decentralised vpn
Savannah In Cornerstone, decentralised vpn, geoblocking
What is a peer-to-peer network?
What is P2P (Peer-to-peer) technology?
For centuries, human connection has never been a simple equation. 1+1 often equals 3, sometimes more. We had messengers who carried sealed letters, phone operators who connected our calls, and now Internet Service Providers who hook us into a matrix of other businesses, platforms and infrastructure owners just to send a simple email.
Perhaps the most perplexing and inconvenient way of communicating – the singing telegram…
Yet with the dawn of peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, the role of these middlemen (and women) has perhaps become obsolete.
P2P networks (and P2P software) allows 2 devices (and therefore, two people) to communicate directly, without necessitating a third party to ensure it happens. The technology has often been rejected and buried in the darker corners of the web, especially as corporations have taken over our communication channels. These businesses have dictated how we connect and communicate with one another for decades.
But before the web was ruled by the corporate letheans of today, it was once powered by the people who used it. This P2P ecosystem meant that users could connect and communicate with each other directly. The bluetooth in your phone functions similarly to this – you airdrop files directly between devices, with no need for any intermediary to facilitate or even see what files you're sharing.
Maybe you remember Napster. They popularised P2P music file sharing. While you were downloading and sharing files from this platform, you were also spreading a new phenomenon which the internet made possible – community-powered, governed and owned technology that stretched into our social and economic realms.
Vintage P2P network. A window you recognise, even if you never used it. Source.
But first - what is the client-server model?
The internet that we know today is mostly made up of the client-server model. All machines or devices connected directly to the internet are called servers. Your computer, phone or IoT device is a client that wants to be connected to the web, and a server stores those websites and web content you want to access. Every device, whether client or server, has its own unique "address" (commonly known as your IP address), used to identify the path/route for sending and receiving the files you want to access
How does the internet "work"? A look at the client-server network model.
Servers store and control all this web information centrally. The biggest and most widely used ones are owned by companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon. These possess the computing power, memory and storage requirements that can be scaled to global proportions. It also means that a single server can also dictate the consumption and supply of resources and websites to users (clients), like you and me.
What is a peer in networking? How does P2P work?
Peer-to-peer infrastructure transforms the traditional role of a server. In a P2P system, a web user is both a server and a client, and is instead called a node. (Your computer or device technically acts as the node.)
Related: The ultimate guide to running and earning with a Mysterium node by sharing your bandwidth.
Nodes power the network by sharing their resources such as bandwidth, disc storage and/or processing power. These can be shared directly and information is distributed evenly among all nodes within the network. These sorts of decentralised systems use shared resources more efficiently than a traditional network as they evenly distribute workloads between all nodes. Together, these computers equally and unanimously power web applications. Because there is no need for a central host or server, these networks are also less vulnerable from a security and network health standpoint, as there is no single point of failure.
What is an example of a peer to peer network? what is P2P used for?
"Peer-to-Peer mechanisms can be used to access any kind of distributed resources"
There are many uses for peer-to-peer networks today. P2P software have characteristics and advantages that are missing from the web today – trustless and permissionless, censorship-resistant, and often with built-in anonymity and privacy.
P2P file sharing – BitTorrent – sync-and-share P2P software which allows users to download "pieces" of files from multiple peers at once to form the entire file. IPFS has also emerged, where users can download as well as host content. There is no central server and each user has a small portion of a data package. IPFS is the evolution in P2P file sharing and functions like BitTorrent and other torrent protocols. IPFS mimics many characteristics of a Blockchain, connecting blocks which use hash-function security. However, IPFS does support file versioning, while blockchain is immutable (permanent).
P2P knowledge – Decentralised Wiki (Dat protocol) – an article is hosted by a range of readers, instead of one centralised server, making censorship much more difficult.
P2P money – Bitcoin – where value is digitised, encrypted and transparent – and as easily transferred as an email. Computers or machines (nodes) with enough GPU power maintain and secure the network. Peers can store and maintain the updated record of its current state.
P2P computing power – Golem – decentralised supercomputer that anyone can access and use. A network of computers combine the collective processing and computing power of all peers' machines. The connection grows stronger as more computers join and share resources.
