Re: [tlug] VPN?

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull.stephen.fw@example.com>]

David J Iannucci writes:

 > If this is true, you have to think that the whole industry is just
 > a big scam.

You get an A+!

I note that McAfee[1] got pissed on Twitter the other day because he
hasn't been associated with the McAfee Antivirus scam^Wproduct for a
decade.  (Yes, he admitted it sucks.)

 > Most security advice I have seen on the web, some of it from what
 > look like very trustworthy sources, says "use a VPN for enhanced
 > privacy and anonymity". Is this all just a big conspiracy?

No.  It's a decentralized application of "Barnum's Dictum" ("there's a
sucker born every minute").

I still don't have a very good idea of what your needs are, so I'm not
willing to say a VPN is useful or no.  But consider this:

Anybody (who isn't an expensive consultant, and some of them too) who
claims to be selling security, privacy, or anonymity is a scammer.
The tools that ordinary people need to make themselves reasonably
secure and private against outside attack on their network connections
and hosts are commodities and free to cheap in price.[2]  But the user
needs to make some behavioral changes[3], and high-quality anonymity
is very hard.

But this amount of security is mostly a misreading of reality, as most
of the interesting things you do on networks involve human
counterparties, who by and large are not as good at security as you
are (this is the "Lake Wobegon Lemma"[4], which underpins most proofs
of nonexistence of security).  And you have to be very good to
maintain security, privacy, and anonymity against somebody with skills
bearing ill-will against you.

The rule is that to say whether a tool enhances your security (etc)
requires (1) knowing your requirements in those areas, and (2) knowing
the threats to those conditions that you face.  Neither of these is a
commodity that can be sold via an e-commerce site.


Footnotes: 
[1]  That is one weird arrogant dude.  Makes Musk + Zuckerberg look
like a kindergarten duet all by his lonesome.

[2]  And in your case, a VPN may be one of them.  But see [3].

[3]  E.g., putting up with the annoyance of 2FA, avoiding installing
any software that is not mission-related, and learning the skill of
using a password manager.  Oh, and as David mentioned, background
checks on your VPN provider if you're worried about government
agencies (ie, subpoenas) and hackers of moderate skill. ;-)

[4]  Prairie Home Companion described Lake Wobegon as a town where
"all the children are above average".