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So how did I get to New Jersey ?


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So how did I get to New Jersey ?

 

With all of the crazy background activity on my internet, I have FINALLY decided to get a VPN.

I'm amazed that this is faster than going DIRECT ????

 

It has become important because I have much suspicious activity on the internet. I am dealing with Chinese manufacturers and at least one individual with "hacker" as his handle.

 

i HAVE THIS FOR at least 15 MONTHS.

 

I'll see after that if I want to keep it up.

 

Dan

 

https://www.expressvpn.com/bongino

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I work remotely (but in the same city) for a company that manages rentals and Condo/HOA Associations. The owner has significant holdings in rental complexes and Association Management (where I work) has over 60 Associations and 3,000+ doors.

 

Our server that I connect with to do my job is on a VPN. It's reasonably fast considering the number of users. We have an outside contractor who does IT for several companies and he takes good care of us in terms of service, updates and protection from the endless barrage of evil that is the Interwebz.

 

If you need one, get it. The people who are selling a chunk of space over time cannot afford to allow intrusions, that will mean loss of business. A chunk of your service cost will be spent on protection, as hacks begin to be effective new code is written to thwart it, that is not free.

 

We save considerable outgo by not having to own or lease business properties but some of that goes to keep us safe.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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A chunk of your service cost will be spent on protection, as hacks begin to be effective new code is written to thwart it, that is not free.

 

I'm not sure I understand. Is this in addition to the cost of a VPN, or something that's included in a paid VPN package?

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A chunk of your service cost will be spent on protection, as hacks begin to be effective new code is written to thwart it, that is not free.

 

I'm not sure I understand. Is this in addition to the cost of a VPN, or something that's included in a paid VPN package?

 

First of all, current Covid mandates in Washington state have engendered a remote "work from home" culture that may become the new normal. I hope so, I like it.

 

Lots of variables there. Where I work, some of us use cable for our internet access. That can be hacked but it's pretty rare. Others use WIFi, hacking that is a bit more common. Neither is really wide spread and it is the individual computer that would be the target so yes, you probably need to protect it yourself.

 

This is to say nothing of the fact that some workers will log out of the network and surf the internet on their own. At one point I was forced to do that, the VPN connection was not stable and I had some fairly urgent company business that needed immediate attention so I used the email account on my iPhone and the Appfolio account on the cloud but fully logged out of the VPN.

I'm a maintenance coordinator, we've had a wet season and leaks are NOW. The longer it takes to fix the leak the more damage and cost will be accrued.

 

In Techchristian's case, if he stays on the VPN all the time he should be fine. I would expect they'd have a fee that included them protecting all of their clients (and themselves!).

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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A chunk of your service cost will be spent on protection, as hacks begin to be effective new code is written to thwart it, that is not free.

 

I'm not sure I understand. Is this in addition to the cost of a VPN, or something that's included in a paid VPN package?

 

Re-reading the thread I see where you could ask that and what I meant was that "Part of what you pay for a VPN goes to the cost of proctection."

 

Nothing on the internet is totally unhackable.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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<...snip...>

 

Nothing on the internet is totally unhackable.

 

True, but being a more difficult target will make you somewhat safer - depending of course on the reward the cracker (nefarious hacker) will get if he/she gets in.

 

It's the cost (time and effort) vs. gain (money and/or prestige).

 

If you are logging into your account at Starbucks without a VPN, you are a very easy target. On the other hand, if you are using a VPN and 20 other people in Starbucks are not, chances are the cracker will probably go for the low-hanging fruit. That is unless you drive up in your Rolls and look like you are worth a fortune.

 

If you are a huge corporation with the credit card credentials for a million customers, you probably aren't low-hanging fruit, but the extra time and effort to crack the system would be worth it in monetary gain.

 

There are multiple levels of security, and none of them are foolproof. However, each adds a bit of extra protection.

 

Smart surfing and e-mail habits are essential. This morning I got a very official e-mail that said I was close to exceeding my e-mail cap and I could click that link to free up space. The other day I got one about an unpaid invoice. And of course the well-worn-out "I have been watching you through your camera doing something embarrassing" e-mail. We all know that clicking one of these is the easiest way into your computer. But enough people do so that sending out zillions of them brings in a profit.

 

All the VPNs, Anti-Malware, and other devices won't help if you don't use your brain. But I think all of us here know all that.

 

Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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Notes, I agree with you 100%, in the end caution will serve us all well.

It was the following, quoted from the OP, that is concerning.

 

and at least one individual with "hacker" as his handle.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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  • 1 month later...

So after being on this VPN more than a month here is what I have seen.

 

1) Most of the time my internet feels FASTER.

 

2)But I don't like the UPDATES, 3-4 already and sometimes it is tricky to get running after that. I'm running 5 devices on Windows 10, windows 7 and Linux and this can be a headache. (one or 2 at a time)

 

3) I'm getting some limited use of Prime video and Netflix from the US, but this was a surprise to me.

 

 

Dan

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I'm still unclear about the advantages of a VPN, aside from anonymity. Is it also more secure against malware and such? Perhaps that's the reason for the frequent updates?

According to Kaspersky:

 

What are the benefits of a VPN connection?

 

A VPN connection disguises your data traffic online and protects it from external access. Unencrypted data can be viewed by anyone who has network access and wants to see it. With a VPN, hackers and cyber criminals can"t decipher this data.

 

Secure encryption: To read the data, you need an encryption key . Without one, it would take millions of years for a computer to decipher the code in the event of a brute force attack . With the help of a VPN, your online activities are hidden even on public networks.

 

Disguising your whereabouts : VPN servers essentially act as your proxies on the internet. Because the demographic location data comes from a server in another country, your actual location cannot be determined. In addition, most VPN services do not store logs of your activities. Some providers, on the other hand, record your behavior, but do not pass this information on to third parties. This means that any potential record of your user behavior remains permanently hidden.

 

Access to regional content: Regional web content is not always accessible from everywhere. Services and websites often contain content that can only be accessed from certain parts of the world. Standard connections use local servers in the country to determine your location. This means that you cannot access content at home while traveling, and you cannot access international content from home. With VPN location spoofing , you can switch to a server to another country and effectively 'change' your location.

 

Secure data transfer: If you work remotely, you may need to access important files on your company"s network. For security reasons, this kind of information requires a secure connection. To gain access to the network, a VPN connection is often required. VPN services connect to private servers and use encryption methods to reduce the risk of data leakage.

 

I handle orders from my customers. I take care of their data more carefully than my own.

 

Their credit card numbers are never downloaded from the shopping cart, but their name, address, e-mail, phone and other identifying data is. After I'm done processing the order I move their data to a computer that never is connected to the Internet. If it isn't on-line, the crackers can't get it. To be double safe the hard drive of that computer is encrypted with an impossibly long password key, so if someone breaks into my office and steals the computer, they still won't be able to get the info they want.

 

The VPN keeps nefarious people from getting any information in the short time that it's coming from the shopping cart to my office. Plus if for any reason my Internet goes out, I can go to the parking lot outside the library, the city marina, Starbucks, McDonalds, and dozens of other places, check my e-mail and be fairly safe. I still won't handle banking or other business there, but if a customer is having a problem, I can e-mail them to let them know I'll take care of it when my Internet is back. Since I left ATT for another service a few years ago, I haven't been off long enough to have to do that. (Don't get me started about local ATT in my area of the world) :D

 

That's the advantage to me. I don't suppose everybody needs one, but I feel better about it (it is a subscription service with a yearly fee, but that's OK with me).

 

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com

Style and Fake disks for Band-in-a-Box

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<

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