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+--- Thread: Nord VPN App Taking Over LANs and Mesh Networks (/showthread.php?tid=979)
Nord VPN App Taking Over LANs and Mesh Networks - Michigan Swamp Buck - 07-11-2023
I got the idea for this thread from a post I made in "The Internet is dead, long live the Internet" thread by EndtheMadnessNow here on R-N. I've been posting it all over including ATS.
If you participate in a private secure local area network or mesh network, Nord VPN wants you to use their app instead.
People trust Nord VPN to keep their internet activities secure and anonymous, so why not let them direct and control your LAN or decentralized mesh network? Well, because it will no longer be local or decentralized will it? If one device in your already established LAN or mesh-net is using the Nord VPN Meshnet app, the entire network has potentially been compromised. It could be infiltrated and under central control. Diabolical and insidious, it's evil genius. In fact, if you do a search with the keyword "mesh net" to understand mesh networking, Nord VPN comes up first and dominates the first page.
Quote:What is Meshnet?
Meshnet is a way to safely access other devices, no matter where in the world they are. Once set up, Meshnet functions just like a secure local area network (LAN) — it connects devices directly. This makes Meshnet a great fit for activities that require high speed, low latency, and advanced security — activities like file sharing, active work collaborations, and intense multiplayer gaming.
. . . Meshnet: simply convenient Here are just some great things that Meshnet offers for your online life. Link up to 60 devices Create secure private networks from up to 10 devices you own and up to 50 external devices. No configuration needed Simply switch Meshnet on and invite your friends to your network using their unique Meshnet name. Traffic routing Let your friends access the internet using your device’s IP address — just like if you were a VPN server.
https://nordvpn.com/meshnet/
Notice how they use the words "simple", "safe", "convenient", "secure" and "private" when a real mesh network is that already if it is set up properly. In fact, a mesh net, or even a private LAN, does everything the Nord VPN app does, but they sell it like it was all their idea.
Nord VPN offers the app for free, but their Meshnet network only works with other people in your network that have the app. I wonder why?
Quote:Is Meshnet free?
Yes, Meshnet comes free — simply download and start using it! Meshnet was created by NordVPN, so all NordVPN users can find Meshnet in their NordVPN apps for every major platform.
Can I share files with someone who doesn’t have Meshnet?
No, but anyone can download and use Meshnet for free. Sharing files costs nothing with Meshnet.
I think that Nord VPN is going well beyond security with this app. If my suspicions are correct, then they have other agendas besides the privacy and security front they are using to draw in the paranoids and privacy seekers. Don't let a big corporation convince you that they can set up your LAN or mesh network more securely or with more features than you could, esp. for free. In my opinion, they are lying and want control of all networks public and private. Corporate central control versus private decentralized control and their encryption and VPN vs yours. I say if you go with their app, you just gave them full access to your network from anywhere on the planet. IMO the government is trying to tie up the loose ends of private networks via an NGO proxy.
RE: Nord VPN App Taking Over LANs and Mesh Networks - Kenzo - 07-12-2023
I have PIA VPN and looked what they write about mesh networks
The privacy perils of using a mesh network – and why we urgently need one that is robust and open source
Someone commenting that writed that they are working on project /protocol named Quantumgate.
Quantumgate
QuantumGate Overview
RE: Nord VPN App Taking Over LANs and Mesh Networks - Michigan Swamp Buck - 07-12-2023
Thanks Kenzo,
I had looked at a couple of other apps that create a mesh network, but considering how Windows allows you to set up and encrypt a LAN that can be linked with other LANs to create a private mesh network, then why use any free app?
If you set up remote access you can connect across the internet like Nord VPN's app does and create a hot stop on the remote end to increase the range of connectivity. With the use of WiFi directional antennas (like the "cantenna") you could link a mesh-net over a distance with WiFi signals. You can even legally use license-free VHS freqs to send and receive digitally encrypted signals at an even greater distance.
Sure, you have to do some research to understand how to set up a LAN and IP addresses are kind of a pain to use, but there are ways to make it easier without Nord or any other app that could, as you say, 'provide a backdoor' to bad players.
Over on ATS there are a few that are saying that VPNs don't work that way, but if my data stream is flowing through their system, how do I know what stops it makes along the way? Nord sounds like a good company that is outside of government influence, I'd like to believe they are for real in their concern for their customers, but this is an entirely free app, so what are they getting if you are using it? Why add traffic to their network for free and get zero for handling it?
(07-12-2023, 06:27 AM)Kenzo Wrote: I have PIA VPN and looked what they write about mesh networks
The privacy perils of using a mesh network – and why we urgently need one that is robust and open source
Someone commenting that writed that they are working on project /protocol named Quantumgate.
Quantumgate
QuantumGate Overview
You caught on to my line of thinking that has been clearly illustrated at demonstrations around the globe including incidences here in the states. That article totally explains where I was going with all this. I should have been more clear but thought I was being clear enough.
From the article, that last line in bold boils the issue down very well.
Quote:The obvious solution is to create an independent, non-hierarchical, self-configuring local network that connects people within a group. This forms what is generally known as a mesh network. It’s an idea that has been around for several decades, but the near ubiquity of powerful smartphones has turned it into a practical approach that can be used by ordinary people without technical expertise. All that is needed is suitable software providing the mesh networking capabilities. One app that has become popular with people taking part in demonstrations is Bridgefy, which is based on Bluetooth communications. It was used by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong last year, and Bridgefy’s Twitter account has mentioned its deployment in the US, India, Zimbabwe and Belarus. Despite that widespread use around the world, often in contexts where the authorities will be interested in monitoring who is using the app, or in blocking it, a group of researchers at Royal Holloway, University of London, found a range of serious vulnerabilities in Bridgefy that underline the dangers of naively assuming that a mesh network app is safe to use for purposes requiring complete confidentiality.
RE: Nord VPN App Taking Over LANs and Mesh Networks - Kenzo - 07-12-2023
This technical side of this goes too far for me, i dont just understand enough. i thought that windows OS has allways been compromised de facto, by goverment build stuff inside in the code ? At least would have more trust in Linux OS but who knows if that too is compromised.
The only solution that feels secure is, to not use anything
RE: Nord VPN App Taking Over LANs and Mesh Networks - Michigan Swamp Buck - 07-12-2023
Admittedly, unplugging is the surest way to ensure privacy and secure communications. That aside, here is what I just posted in the ATS thread . . .
With all the censoring, canceling, and filtering going on with the internet and its resources, not to mention the monitoring, why even use a web connection in your private LAN or mesh network? The only way to get a wide-open uncensored unfiltered internet is to have one that runs parallel to the worldwide internet, one that has no central control only an organically evolving distributed network.
As wild and chaotic as that sounds, it may be the only option left. There will be open-source programs and apps to keep things safe and secure. Things will improve over time. Concerning the government, maybe AI can be used to stay ahead of the "command and control" brigade without establishing a centralized network. They speak of the "Internet of things", and I'd like to have some control over that foreseeable future.
RE: Nord VPN App Taking Over LANs and Mesh Networks - Kenzo - 07-12-2023
They have gone for such a great length to controll all communications....
GCHQ, JTRIG, Five Eyes and COVIDcrisis PsyWar
GCHQ Headquarters, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England Employing over 6,000 people. And that`s just UK...other countrys have also .