P2P communication – Signal –perhaps the most popular communication app with end-to-end encryption and architecture mimics P2P tech. Their server architecture was previously federated, and while they rely on centralised options for encrypted messaging and to share files, this facilities the discovery of contacts who are also Signal users and the automatic exchange of users' public keys. Voice and video calls are P2P however.
Peer-to-peer in many ways is human-to-human. These virtual and collaborative communities hold us accountable to each other and the technology we're using. They offer us a sense of responsibility and comradeship. They have been called "egalitarian" networks, as each peer is considered equal, with the same rights and duties as every other peer. If we're all helping to keep something sustained – a living digital community where responsibility is equally shared yet belongs to no one – then perhaps we can emulate these same lines of thought beyond our technical networks and into our political and social worlds.
Can a P2P network teach us about purer forms of digital democracy?
"In peer-to-peer networking, an algorithm in the peer-to-peer communications protocol balances load, and even peers with modest resources can help to share the load."
Popular peer to peer networks and platforms
The theory of P2P networking first emerged in 1969 with a publication titled Request for Comments by the Internet Engineering Task Force. A decade later, a dial-up P2P network was launched in 1980 with the introduction of Usenet, a worldwide discussion system. Usenet was the first to operate without a central server or administrator.
But it wasn't until 1999, some 20 years later, that a P2P network really proved its potential as a useful, social application. American college student Shawn Fanning launched Napster, the global music-sharing platform which popularised P2P software. Users would search for songs or artists via an index server, which catalogued songs located on every computer's hard drive connected to the network. Users could download a personal copy while also sharing music files.
Napster Super Bowl XXXIX Ad "Do The Math"
Napsters experiential marketing tactics during the 2004 super bowl, when they abandoned their P2P network to paid model.
Napster was the dawn of P2P networks "as we know them today", introducing them to the mainstream. It has been suggested that peer-to-peer marketplaces – some of the most disruptive startups to grace the web – were inspired by the fundamental values and characteristics of Napster. Businesses such as AirBnB and Uber kickstarted the new sharing economy, but sold us the illusion of community. As conglomerates who are simply the middleman between our peer-to-peer transactions, we also become their hired workforces without realising it. This business model relies on us to supply our own homes, cars and time to create the sharing economy, while they simply facilitate the transactions (and take a cut).
With P2P systems, we can remove them from the picture altogether. If we decentralise the sharing economy, you become the user, the host and the network itself. As peers, we are incentivised to contribute time, files, resources or services and are rewarded accordingly, with no one taking a cut. Decentralised P2P networks are transparent, secure and truly community-run systems.
A strange sharing economy infographic by Morgan Stanely, who thinks everything can be shared – including pets? Source.
Jordan Ritter (Napster's founding architect), was quoted in a Fortune article:
"As technologists, as hackers, we were sharing content, sharing data all the time. If we wanted music… It was still kind of a pain in the ass to get that stuff. So Fanning had a youthful idea: Man, this sucks. I'm bored, and I want to make something that makes this easier."
Napster soon became the target of a lawsuit for distributing copyrighted music at a large scale, and was consequently shut down just 2 years later. Yet this "clever-if-crude piece of software" demonstrated new possibilities for applications, and "transformed the Internet into a maelstrom, definitively proving the web's power to create and obliterate value…"
Corporate profit, infrastructural control
While digital networking has led to an unprecedented evolution of our social and professional lives, the potential of peer networks to power those daily interactions took much of a backseat as the web started to take off in the early 2000's. While protocols of the early Web 1.0 were founded upon decentralised and peer-to-peer mechanisms, centralised alternatives eventually took over.
Map: The World's Network of Submarine Cables
Related: What does internet censorship look like in 2020. And how can decentralisation change it?
Yet since centralised systems began to plant their roots deep into our internet infrastructure, the web has been slowly rotting away underneath shiny user interfaces and slick graphics. They make the internet less safe, with servers that are routinely hacked. It makes the internet far less private, enabling mass-surveillance conducted by cybercriminals and organisations alike. It makes the internet segregated and broken, rather than unified and democratic, with nations building impenetrable firewalls and cutting off the outside world altogether.
