How to hide your ip » Getting Started

Few Criterias for Choosing a Hardware-based VPN Router

Heryzo — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:10:45 +0000

I’ve gone crazy doing lists and selection those last couple of days, most probably because it was the end of year where it’s usually the time for making plans for the new year and all those kind of stuff. Do you find yourself doing that kind of lists too?

Anyway, this time, I wanted to focus on router hardwares that are good fit for running VPN on them. Frankly speaking, although I have a little two computers home network, I never worried installing the VPN client on my router- especially because the second computer is used by my wife who only cares about accessing the internet for doing e-mail, browsing and facebook So I was better off having a VPN software installed on my own computer for my own purposes.

But in case you want a centrally managed VPN implementation for your own network, be it a home network, or a small organisation network, then having the VPN layer implemented on the router side is definitely the way to go. Here again, there are a lot of options: you can think of the very powerful Cisco or Juniper routers that are designed specifically for running multiple VPN tunnels; or you can go for the “lighter” VPN routers that are designed for SOHO use.

For this article, I won’t even consider those big guys in town that are meant to connect to multiple locations in the world; let’s just focus on the SOHO (Smal Office Home Office) segment. So here are my criterias:

It should be easy to install. You don’t have to be an IT expert to set it up, nor should you have a great understanding of all the different options. In fact, considering that I would have already chosen a VPN provider, chances are that I would have been given credentials and protocols to be used, so the VPN router should be able to implement them. This should be an easy one since most of the protocols are implemented into all those hardware nowadays;
It should have the right connection that goes with my internet connection. This can be the tricky part: internet connection solutions can come in a variety of “flavours”. Some providers will give you a box that is preconfigured for the internet connection. All the devices in my network would then need to connect to this box either via WiFi, or via ethernet connection.
At this stage, I may want to check if that ISP box allows some bridging feature with my VPN router. Otherwise, that box would have to implement some network address translation (NAT) and it may cause you some troubles- for your case, check with the VPN router provider how would that be implemented. Other providers allows you to have your own router directly connected to an ADSL jack: this is a perfect fit since you can choose a VPN router that can connect to an ADSL jack then you do all the internet connection and VPN configuration on the same router.

As an option, and if you don’t have yet a WiFi router in your organisation, you may want to request a router that also acts as a WiFi access point. This can come handy for a small entity (your house for example).

Here is my selection of hardware-based VPN routers.

Post from: How to hide ip

Few Criterias for Choosing a Hardware-based VPN Router

Cloud Computing and Data Security

Heryzo — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:50:11 +0000

You have surely heard it, you may even use it without being aware of it: cloud computing has invaded our daily life. The term cloud computing has been used so often that one has lost its signification and advantages. So first of all, let’s go back to basics, then let’s see how privacy is dealt within that new environment.

What is cloud computing ?

Cloud computing dematerializes IT infrastructure for the user/company thereby offering the applications as services. Let’s say, for example, that a company once had to manage a physical server so as to run his own e-mail applications, with cloud computing, there’s no need any more to host a physical at the company’s premises as they could be using a Google Apps service and access a Gmail-like service. The only thing that is needed from the user side is a device (a computer, a smartphone, a tablet, …) to access the services.

While the use has started from e-mail and other collaboration tools (calendar, tasks, address-book, …) cloud computing has evolved to a wider offer. With services like Amazon S3, for example, one can host his files on Amazon’s strong infrastructure. In the music industry, serices like spotify are delivering playlists from the cloud. In the customer relationship management field, Salesforce.com is maintaining all the application in the cloud.

In fact, we are now moving to a consumption mode where IT is provided as a service. This alleviates the need for having to invest/maintain expensive hardware and software by leveraging on shared resources online.

This sharing facility can present some risks as multitenancy is adopted for the same resources: one server can then be used by ten or twenty companies. It is almost admitted that cloud computing providers are offering more professional services/infrastructures so as to maintain a very high availability, it can happen that they fail sometimes (refer to the recent Blackberry outage for example). Moreover, most cloud computing service providers are maintaining a high-level of security within their infrastructure though one can almost be sure that each tenant has their own private environment.

Accessing cloud computing services through SSL

As a cloud computing user, you want to make sure that there’s no man-in-the-middle attack while you are accessing those services that are provided online through cloud computing providers. Most of thos services are now accessed through SSL. If you are a user of one of those online e-mail systems (gmail, yahoo, msn, …), you would have noticed that they have now adopted the use of HTTPS protocol- they are strongly inviting their users to access their service via HTTPS instead of HTTP. Even services like facebook and twitter are also implementing this SSL feature so as to prevent spoofing.

