I keep hearing on VPN ads that you have to use a VPN to not have your login information stolen. So far I have been using Cloudflare WARP to be safe enough. However, if I am using an HTTPS website, do I really need a VPN or WARP? Will an attacker on the same network as me be able to access passwords transmitted over HTTPS?

  • WhoRoger@lemmy.worldEnglish
    29·
    2 years ago

    Yes you’re good. The ads are basically lying, or at least vastly overblowing the importance of VPN. It’s nice to have in some situations, but no, hackers won’t immediately pwn you as soon as you connect to a McDonald’s wifi.

  • EndOfLine@lemm.eeEnglish
    25·
    2 years ago

    Think of it like this

    • HTTPS hides what you are saying.
    • VPN hides who you are saying it to.
  • Boozilla@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    2 years ago

    Depends on the context. If you are at home on a wired / non public connection…HTTPS by itself is probably good enough for protecting your password / credentials from your general “web goblin” type of hacker.

    However, if your device is compromised with malware (keylogger or whatever) then neither HTTPS nor a VPN can protect you.

    HTTPS uses a special key sharing algorithm to safely encrypt your data so that it’s relatively secure to transmit across the internet. Even if a man-in-the-middle intercepts it, they can’t decrypt the data.

    A VPN is an extra layer of security that hides your session from your internet service provider, or your boss, or random people on the WiFi at your local coffee place, that sort of thing. Using VPN is a good idea, but it’s not a magic solution, and it’s not always necessary. The VPN helps hide things like the websites you are visiting, your IP address, stuff like that. It also encrypts your traffic in a “tunnel” which is nice, but HTTPs packets are already encrypted. So HTTPS over a VPN is doubly encrypted.

    Security-wise, you do no harm using both. However, using a VPN can be a little bit slower and some services (like the Google platform and major video content streamers) really don’t like it when you use a VPN. You can sometimes get around this by purchasing a dedicated IP address from your VPN service provider, but that usually costs extra (on top of whatever you may be paying for the VPN service itself).

    And…a dedicated IP may or may not fool those picky content streamers. They have gotten pretty aggressive about blocking VPNs because they know people use them to get around regional content lockouts and restrictions.

    • kevincox@lemmy.ml
      2·
      2 years ago

      The best way to think about a VPN is a different ISP, when you activate a VPN your traffic goes through an encrypted tunnel through your primary ISP to the VPN, then the traffic is decrypted and dumped onto the internet. If you trust your VPN more than your ISP (either because they are more trustworthy or because they don’t know who you are) then it is a win. If you trust your ISP less than your VPN it is a loss.

      One important thing to highlight is like public WiFi that can allow people nearby to try and sniff your traffic. A VPN can be quite effective here even if you trust the ISP “behind” the WiFi.

    • PuppyOSAndCoffee@lemmy.ml
      1·
      2 years ago

      Bruh

      a vpn can totally MiM if they force you to use their cert.

      upstream server ssl <-> vpn client ssl <-> vpn MiM <-> vpn server ssl <-> you

      Even with no MiM, VPN is going to know where you are going and how long you are there, and any unencrypted comms (UDP / torrent, funky http URL) are just … there.

      I would assume consumer “privacy” VPN traffic is easily monitored by state agencies since there are fixed points of entry & egress?

      Any corporate VPN worth its salt is totally MiM all traffic; usually spells it out in the sales brochure.

    • Boozilla@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 years ago

      Replying to myself to add: if you use a VPN to hide your surfing habits from your boss, the security team can tell you are using a VPN. They may or may not care, it largely depends on where you work and if you’re using your device or a company device and the “corporate culture” of the place you work. Just have a cover story / explanation ready to go if you roll the dice on this one. If you work for a large corporate bank or something like that, I wouldn’t even try it.

  • 4am@lemm.ee
    2·
    2 years ago

    If all you use is a web browser and all the sites you visit are HTTPS only

  • PuppyOSAndCoffee@lemmy.ml
    13·
    2 years ago

    Personally I would use my own cellular Wi-Fi hotspot over a third party VPN. A VPN … unless you are running your own … is just a giant honeypot for snagging everything you do.

    The only way you know it’s not happening is you don’t.

    An in country cellular service at least can be assumed not to sell your data to a cyber crime group.