It's said that P2P money poses a large threat to governments, who seem concerned that without regulation and oversight, these "anarchist" networks could grow beyond their control. The crackdown on cryptocurrency in countries with rampant human rights violations, corrupt governments and crippling economies only lends to the theory that peer to peer systems undermines the very foundations of traditional government structures.
Places where cryptocurrency seems to thrive, are often the same where censorship, corruption and economic instability.
First P2P Money. Next, P2P Internet.
Yet the common, centralised standards which were born out of corporate and political needs are failing us today.
It's time to turn the tides if we want to surf the web on our own terms.
Peer-to-peer networks have opened up entirely new philosophies around social and economic interactions. Researchers from a 2005 book exploring the potential of Peer-to-Peer Systems and Applications believed that these networks "promise….a fundamental shift of paradigms." The applications which formed in the early 1980s "can no longer fully meet the evolving requirements of the Internet. In particular, their centralised nature is prone to resource bottlenecks. Consequently, they can be easily attacked and are difficult and expensive to modify due to their strategic placement within the network infrastructure."
In the past decade, we have seen a re-emergence of P2P protocols. These new community-powered networks are creating entirely new systems and services, that are evolving beyond the traditional concepts of P2P. This was kickstarted in many respects by Bitcoin. Its underlying blockchain technology redefined our understanding of P2P, merging it with game theory, securing it with cryptography and expanding its network with a common CPU (in the first few years, at least).
"Open P2P Communities can self-organize themselves…These communities are created in order to fix a problem through the development of a collaborative activity."
P2P access
There are many P2P "layers" that can restructure the internet itself. A decentralised VPN is one such layer, offering P2P access to information.
This dVPN utilises a blockchain (the technology underlying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies). Anyone can be a part of the network; your computer becomes a node, acting as a miniature server. This means it can help power the entire network by directly sharing its bandwidth or IP address – and be paid for it. There is no need for a host or intermediary. The bigger this distributed network grows, the stronger and faster it becomes. Its democratic and self-governing architecture creates an open marketplace that serves a global community in need.
"This is what a future without internet censorship looks like… An internet powered by people is the next stage of its technological and social evolution."
A community-run VPN is different to a regular VPN in a few different ways. VPNs are businesses which exist to turn profit. Common VPNs own or rent servers that are centrally owned, and which could store logs of all your traffic without anyone knowing (in theory). You simply have to trust that they won't do anything with this info. And while your data is encrypted, there have been cases of past hackings.
A P2P VPN instead leverages a decentralised network so that your encrypted data passes through a distributed node network, similar to Tor. A single node will never be able to identify you or your online activities, nor can authorities and third parties. In its decentralised form, a VPN pays people (nodes) for providing the privacy service. And as with most P2P systems, a decentralised VPN has no single point of failure or attack, making it safer and stronger than centralised alternatives.
Related: VPN vs TOR vs dVPN. What's the difference?
Power of the P
Often perceived as a more rudimentary technology, the potential of peer-to-peer technology has been shoved to the digital back shelf for some time. But as the internet evolves as a social and economic landscape, it's slowly starting to take its rightful place in the online realm. In its simplicity lies its beauty. The most complex and honest human interactions are always the most direct and transparent.
A P2P VPN is just one example of these many different applications. You can try the Mysterium VPN for yourself and experience how P2P works. There are versions for Android, Mac and Windows, currently free before our full launch.
Sharmini In decentralised vpn, payments, updates
Introducing our decentralized VPN for Mac 🎉
Mysterium VPN app for Mac is now live.
This means anyone with a Mac computer or macbook can use the Mysterium dVPN to power an anonymous and uncensored web experience – all while rebuilding the web from the inside out.
Download the free VPN for Mac here.
Available for macOS versions 10.14+ and later
What is Mysterium VPN for Mac?