To sum-up, for any cloud-computing service that you are using, please make sure that you are accessing them through HTTPS- if they don’t provide that feature, as a general rule of thumb, you’re better left thinking that this is not yet a mature-enough cloud service provider.

Post from: How to hide ip

Cloud Computing and Data Security

Software or Hardware-based VPN Solution?

Heryzo — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 09:04:37 +0000

We always considered software-based VPN while dealing with private network solutions. This is mainly due to the fact that we considered that the typical readership that we have is considering the use of a VPN for their own purposes only. This means that the most obvious way for them to implement a VPN solution is to add a software on their computer and they should be ready to go. This stands true if there is no need to group multiple users and computers behind a VPN connection. But if we want a whole network to go through a VPN implementation, a dedicated VPN router may be more suitable.

Why a VPN device vs software?

Before digging into the options, let’s see the differences between a software-implemented VPN versus a dedicated VPN device. We are not going to chose a specific vendor, but let’s focus on few items.

Software-based VPN are usually easier to implement as it’s just a matter of installing additional software on the user’s computer, then configuring it with the right parameters. We have to bear in mind, though, that those application will consume more resources on the computer (for encryption purposes for example). Moreover, there’s a higher chance for that VPN system to be hacked as it is common that the computer where the VPN software is installed is also performing other duties.

On the other hand, hardware-based VPN devices are more specialized. Brands like Cisco, Juniper or Netgear have specific VPN device for an kind of use. Although the use of dedicated device will free resources for the user’s computer, one has to be careful while choosing the right device. Let’s see few criteria that need to be used for selecting a hardware-based VPN device

Compatibility: first of all, your VPN device has to be compatible with your current internet connection. Most of the times, those hardware-based devices only come with an Ethernet as well as one other network component (serial, another Ethernet, …). Depending on the internet connection that you’ll be using, the model of VPN device can change. This can be a pain I, later on, you decide to change your internet service provider, or if you want to use a newer internet connection technology. In fact, most of the time, you may end up replacing your current VPN router if you ever consider changing your internet connection
Protocols implemented: here comes the much more technical implementation side of things. Based on the other endpoint where you want to connect, you have to carefully choose the protocols that will be used between your network and the VPN provider. As an example, if your VPN service provider is implementing 3DES, then you need to choose a VPN router that can also communicate with that protocol.

In fact, when it comes to connecting a whole network through a VPN solution, you’re better off opting for a dedicated hardware-base solution. It only does VPN implementation ( no other softwares runs on it that can create some security breaches) thereby freeing resources from the user’s computer.

Post from: How to hide ip

Software or Hardware-based VPN Solution?

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – This is it!

salman — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:49:31 +0000

This is it (and it isn’t a Michael Jackson that I am referring too!). After pushing my Part 1 and Part 2 of this series I had to wrap this up before it becomes overly boring. Henceforth, here is the last and final part of VPN Nirvana!

Golden Tip: Please understand that at the end of the day it will be you who will know which VPN is best for you. Features, availability and functionality of a VPN service depends on your geographical location. A VPN service that does well in China might not do good for your if you move to Indonesia. Henceforth, it is suggested that you (please) go through this series and start your own research. Results will be fruitful if you stay intact throughout!

Check Part 1 for explanation on SSL & MPLS.
Check Part 2 for explanation on IPSec & Hybrids.

In our wrap up article I will like to focus on Remote Offices and Remote Users as these happen to be an important reason why VPN services are highly in demand especially in the corporate world. Time for some really worthwhile suggestions!

Remote Users

If you are part of that genre of users who travel a lot and need access to Internet from Hotels and Coffee Shops then MPLS is surely not the service you should be looking for. Ignore without giving second thoughts! IPSec is good for such users only if you have control over those systems that you will use as you might have to download VPN clients with regular updates popping up!

IPSec seems to be the only possible option for the IT support staff or any other person who plans to access multiple applications over a VPN. IPSec is good when it comes to scaling and and it is easy to manage.

Another suggested option is SSL which comes into play when users are accessing corporate network from non corporate systems like public places or homes etc. This is possible in case of SSL VPN as there is no client software required to run SSL VPN services. It is easy to use and quiet cheap when compared to its counterparts. If you have internet connection then you will easily have access to your data though it might not support all the applications that are part of your organization’s list!

Remote Offices

Now, the discussion moves from remote users to remote offices where the question is multiple users working simultaneously from one place itself! In such cases SSL is not the best option.

