Just wondering if anyone is aware of a way thats easier than using an SSH tunnel/proxy to set up a single browser to use a VPN.
Long story short I believe that internet access at my workplace is soon to become monitored and reviewed. Although I don’t access anything I shouldn’t do whilst at work (less a bit of Reddit - and I’m going to start window shopping on a few job recruiter sites) I’d, principally, like to have a designated browser for any web traffic I don’t want to be logged. Because I never signed up to any sort of policy that allows my employer to monitor my internet usage. I’ve checked my employment contract & there is nothing there. So I’m not allowing them to do something which I haven’t agreed to.
So, as a matter of principal I’d like to mask all of my traffic that doesn’t use the internal web applications we use here at work.
I understand that this might prompt questions as to why I’m using a VPN, later down the line with my employer, but I can cross that bridge myself when I come to it. So there’s no need for anyone to point this out, thanks.
Would Opera, with its built-in VPN, suffice? Or would this route all my traffic through the VPN & not just the traffic coming out of Opera?
Using an ash tunnel is the easiest/best way for this. Simple as ssh -D 8888 user@server and login and use that port as the proxy port in Firefox with a server address of localhost(socks)
The Opera “VPN” is technically a secure proxy service. It encrypts only the Opera browser’s traffic and routes it through a server operated by Canadian VPN provider SurfEasy. Opera won’t protect other web browsers or stand-alone email clients. A true VPN would encrypt every piece of internet data going to and from a device, no matter the application handling the data
“What Opera offers is not a VPN as such. It’s just a proxy for the browser. You still need a full VPN if privacy is what you care about (and you should care about your privacy). Other tools you use, including for example email clients like Outlook, won’t use this VPN” (Michal Špaček)
(…)
“I am a bit surprised by Opera in this case. A proxy is a proxy, usually for one specific service. A VPN is usually an encrypted tunnel for all services going out of our computer to a remote host, before it gets decrypted and then forwarded to its final destination. While Opera may have done this little tweak of definitions with the best intentions, end users should understand that this free service by Opera is nowhere near the security provided by a real VPN solution” (Per Thorsheim)
Though the free VPN that is available with the Opera browser does encrypt your outgoing data, it only does so for browser traffic, making it less than ideal for people seeking true anonymity online. Though the company defends this by openly stating that they are not a true VPN but rather a “browser VPN,” we feel there is some room for a charge of false advertising, here. On top of that, it is unclear which privacy policy (that of Opera or that of SurfEasy, above) applies to the browser VPN, making for muddled waters, indeed
There are a number of VPNs that aren’t actually VPNs at all. As you can read in our article comparing VPNs vs proxies, the main difference between these two security tools is that VPNs use a tunnel to encrypt your data, while a proxy does not. The following services may advertise as VPNs, but they merely redirect traffic rather than encrypt it
Opera Software will continue to offer its built-in no-log VPN as part of its browser for the desktop, but the Opera VPN client for Android and iOS would not be available after April [2018]
Your surfing will be loggeg by vpn companies instead.
Does your contract state that you can browse the internet?
As matter of principle, you should pay for Internet.
Or you could use a virtual machine and use the VPN & browser only there.
+1 This is probably the simplest, most headache-free setup. With VMWare Unity View, you can have literally just a single browser window on Windows if that makes sense. You’d have just one browser window that you can minimize and treat like any other, except it’s running in Linux and on a VPN.
I don’t really care what VPN companies do with my surfing. I’m not doing anything embarassing or illegal. I can freely surf at work, but principally I’d like to be able to mask my traffic.
To be clear, I’m talking about a local socks5 proxy on your system that connects to a VPN provider over the same sort of secure channel that a VPN would use.
Although actually, OP should probably just put a sim card in an ipad and take that to work instead.
As I said, I’m not doing anything I shouldn’t be. I just want to create a situation where, if they try to review my internet activity - they hit a brick wall.
We have a very relaxed internet policy where I work, as long as its not anything inappropriate. This isn’t about covering my ass whilst I surf the day away, its about making a quiet objection to new policies I haven’t agreed to.
I understand that & that’s fine. I don’t want to make it appear as though I’m doing nothing, but just to make it impossible for those above me to see what I’m doing.