Mysterium dVPN is an anti-censorship, anti-surveillance tool. It is more similar to Tor network in its philosophy and infrastructure, but preserves the essential functions and ease of use of a VPN. You can easily connect to the Mysterium VPN and run it while browsing online, no matter where you are. This will protect yourself against cyberthreats and help you bypass firewalls and geoblocking. It's free to install for a short time only, and its simple user interface helps you get started in minutes.
Under the hood, Mysterium is very different to other VPNs for Mac. While regular VPNs connect you to servers owned or managed by businesses, our VPN is powered entirely by its users. Mysterium's P2P, decentralized (distributed) network is made up of people all over the world who share their bandwidth and IP address with each other in exchange for crypto. So you can be in dVPN mode to use it, or in node mode to power it and earn. Note that you need to have a node set up to start earning in the network. You can learn how to become a node in our guide, and we've even made a dashboard for nodes which lets you track your earnings each day.
Just like Tor, when you use the dVPN your encrypted traffic is sent throughout the network in an unrecognizable form. We also use various security protocols such as OpenVPN and WireGuard® to ensure the network is safe. The decentralized nature of our network means we can't store logs centrally, even if we wanted to.
What's new with our VPN for Mac?
We added new features such as advanced filtering, auto-updates and a seamless onboarding experience.
Advanced filtering allows you to select your connection type, country and even price.
As with our Android app, you'll be able to select from a dropdown menu of residential IP addresses located around the world. You can curate your VPN experience, unlocking content from countries based on your browsing needs.
The app also has an inbuilt in auto-update functionality, so you'll always have the latest and best version.
Our new onboarding process is fast and seamless, so you can register your identity (MystID) in a matter of seconds. Your identity is linked to a unique Ethereum address generated for you, where you can top up your MYSTT balance. MYSTT is our testnet version of our native MYST token. You can use MYSTT to activate the service and begin paying by the minute or amount of data transferred.
Mysterium wants to open up the internet to everyone, ensuring every web user has equal and secure access. We released our dVPN for Android last year, and have been working hard to make the Myst VPN compatible with all devices and systems. This new macOS release lays the foundation for our upcoming Windows version. Our user interface code is shared among platforms, so you'll have the same experience across every device.
Discover our VPN for Mac
Robert In decentralised vpn, payments, updates
Mysterium Network 2020 Q1 round up
Mysterium is building a decentralised VPN. What is a VPN? And how is a dVPN different? Find out more.
Related: What is internet censorship?
The last quarter for Mysterium Network has been an eventful one, to say the least. We grew our node network to an unprecedented scale, resulting in many adaptations and changes, especially to our bounty rules.
Related: The definitive guide to becoming a Mysterium Node
We have now pivoted our focus away from node acquisition and started working on various implementations of our decentralised VPN application to attract more users and businesses to the network. We also launched our first developer bounties, encouraging entrepreneurs and programmers to take advantage of our infrastructure and build new privacy-focused Web3 tools and products.
As always, there has been an ongoing process of testing, learning and iterating.
Here are the latest updates from our team
First, a little info on our March release (v0.22):
We have added a "pay for traffic" functionality. This means all transactions made in the network are now paid ones. We also tested our micropayments system, using the "pay for time" feature.
An even more advanced NAT hole punching was implemented. After this fix, about 80% of all nodes are able to work out of the box. This is an increase of 50% from previous implementations.
What we achieved in April
We released version 0.31 which introduces one big change and adds a couple of smaller enhancements:
P2P communication after establishing tunnel #1797
Providers should be able to set own price #1962
Store payout address on blockchain #2040
Developing the desktop dVPN app
We're also actively working on a new desktop macOS dVPN app and are going to release the public BETA soon. You can see the progress of app development in this repo or watch related tasks here.
We also did some work towards reopening our Windows app. You can already download the Windows build and use it as a consumer via CLI. Building the Windows desktop dVPN app is our next task and we're aiming to complete it by the end of May.
Refining our free (for now) dVPN Android app
Our latest version of the Android app is much more stable and should have much better connection times with nodes running v0.31.
By the end of May, we're going to add more filtering options (e.g. by node IP type) and have some UI enhancements.
Fine-tuning our payments
Thanks to our community, we have found many bugs in our payments implementation. Many of them are already fixed.