In such cases, it is suggested that you have one secure link between your current location and your central office. If you are targeting an environment where all the remote sites will access your central site then IPSec will be the best suggested option for you. Also, your users won’t have to worry about any client software as that will be taken care of on the network level.

But, if you plan to interconnect every possible branch with other branch then it might end up being really a pain in your bum. This will elevate when you have to setup GRE in case of non-IP traffic or multicast traffic. One should remember that this deployment will be done over the Internet henceforth no possible QoS guarantees might be available to satisfy client’s requirements.

In case of huge offices which have complex requirements for connectivity, MPLS VPN is best suggested format which should be used. One must make sure that the ISP supports MPLS and supports multicast traffic. Do your research!

Conclusion

We have done a lot of discussion about all possible (in use) formats of VPN services. As I have said already, it is you who will make the last decision. Hit it!

Post from: How to hide ip

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – This is it!

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – Part 2

salman — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:15:16 +0000

Read the Part 1 of my out-of-frustration series? No? Read it first before you come back here otherwise their is no point in reading the stuff here which will have zero meaning for you. I’m serious, guys!

The world of VPN has been full of bad (with some good) services which have left the end user confused and unsatisfied. At the end of the day it is high amount of self research that helps an individual attain nirvana with VPN services. With this series of articles I am trying my best to ease off the pain involved in attaining nirvana by giving some quick tips and explaining all forms of VPN that you will someday stumble upon.

Refer to Part 1 for an explanation on SSL and MPLS.

IPSec

We have already discussed a lot about IPsec Protocol for VPN services so I won’t kill much time here. Basically, IPSec sets up a tunnel from the remote site thus securing any format of data transfer. This makes it easy for you to connect to any form of application (web apps or anything else) through this tunnel and stay secured.

IPSec is one of the tried and tested VPN protocols that has satisfied users for past many years. IPSec will always look at a client installed in your machine for him to work successfully. The client software is usually free unless you end up using a custom software provided by your vendor. This will cost you some bucks.

Golden Tip: IPSec will protect you from multiple hack attacks like man-in-the-middle attack, Replay, and Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack. Could be worth a shot due to its high end security features.

NOTE: If you have non-IP data then you might have to think about configuring GRE tunnels separately and run IPSec on them so as to support multicast traffic.

Hybrids

Well, this should be mentioned at the end but I wanted to leave this quick note. Hybrid VPN services are examples of multiple VPN types bundled into one so as to provide features of all in one package. You will have to do your research with the respective hybrid VPN service that you come across.

One such example is combining the features of IPSec and SSL so as to provided double security for its users.

Please be aware that in case of hybrid VPN services the service providers might provide client based custom software to accomplish the task but this might burn a hole in your market. Again, do your research!

We aren’t done yet!

We are closing in but still their is the wrap up that needs to be completed. Hold on to your seats as I will wrap up the week with my (almost) final article on VPN services!

Post from: How to hide ip

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – Part 2

How To Set Up Your Own UK VPN

HideIP Admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:57:01 +0000

Do you need a UK VPN to get access to restricted sites, watch BBC iPlayer, play UK online games?

There are plenty of commercial services than offer UK VPN, but you can also set up your own UK VPN using a VPS (Virtual Private Server). The advantages of having your own VPN servers are that your are no sharing the bandwidth with anyone, getting good browsing speed, and, very important, you can manage the logs as you like (delete them anytime you want).

The following steps guide you on how to setup a PPTP VPN server on a VPS located in UK.

1. Buy a VPS

To start off, you need to buy a VPS, and choose to install a CentOS 5.x operating system. It is important to get CentOS as the script you are going to run is suitable for this operating system.

In order to get a UK VPN you need a VPS from a hosting company located in UK. I personally recommend UK2.NET, but you can surely find others by searching on Google.

After you order the VPS you will get the root password that you need for the rest of the process.

2. Connect to your VPS

Install a SSH client (Putty) in order to connect to the VPS. Start Putty, and enter the following command:

ssh root@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

Replace “xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx” with your VPS’ IP, such as “68.19.16.213″.

Then you will see the following message:

Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

Enter “yes” and press the “Return” key, then, enter your password and press the “Return” key.

3. Run the installation script

Next, run the installation script (pptpd.sh is hosted on how-to-to-hide-ip.info but it was created by Diahosting.com):

wget http://www.how-to-hide-ip.info/scripts/pptpd.sh

Hit “Enter”. The file will be downloaded on your server. Next, run it:

sh pptpd.sh

The installation will be run and completed automatically, and when it’s done, the VPN username and password will be displayed on your console screen.

