Bit of an uphill fight with captchas everywhere. Do people here conduct all online activity over VPN whenever possible? Only for the sensitive stuff? Or perhaps the inverse because the bank already knows you? Maybe when travelling or getting around region blocking? Something else?

The one provided by my work aside, I realized that I don’t have any consistent rules around using VPN. Except sometimes, you know, when downloading ISO’s for my favorite distos.

  • ohshit604@lemmy.halstead.host
    1·
    1 hour ago

    CyberGhost extension

    Suggest digging into CyberGhost and their history and association with Kape Technologies.

    https://windscribe.com/blog/what-is-kape-technologies/

    Kape’s Sketchy Beginnings

    Let’s just take a brief moment to look at the origins of Kape. It wasn’t always known by this name, the original company was called Crossrider.

    Crossrider dealt in Malware (they called it “ad injection”), and their specialty was building a platform that allowed mobile app developers to easily inject ads into their software or web application. They were so good at it, they caught the attention of Google’s security research team who were incredibly alarmed by what they had found: an entire ecosystem of thousands of companies, broken down into various segments (Software, Distribution, Injection, and Ads).

    Crossrider’s main purpose was to function as a distributor, and they were incredibly effective at this. They used their network to drive as many installs as possible, all while collecting a commission for each install of the ad injection software. For those curious about this ecosystem, an archived version of Google’s Security Blog can be found here.

    Rebranding as Kape Technologies

    Due to the increasing negative attention their antics were causing, the company underwent a massive rebranding and emerged as Kape Technologies.

    Nowadays, Kape Technologies is a conglomerate of multiple “privacy-first” software companies, including Express VPN. Express is not their only play in the VPN space though: they’ve also acquired a few larger-scale VPN operations over the past few years. Their first VPN acquisition was Cyberghost for €9.1M back in 2017, followed by Private Internet Access for $127M and Zenmate for €4.8M in 2018. Then came the Express VPN whale in 2021 for $936M, giving Kape a massive foothold in the VPN marketplace.

    If Kape VPNs are known for anything, it’s being kinda sketchy. Since we’ve already covered Express in a previous article, the focus will be on the other three lesser-known VPNs that are part of the Kape Corporate Umbrella

    Kape Acquires Cyberghost

    Cyberghost was the first VPN that Kape acquired, back when they were still called Crossrider. Cyberghost was founded in 2011 by German entrepreneur Robert Knapp, who moved to Bucharest with $100,000 in seed capital ready to exploit the cheaper labor market in Romania. Robert’s own bio on the Cyberghost website claims that he’s passionate about building a privacy-preserving product, yet he had no problem cashing out for almost $10 Million to a company run by ex-Israeli spies and insider-trading billionaires. The irony is apparently lost in translation I suppose.

    There’s also an issue with vulnerabilities. In 2023, professional pen testers exposed a vulnerability in the Cyberghost VPN client that could lead to system compromise, yet they had an incredibly difficult time getting any sort of response from the Kape security team (who quickly and quietly patched the issue).

    • Zerush@lemmy.ml
      2·
      42 minutes ago

      Nice history, but the extension works as it should and its not a VPN (none of browser “VPN” extensions really is), but a proxy for which I use it sometimes for mentioned reasons. CyberGhost currently has alway an excellent review in IT publications and independent benchmarks, it don’t log and also don’t has any bandwith limits in the proxy only limits in the amount of servers, which is free to use (incomes through premium accounts in its VPN service). Nothing fishy in it. Windscribe is also good, but the free versin has a data limit, not so good for streaming services.

      • ohshit604@lemmy.halstead.host
        1·
        20 minutes ago

        CyberGhost currently has alway an excellent review in IT publications and independent benchmarks

        In that very same article…

        It’s Not Just Mid VPNs

        Kape doesn’t just own multiple VPN companies, they also own several media outlets and other ‘cybersecurity’ software. Let’s start by looking at one of their most egregiously misleading ‘cybersecurity’ software offerings: ReImage.

        ReImage is/(was?) marketed as a PC scan and repair tool. It’s actually something called scareware and it’s specifically designed to ping you with alarming messages about your computer containing multiple vulnerabilities, and prompting you to purchase a license to have their software perform the critical fixes necessary. I say ‘was’ marketed because when you go to their website, it doesn’t work. I was only able to look at their website through the web archive tool. Their crunchbase page gives the appearance that they’re still in operation, and you can still download their software off third-party websites. I wouldn’t though.

        Kape Owns VPN Review Sites Too

        You know what’s better than gobbling up market share of the VPN space? Gobbling up the websites that review them too, and creating your own vertical integration.

        So not only does Kape own some of the biggest VPNs in terms of market share, but they also have complete control over the affiliate ecosystem that shills their subpar products onto unwitting consumers. Oh and that’s not all, they also own a middle-man company that specializes “in monetizing high-quality traffic by connecting them with the brands they need.” In other words, they own the VPNs, the VPN affiliate marketing platforms, and the VPN review websites. They’ve created an entire ecosystem that they control, all explicitly designed to go after your data and your wallet.

        Here are some of the Kape Controlled entities that you may or may not have heard of before:

        • Webselence
          • Affiliate monetization platform.
        • VPN Mentor
          • VPN “review” site peppered with affiliate links from Kape VPNs and other owned software like Intego antivirus.
        • Safety Detectives
          • Another VPN “review” website, loaded up with affiliate links from Kape-owned businesses.

        Whether or not you trust a company with the initial intention of distributing malware is on you, and by using their Proxy you’re still pushing your traffic to their servers albeit in a less-secure manner, and to believe they don’t retain your data is merely laughable as they’re obliged by the Five Eyes Alliance due to their headquarters being in London and are required to retain personal information you provide them.

        I don’t use Windscribe myself because they’re a Canadian company and obliged by FVEY, but at least they’re independent from Kape Technologies.