We've been testing our micropayments solution from the end of December 2019. During the last 4 months we implemented almost all the features of the Hermes protocol (our in-built payments solution) and are going to open source the code at the beginning of June. From then, the network will be able to operate with several Hermes hubs, as we aim to decentralise the network further. This will push us closer towards becoming a fully distributed network, launching on the Ethereum mainnet and utilising MYST as the major payment method.
The logic behind these releases
As we draw closer to mainnet, we have changed our release process. We have scheduled a couple of RC (release candidates) before our final release, with planned upgrades to the whole network. With this change we expect to have more stability and speed, with less things breaking with additional minor releases (e.g. 0.22.1, 0.22.2 …).
Why are we jumping straight from 0.22 to 0.30?
In our last release we added a huge change, making communication between consumers and providers even more P2P, while avoiding centralised communication servers (such as our message broker service).
We're still working hard towards a mainnet release this Summer. This means you can use the P2P dVPN service, and earn when you rent your bandwidth to others. It will be the launch of our unique micropayments infrastructure which enables everyone in the network to pay and be paid in a secure, efficient and private way. It's also an open invitation to developers who can see our open source code in action and would like to plug into our global node network to build some exciting new use cases themselves.
You can already try our free VPN for Android here.
Sharmini In Cornerstone, decentralised vpn, mysterium node
What does a VPN do for anonymity in the surveillance era?
Is there such a thing as true anonymity anymore?
It is an interesting time in history to delve into the value of anonymity (and privacy). With a pandemic rampantly spreading through the world, we are seeing thoughtless relinquishing of both our physical and digital freedoms. Some are warning that increased surveillance during the coronavirus outbreak may lead to long-lasting erosion of civil liberties.
But how can we remove ourselves from an 'Architecture of Oppression' if it is being built around, by and for us?
In the original 1993 Cypherpunk Manifesto, Eric Hughes wrote that "privacy is necessary for an open society in the electronic age…" – Here he's starting to address the concepts that will help us frame the answer to the question "What does a VPN do?", or rather "What should a VPN do".
"People have been defending their own privacy for centuries with whispers, darkness, envelopes, closed doors, secret handshakes, and couriers. The technologies of the past did not allow for strong privacy, but electronic technologies do.
Decades have passed, yet these "electronic technologies" have not brought the salvation that Hughes had hoped for. Technologies of the future seem to have taken away much of our privacy, instead of strengthening it. The internet is becoming less free, with increased online election interference and increased government surveillance "spreading on social media platforms".
Related: What is happening to the internet? And what does VPN have to do with it?
The more we migrate our lives into the digital realm, the harder it becomes to control our privacy at all. The line between our private and public lives has become so blurred by technology, that the online representation of ourselves is often more intimate and more exposed than our real life personas.
A continuous and permanent catalogue of our lives is inscribed in the history of the internet forever. Your life is quite literally an open book.
We've been conditioned to hand over personal information to every platform or service we sign up to, or we are simply locked out of "the system". We sacrifice more and more details about ourselves unnecessarily, so businesses can manipulate us into buying more things.
This underground trade of our personal data has been commercialised and, as with all valuable commodities, weaponised. The 2019 Freedom of the Net report revealed that of the 40 countries examined, 89 percent of internet users, or nearly 3 billion people, are subject to instituted and advanced social media surveillance programs.
Related: What does anonymity in a surveillance era look like?
"It's Facebook's ad policy that allows politicians to spread lies or Amazon's growing relationships with police departments that use its Ring smart doorbells and associated social media products to surveil communities."
China's social credit system is a real life experiment of how our own personal data can be turned against us. Citizens are each given an identity number, all linked to a permanent record – one that expands "to all aspects of life, judging citizens' behaviour and trustworthiness. Caught jaywalking, don't pay a court bill, play your music too loud on the train — you could lose certain rights, such as booking a flight or train ticket."
In the time of Coronavirus, this meticulous social control means that social credit-related regulations now "include spreading rumours that disrupt efforts to control the epidemic, hoarding, upsetting market order, making fake or poor quality masks and other medical supplies."
