cyber Crime Law is not new. It works in Kingdom  since 26 March 2007.

Let’s consider the types of violations people can do without even knowing that.

Here is the original Anti-Cyber Crime Law on Saudi Arabia government website. http://www.citc.gov.sa/English/RulesandSystems/CITCSyste/Documents/LA_004_%20E_%20Anti-Cyber%20Crime%20Law.pdf

The main goals of this law is really clear:

  1. Enhancement of information security.
  2. Protection of rights pertaining to the legitimate use of computers and information networks.
  3. Protection of public Interest, morals, and common values.
  4. Protection of national economy.

For the next cyber crimes person can expect such punishment as imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding live hundred thousand riyals:

  1. Spying on, interception or reception of data transmitted through an information network or a computer without legitimate authorization.
  2. Unlawful access to computers with the intention to threaten or blackmail any person to compel him to take or refrain from taking an action, be it lawful or unlawful.
  3. Unlawful access to a web site, or hacking a web site with the intention to change its design, destroy or modify it, or occupy its URL.
  4. Invasion of privacy through the misuse of camera-equipped mobile phones and the like.
  5. Defamation and infliction of damage upon others through the use of various information technology devices.

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The following crimes are punished by Imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years and a fine not exceeding two million :

  1. Acquisition of movable property or bonds for oneself or others or signing such bonds through fraud or use of false name or identity.
  2. Illegally accessing bank or credit data, or data pertaining to ownership of securities with the intention of obtaining data, information, funds or services offered.

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Some of the next violations will lead to imprisonment for a period not exceeding four years and a fine not exceeding three million riyals or to either punishment:

  1. Unlawful access to computers with the intention to delete, erase, destroy, leak, damage, alter or redistribute private data
  2. Causing the information network to halt or breakdown, or destroying, deleting, leaking or altering existing or stored programs or data.
  3. Obstruction of access to, distortion, and causing the breakdown of services by any means.

The most important part for usual Internet users!

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  1. Production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computers.
  2. The construction or publicizing of a website on the information network or computer to promote or facilitate human trafficking.
  3. The preparation, publication, and promotion of material for pornographic or gambling sites which violates public morals.

Can lead to five years imprisonment and a fine three million riyals!

Be careful and think before writing or sharing post is social networks!

We wrote about a man who was deported from the country for such cyber crime.

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The crimes below are considered as the most willful violations:

  1. The construction or publicizing of a website on the information network or on a computer for terrorist organizations to facilitate communication with leaders or members of such organizations, finance them, promote their ideologies, publicize methods of making incendiary devices or explosives, or any other means used in terrorist activities.
  2. Unlawful access to a web site or an information system directly, or through the information network or any computer with the Intention of obtaining data jeopardizing the internal or external security of the State or its national economy.

They are punished by 10 year imprisonment and a fine not exceeding five million riyals.

So now you can understand how serious in Internet censure in Saudi Arabia and how important is caring about your on-line security and privacy!

From Sahrzad’s Blog: http://sahrzad.net/blog/anti-cyber-crime-law-n-saudi-arabia/

Deported from Saudi Arabia for Sending porn pictures via Internet

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This story must be interesting and instructive for all expatriates in Saudi Arabia. We have already written that Facebook and Twitter are monitored in KSA, and today we want to ask you be very careful talking via messagers like Whatsapp.

Please think twice before writing something about Saudi Arabia in social media or on some forums because all your posts can be monitored.

Do not write anything against Islam, against government and, of course, porn and gambling related messages are strictly prohibited.

Below is the real story from one person who was deported from Saudi Arabia for sending porn pictures via Internet.

Real story from Deported Man

“I was deported from KSA very recently March 9, 2015 after I was jailed for 1 month, because I was arrested by Muttawas as I was chatting on the social media with an Arab gay and tried to meet the person. I had finger prints in the police  station and one policeman told me that I will be banned in all Gulf countries for five years.
Arab gay in mobile application called whatsapp from a long time. He said he wants to meet me, I refused many times but he insisted to meet me. When it continued for a long time, I finally accepted to meet him because he was insisting so much. When I went to the meeting place in the street he called me in my mobile and while I was talking to him, 2 muttawas came from my back and arrested me. They brought me to the police station. After 2 weeks in jail they
told me that I will be deported to Philippines. I was detained in the police station for 1 month and 1 week then my kafeel came and released me and deported me after 5 days.

While inside the jail I found out that the person I was chatting is the muttawa, he changed his voice to deceive me. There were many saudis inside the jail who were arrested in the same manner that I was arrested but we were chatting in different apps (whatsapp, badoo, who’s here, twitter, instagram). I sent him some adult jokes, porn clips
and pics which they used against me.

My suggestion

to general public and my fellow expatriates is stop using any social media and meet up any anonymous person from the internet. My boss told me that I was terminated by the company because I am gay based on the police report.”

I do understand that Islam disallows such things but, on my opinion, every person must decide this by himself, espessially if he is expat in the country.

Everybody must respect country’s laws, but the laws must respect human rights.

Our Suggestion

Always use secure Internet connection while you are in Saudi Arabia.

VPN (Virtual private network) is the best solution:

  • It is Safe
  • It is secure
  • It is 100% anonymous
  • VPN is the only way for being safe on-line in KSA!