4. Change the VPN password

The PPTP VPN account information is stored in the file located at “etc/ppp/chap-secrets”, you can use the command line to edit this file directly:

nano etc/ppp/chap-secrets

All you need to do is to type in the username you want to use, then space and type in “pptpd”, and then space and the password (as vpn-password).

You will need restart PPTPD server when changes are made with the following command line:

/etc/init.d/pptpd restart

5. Connect your computer to the UK VPN server

Finally, you need to create a PPTP connection from your computer to the VPN server. The info you are going to use is: the IP address of the VPS, the username and the password you set up earlier.

And … voila! You have your own UK VPN server. Enjoy!

Post from: How to hide ip

How To Set Up Your Own UK VPN

No related posts.

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – Part 1

salman — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:50:46 +0000

Don’t know about you guys but I am fed of reading gazillioans of articles on VPN and their types and their forms and their everything else! We discuss so much that we end up generating loads of useless content. I agree that more content means more knowledge but at least tell me how to chose the best instead of telling me your style of best? I mean, c’mon, guys? I have my own requirements and I want to opt for my best VPN not some so-called critics best VPN.

Okay! The above para was just random rant but it is true. We don’t get what we really search for in Google. This is why I have taken matters in my hand. I am no alpha geek and I don’t know what .DLL files are doing in my System32 folder but I got brains and today I will try to use a part of the same to make life easy for all of us.

It’s time for business.

IPsec style of VPN has ruled around for long till their was nothing like SSL. I will not know what you think and what are your requirements so I will try my best to touch base with the pros and cons of all types of VPNs. The ball will be in your court after the two part series is wrapped up. Think before you decide.

SSL (Secure Socket Layer)

I discussed about SSL in my last article itself and I wasn’t sure that I will end up throwing more light on the same all over again. If you ask me to summarize this quickly then SSL is responsible to create a secure session between your browser and the destination. In reality SSL is like proxy in most of the cases.

Important point worth a note is SSL is smart at encrypting end-to-end traffic which means it can bypass firewalls, load balancing devices, Intrusion Prevention Systems and other different types of network management systems. This means that SSL might just become a headache for you in some cases henceforth it is suggested that you do your research before implementing SSL style of VPN.

Golden Tip: SSL will add overhead on your servers henceforth I will suggest you to offload it to some proxy and then route the network traffic via your secure corporate network.

The advantage of SSL style VPN is that their won’t be any third party software required as default installation for SSL to work even at users end. This makes it easy to use SSL anywhere. The disadvantage is that if you somehow need access to something that isn’t present on the web then you might want an intervention by another layer as SSL provides security for web based apps only.

MPLS

In between all the discussion I do not want you to forget MPLS VPNs. They might not work for individual users in case of remote access but they end up being the best in business for site-to-site connectivity. The quick advantage worth mentioning is that MPLS is scalable and very flexible.

All the configuration is done at the network level so the end user will see the obvious network connectivity only. MPLS supports QoS as well as multicast so one really need not worry about which app the end user will need access to and which needs to be restricted.

A big disadvantage that comes with MPLS is that it cannot be set up smoothly and you will end up facing hurdles all the time.

More still to come

I had to divide this article into multiple article series as I know it isn’t easy for you to consume the information. Stay tight as a lot more is still coming in our mad series of finding the best VPN for you!

Salman Siddiqui is an expert technology analyst and regularly blogs on his tech. blog CompuWorld. His vast experience of freelance writing is backed by his passion to swim against the tide. You can grab him on Twitter.

Post from: How to hide ip

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – Part 1

How to Connect Mobile Devices to a Network

David Gitonga — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 10:40:44 +0000

A number of connection possibilities exist that allow a mobile device, your iPhone, iPad or portable game console, to connect to a network and get a public IP address or a private IP address from a local network.

One of the easiest ways is to use the traditional Ethernet cable or the wireless LAN. When using this method, you will need to fill in the IP address or set it to automatically pick an IP from the DHCP server assigning the addresses. LAN networks are always reliable and easy to configure even for network novices.

Bluetooth technology can be implemented for ad-hoc or point-to-point communication where devices within a Piconet, or Bluetooth network, can communicate with each other. This is possible since Bluetooth defines specific profiles for specific communication scenarios. But did you know that it is also possible to connect to a TCP/IP network using Bluetooth? In order to do this, a Personal Network Profile (PAN) must be enabled on your mobile device and the gateway computer must also offer a Bluetooth stack to allow communication to take place.

GPRS is data service that is offered by wireless operators allowing mobile devices to access the Internet. The downside to using this method is that the device cannot be accessed directly from the Internet.