Yet in the West, the pervasive monitoring of our online behaviour – in the name of national security – means our online activity can be legally tracked by our ISPs and governments. While the technology still evolves, there are "no rules" when it comes to facial recognition, with police running pilot programs for real-time surveillance monitoring before the law has time to catch up with the ethics of it all.
As the world turns digital, it's more critical that our online identities, privacy and freedoms remain in our control.
Privacy is a basic human right, and our digital privacy is an extension of that right. We are not detached from our online identities – just ask someone whose life has been destroyed by identity theft.
No matter how much information we volunteer online, privacy should be the core foundation of a strong and open internet.
"I don't know why people are so keen to put their details of their private life in public; they forget that invisibility is a superpower.
The fundamental difference between privacy and anonymity
There is an important distinction to be made between privacy and anonymity. Privacy keeps your behaviour and activity hidden, yet you can still be identified. An example is your private banking, where you can send and receive money but your financial transactions are only yours to see. The same applies to your emails, your social media profiles, your text messages – you remain identifiable, yet can choose what is shared and what is not.
Anonymity is almost this concept in reverse. Being anonymous means your identity is hidden but your actions can be seen. Others can see what you do, just not who is doing it. Blockchains are pseudo-anonymous, meaning you can view every transaction that takes place, but should not be able to link an identity to the sender nor receiver.
Anonymity tends to be stigmatised, as anonymous behaviour is often associated with illegal activity. The dark web has emerged, home to online black marketplaces such as Silk Road, whose creator is serving a life sentence in prison.
"Silk Road was supposed to be about giving people the freedom to make their own choices, to pursue their own happiness, however they individually saw fit. [It] turned out to be a naive and costly idea that I deeply regret.
RossIn sentencing letter to his judge
But historically, anonymous figures have contributed much to society – artists, writers, journalists, political and human rights activists. Even superheroes are anonymous to protect themselves from evil villains and persistent ex-girlfriends. Banksy's visual messages are louder and more profound because he refuses to let his identity hijack the narrative.
"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
Anonymity enables this freedom of expressions and speech. It means you can speak your mind without retribution. It means you can whistleblow and expose corruption in its darkest corners. It means a free press, where newspapers can investigate and publish without fear of being persecuted.
It also means hate speech and cyberbullying is harder to control, but this is the double edged sword we must accept in the ongoing battle for free and open discourse.
An idea can be the most powerful thing in the world
For many in heavily censored regions, to be anonymous simply means to be free. Part of the Charter of Human Rights is the fundamental right of freedom of expression, which encompasses the freedom to "to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."
The UN urges the protection of anonymous expression online. To evade the grasp of "broad and intrusive government surveillance", we must defend the online privacy and digital autonomy of human rights activists, journalists and silenced citizens. This includes "freedom from surveillance, the right to use encryption, the right to online anonymity, the right to online protest".
Despite these universal efforts to promote human rights in the online environment, it appears that policy is not a cure. Over a quarter (27%) of the world's internet users live in places where they can be arrested for posting, sharing or even "liking" something on Facebook. Social-media related arrests relating to political, social, or religious speech have been made in 47 countries. WIth true anonymity, words can be used to liberate people, not used against them. You can't put ideas in prison.
Research from ARTICLE 19 Policy Paper shows that anonymity is the vital component in protecting both the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy. It "allows individuals to express themselves without fear of reprisal, and is especially important in those countries where freedom of expression is heavily censored."
The right to privacy is being pulled away from Hong Kong citizens in a unique, almost science fiction display. As Hong Kong is "handed over" to China geopolitically, what was once a place which enjoyed the more liberal, political philosophies of privacy, is now faced with harsh surveillance and censorship policies. The ongoing protests are an attempt to slip through "Beijing's tightening grip on their city", which includes aggressive measures like the expulsion of a foreign journalist, the jailing of young activists and curbs on electoral freedom.
In this ongoing battle between political protesters and police, identities have already become weapons. In the protests itself, police allegedly tracked protest leaders online, seeking out their phones and using the biometric logins to single out targets for arrest.