 

From Sahrzad’s Blog: http://sahrzad.net/blog/deported-from-saudi-arabia-for-sending-porn-pictures-via-internet/

Pros and Cons of Open VPN Technology

OpenVPN

If you want to browse the Internet anonymously and simply being secured online, VPN (Virtual Private Network) is without a doubt the best choice. As compared to other methods, VPN offers encrypted web traffic which protects you from undesirable third party. However, there are many types of VPN, and Open VPN is only one of them.

In layman’s term, Open VPN is an open source software application that provides secured virtual connection between two computers at different locations. To achieve secured connection, it uses the OpenSSL encryption library along with other strong security features. Despite being fairly new, it is one of the most preferred VPN protocol.

But before you decide to use it to secure your Internet connection, below are some of the major advantages and disadvantages of Open VPN.

 pros-and-cons

Pros of Open VPN:

 Strong encryption

Open VPN is known for having a strong encryption, which is considerably better against the NSA (National Security Agency). The OpenSSL encryption library supports a number of cryptographic algorithms including the AES which is known for almost no weakness at all.

 Highly reliable

 Besides being secured, Open VPN is highly reliable, thanks to its capability of allowing for repair or reconfiguration even if the network is down. This means that no drop of packets which means no data will be lost once there is a corruption during the communication.

Works with DD-WRT routers

 This is a great advantage if you want to run your local network on a single VPN account. To be able to achieve this, you will need a DD-WRT supporting router. Thiif done correctly, this free Linux-based firmware upgrade allows you to share a single VPN connection.

 Great community support

 This is pretty obvious because of the extreme popularity of Open VPN. And because it is an open source application, it can be easily be modified. This is why you can easily get support from other users around the globe. And yes, it is very much applicable to mobile phones.

We can recommend a great Open VPN for Android – Spider VPN.

 Cons of Open VPN

 Software required

You will need third party software before you can use Open VPN. You will need it for the authentication of the VPN server. If you are not a techie guy, this might be a problem to you. Although it is pretty easy to install, you might find it complicated to use if you are a beginner.

Possibility of High Latency

In terms of Internet, latency is the time delay of the response in the network, and is therefore a waste of time and can be annoying if you playing online games. And because of the high load in Open VPN, you might encounter this problem depending on your location of your access.

There are other disadvantages of Open VPN, but they are considerably minor. For example, it is quite slower than PPTP (Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol) and L2TP/IPSec. Some user also note that Open VPN for desktop computers is better than for mobile devices. However, if you are really concern with security and reliability, then you should choose Open VPN.

 

Original: http://sahrzad.net/blog/pros-and-cons-of-open-vpn-technology/

How to Unblock Websites on Android Devices Best Tips 2015

Android vpn

Without a doubt, the number of smartphone users will continue to increase as time goes by. But still, there are tons of restricted websites, no matter what kind of  device you are using. There are actually different ways to unblock websites; but so far, VPN (Virtual Private Network) is still the best way.

First of all, many offices and schools block websites not only to remove all the distractions at work, but also to control young students from inappropriate content. There are also some countries, particularly in the Middle East that implement very strict Internet censorship. But sometimes, you need to access some restricted websites.

Just like proxy sites, VPN will assign a new IP address for you, hiding your real IP address and geo-location as well. Therefore, you can now browse the Internet anonymously. But with VPN, your data is well-protected because of encryption. This means that almost no third party can intercept your web traffic, even if you are using your smartphone in a public Wi-Fi zone.

If you are an Android device user, there are tons of VPN apps at Google Play Store to choose from. You can easily download the one you like, and the procedures are very easy to follow.  In fact, it can be done within a few minutes only. You will be given choices of web browser and country of origin. And yes, you can choose any country available in the list.

In case you don’t know, Android has a built-in VPN client – PPTP, L2TP/IPsec VPN and Open VPN security protocols. However, PPTP is not stable and least secured. On the other hand, PPTP and L2TP/IPsec VPN are both complicated and may require you to download third party software. This is why you can choose external VPNs.

But while using VPN for Android devices is pretty easy, the hardest part is how to choose which of them are the most applicable to you. To start with, identify the activities you will do while using a VPN. If you will play online games, you will need a tougher VPN to minimize lagging (or the slow response from the server) which is very annoying.

There are also VPNs that offer unlimited bandwidth which are very tempting. However,  you might need to pay additional cost for the bandwidth that you will not use. Avoid also the VPN service providers that keep logs; this can be dangerous because you are not totally secured and the Internet police in strict countries might find you.

You might also be tempted in using free VPNs instead of the paid ones. Obviously, you can save money from using these free services. But if you are really serious in using VPN, investing a small amount money is a better choice. With a paid VPN, you will not be distracted by tons of ridiculous advertisements that will appear everywhere.

In addition, you can be sure of faster response from their customer service and technical support them, simply because you paid for them. Many premium VPN service providers offer various types of security protocols as compared to the free ones. Not to mention, paid VPNs offer faster Internet connection because free VPNs are not obliged to invest in bandwidth.

From Sahrzad’s Blog: http://sahrzad.net/blog/how-to-unblock-websites-on-android-devices-best-tips-2015/