Serial connections, typically, IrDA and sometimes Bluetooth serial profiles, can also be used to connect a mobile device to a TCP/IP network. This is a physical communication that exists and most commonly employed to tunnel the dial in modems for Internet access.

ActiveSync is synchronization software that uses TCP/IP to handle communication between a desktop system your mobile device. To access your device on the network you just need a USB sync cable. A fixed private IP address is automatically assigned to both your mobile device and the desktop system to allow communication.

Post from: How to hide ip

How to Connect Mobile Devices to a Network

PS3 Proxy Server Configuration

David Gitonga — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:42:53 +0000

Did you know that Sony can track your location using your PS3 console while connected to the Internet? What can you do to counter this intrusion of privacy? While it is not possible to connect your PS3 directly to a VPN service, it is however possible to setup and configure a proxy service to work. This is usually set up, not on the PS3 system directly, but on a computer that is connected to the same network as your PS3 console. After making the configurations on your computer, you can then configure the PS3 to user the proxy server and be able to do just about everything else in a normal configuration mode.

Set up the Proxy Server Service on your computer and ensure that it is working. If the Proxy Server is not running and working on your computer it will likely not work on your PS3. You will need to take note of the correct IP address used and the Proxy Port which will be used when configuring the PS3 console.

Connect your PS3 to the network and go to “Settings” “Network Settings” and select the “Proxy Server” or similar designation that you plan to use for this connection. Press the X button to use this network connection.

Enter the IP address and the Proxy Server you noted previously when the Address field comes up. In most cases the Proxy port will usually be “6588” for a Windows system and “8080” for a Mac. Ensure though that you enter the number that you collected when setting up your computer. Leave the UPNP setting unchanged.

Confirm a summary of the connection details after clicking on “Next” and then proceed to testing the connection to see if it works. Pressing the X button will attempt to connect the PS3 system to the Internet. If the connection test is successful, the PS3 system will display a message saying that it has obtained an IP address and is now connected.

Got to your web browser on your Playstation system and using a location checker like the one above this website, check your location. Your location should now be different from your actual location.

You can now log into the Playstation Network, Playstation Store and Chat or Play games online just like you would in a normal setting, only this time you cannot be tracked by your location.

Post from: How to hide ip

PS3 Proxy Server Configuration

How to Check an iPad’s IP Address

David Gitonga — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 07:53:31 +0000

If you own an iPhone, then you know that it can act as a hotspot. What is even more interesting is the fact that an iPad can connect to your iPhone and track your location. In other words, a tethered iPhone can send GPS to Wi-Fi iPad allowing you to track your location. Data can be pulled from the iPhone via a wireless tether and sent to the iPad. This however is only possible if you know the iPad IP address which will enable you to make the few configurations needed to have yourself a tracking iGadget. This is a very simple to set up and it only requires that you have a Wi-Fi nearby and of course an iPad 2.

Navigate to the “Settings” on your iPad and select the “Wi-Fi” option on the sidebar.

Tap on the arrow located next to the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to. The iPad will begin searching for all the available networks that are broadcasting and within range. Select from the list the Wi-Fi network that you want to connect to and tap on the network name to try to attempt to connect to it.

Enter the wireless encryption password if the network is protected. Once you complete the connection process, the iPad will present with a list of all the settings including the IP address it has obtained from the network. You can then use this IP address to connect or access it via other devices on the network.

Alternatively, it is also possible to locate the iPad’s IP address by logging into the hotspot device, which could be a router, and accessing its list of connected devices. From here you can easily tell the IP address by identifying its name on the network. Some software applications, like those that come with Cisco devices, also allow you to view the network and determine what devices are connected together with their IP addresses. However in all cases, the iPad needs to first connect to a network before you can identify its IP address.

Post from: How to hide ip

How to Check an iPad’s IP Address

How to hide your ip » Getting Started

Few Criterias for Choosing a Hardware-based VPN Router

Related Posts

Cloud Computing and Data Security

Related Posts

Software or Hardware-based VPN Solution?

Related Posts

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – This is it!

Related Posts

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – Part 2

Related Posts

How To Set Up Your Own UK VPN

2. Connect to your VPS

3. Run the installation script

4. Change the VPN password

Related Posts

Enough! Which VPN Is Best for Me? Tell Me or Get Lost! – Part 1

It’s time for business.

More still to come

Related Posts

How to Connect Mobile Devices to a Network

Related Posts

PS3 Proxy Server Configuration

Related Posts

How to Check an iPad’s IP Address

Related Posts