The age of surveillance
But censorship and surveillance isn't just a reality found in dictatorships. Governments everywhere regularly attempt to prevent the use of encryption tools and anonymity in any form. This is to hinder unlawful activities, such as terrorism and drug trafficking. In the past decade, the US Drug Enforcement Administration has seized more than $4 billion from citizens based on their suspicions of criminal activity. Yet over 81 percent of these seizures have never led to formal charges.
In many cases, the US government can legally request digital data held by companies without a warrant. The EARN IT Act is currently being debated in congress, and if passed, could "handcuff companies to a difficult-to-modify set of procedures. One item on that checklist could be eliminating end-to-end encryption in messaging apps, depriving the world of a secure communications tool."
A few years back President Donald Trump passed a law which allows internet service providers to gather and share their customers personal data without their consent, like your web history and what apps you use. The UK's Snoopers Charter grants the government the right to legally monitor the internet usage of its citizens. The general message is that if you're a law-abiding citizen, there's nothing to worry about.
Related: What is geoblocking?
"Arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.
But it should be the government's motive for wanting your personal information that is questioned – not your right privacy.
Use your digital freedom to fight back
In a digital utopia, anonymity, privacy, security and anti-censorship would blend together to form a perfect internet.
But how do we make the internet safe, and your privacy a default setting? The laws which govern our privacy and help us freely voice our opinions have mostly benefited corporate needs, governments and their agencies. We can't depend on laws to change, or for our internet service providers to serve in our interests. A decentralized VPN (dVPN) is one way to take back control.
Related: dVPN comparison – See how new decentralised technologies stack up against each other.
Over a quarter (25%) of the world's internet users already use a VPN. The main motives for using one include accessing social networks and news services (34%), to keep anonymity while browsing (31%), to hide web browsing from the government (18%) and to access Tor browser (17%). Yet in countries where citizens need a VPN the most – Venezuela, China, Russia, Turkey, Iran, UAE – naturally they are forbidden.
A dVPN was designed for these victims of censorship and surveillance. A regular VPN connects you to data centers managed by businesses, which makes them detectable to governments and ISPs. These services are also often slow, limited and most worryingly, they keep logs of all their users' online activity in centralised servers. A study of 62 commercial providers showed that many VPNs leak user traffic "through a variety of means.
With a dVPN, the service is powered entirely by other web users like you. You can select from a global menu of residential IP addresses, so it's almost impossible to trace or be shut down by governments. A dVPN is a technological remedy for anti-privacy and anti-anonymity. If you live in a country which enjoys internet freedom, you can choose to rent out your IP address to others in this P2P network and earn crypto in exchange. Due to its distributed infrastructure, none of your data can be physically stored anywhere, and all traffic being routed through these personal nodes is heavily encrypted.
A dVPN is more than just a service though – it's a global network, a second layer of the internet that ensures it remains a public domain – a space for new ideas, collaboration and connection. This general decentralization movement empowers people to take control of their digital lives.
Mysterium's own dVPN was the world's first. We use layered protection protocols so anyone can browse the web anonymously. Your identity and IP are always hidden so anyone can bypass unethical surveillance. We also whitelist everyone who wants to become a node or access our VPN, protecting the network from bad players. Try out our free VPN for Android.
You can also join our node network and help us safeguard anonymous expression online, protecting the identities of journalists, activists and victims of censorship and surveillance around the world.
Related: The definitive guide to running a Mysterium Node
It's time we vindicate the cypherpunks – the technology which allows us to build their envisioned, anonymous systems has finally arrived. After all, "we cannot expect governments, corporations, or other large, faceless organizations to grant us privacy … we must defend our own privacy if we expect to have any."
Robert In Cornerstone, decentralised vpn, developers, geoblocking
VPN vs Tor — which is better?
VPN vs Tor vs dVPN - What are the real differences?
The internet was not built to be private and secure by default. This means no matter what you do online, there's always some new malware or cybercriminal trying to get to you.
In this VPN vs Tor vs dVPN comparison, you'll learn just how good these security tools are when it comes to hiding your information and keeping you safe online. Learn the difference between TOR and VPN:
Want to skip the read? