Abby or Eric - Have you heard of PIA?

[BulldogTom]

I was reading an article about a company called Private Internet Access.   Apparently this is a new VPN service that is now available and provides complete privacy on the web.   Should we be connecting to the internet through a VPN like PIA or NordVPN or some other one like that?   Can I access all my websites (especially this one), banks, credit cards, etc.?   Will it interfere with ATX or QB.   I just feel like everything I do on my computer is exposed to someone and I don't really know how to stop it.

Thanks for indulging my ignorance.

Tom
Longview, TX

[Eric]

The only time I use a VPN is when I'm traveling and using free hotel WiFi which for me isn't that often.  I used Mullvad VPN during a recent trip to Boston, spent less than $6 for the month, and cancelled the service when I got back home.  I have never had issues connecting to any websites but it is an extra server to route all of your traffic through, so it can potentially be slower.  To directly answer your question, nope, I haven't heard of PIA.

In my opinion, the main benefits of using a VPN are privacy related.  You can keep your browsing from your ISP because all they see is encrypted traffic between sites and the VPN server.  If you don't trust your ISP to not sell your metadata to the highest bidder, then a VPN is a good way to avoid that.  Just make sure to pick a trustworthy VPN provider because they're the ones who will have that data instead of your ISP.

In terms of general security, most of the web now uses HTTPS anyway, so all of that traffic is already encrypted and secure.  Transmitting things like credit cards and passwords isn't improved by using a VPN. Some VPN providers have additional security measures that protect you from visiting harmful sites or downloading harmful files, but a little common sense about those things is a lot more effective.

There are some things that I think should be higher priority for online security:

• Don't reuse your passwords.  Create secure passwords and use a password manager to remember them for you.
• Even though it's a pain sometimes, use 2 Factor Authentication wherever it's supported.  The type that uses an Authenticator app (Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator, etc) is better than relying on text messages, but the text messages are a lot better than a username/password alone.
• If privacy is your main concern, install an ad blocker extension for your browser.  uBlock Origin is a good example.  An unbelievable amount of tracking happens as you browse the web, and there's a lot of money in knowing who you are as an ad target.  A VPN generally doesn't do anything about this, because it's all happening in your browser which is communicating with the site you're visiting.  Encrypting the traffic through a VPN only means it's being securely sent directly to Facebook, for example.  An ad blocker will shut down most of that tracking and keep it from being shared with the sites you're visiting.

EDIT: I didn't realize this before, but Mullvad VPN, and probably other VPN providers include ad blocking and anti-tracking features which would be similar to what uBlock Origin does.  uBlock Origin is free, though.

 

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

For other reasons (allowing auto failover or sharing between two connections) I started using a Firewalla router. Great stats, don’t panic at how many incoming hits you will get. Plenty of security options including vpn support. No fees after purchase of the router (unless you need something you cannot setup on your own such as a vendor vpn).

Personally, I don’t use a vpn. I also do not use public connections. I am not worried about the isp selling the ip addresses I visit. Frankly, privacy is unobtanium, but security is still easily obtainable starting with monitoring what the grey matter tells the rest of the body to do. Software and hardware can help when the grey matter slips up.

[Abby Normal]

Every time I've tried a VPN, the internet slows more than is acceptable to me, even though they always say it shouldn't slow your internet. But I've only tried that type of VPN at home, never at work. Using a privacy VPN while traveling is probably a good idea, as is avoiding all public wifi and just using mobile data.

I use an add-on in Firefox that forces websites to https, instead of just http, for added security.

[BulldogTom]

Thanks to all.   Very informative.

Tom
Longview, TX

[Lee B]

Thanks, Eric, Medlin and Abby. 

Excellent Advice.

[Gail in Virginia]

Very interesting discussion.  Thanks!

[mcbreck]

PIA isn't new - it's been around for years as I'm a subscriber. I did a $79 for 3 years deal last time.

I use a VPN because my client who works at the FBI, my nephew who works at Apple in Cupertino and a firm I work with said to do it. Plus my wife is required to use a VPN 100% of the time for work at a major University. It slows my speed down from about 200mb to 170mb but upload drops to 20mb. Neither of those impact my life at all. The primary problem is that RingCentral won't let you log into your administration accounts via the VPN. I can still run all my phone calls through them while on the VPN. I've used Drake, TaxWise and ATX on the VPN and never had a problem.

 

My client who works for the FBI said you should assume anything that is "encypted" has been hacked. While I use encryption for PDF files, he doesn't allow me to do that with his files. My nephew at Apple smiled when I told him this and said it was a rather safe assumption to make. His opinion was encryption is safer than unencrypted but it's still not safe. I've had multiple people tell me the document services that CPAs love to use aren't really much safer than just emailing the documents. Basically if someone is smart enough to get your emails, they are smart enough to figure out how to get around the encryption.

[Radtke CPA]

PIA is not that new. They've been around a long time. PIA has been criticized by the security community for keeping "logs" but for general non-illegal uses it is probably fine. To add to the other comment about the FBI person saying use a VPN - for PIA that would be pointless for true anonymity because you use a credit card to sign up and instead of the ISP having all your browsing habits, if the VPN keeps logs - they have all your browsing data. Do you trust your ISP more or your VPN provider? That's the question you have to ask. Suffice to say I think it makes sense to rotate and use multiple VPN providers.

I use RingCentral and I have no problem using for example Surfshark VPN to access my RingCentral administration.

An alternative to VPN would be to use a third party solution like AnyDesk or another remote desktop option to simply access a computer remotely or virtual instance. I personally use an Unraid server at home that's plugged into business class fiber internet.

High quality VPN shouldn't slow you down at all. I am in Asia right now as we speak, working on ATX at home remotely through a VPN with no slow down.

For kicks I did a speed test. I'm getting 130 Mbps download and 15 Mbps Upload. This is more than sufficient for 99% of us.

For what it's worth, if I need to upload huge files - I'm not doing it through VPN anyway if the network I'm using is that insecure.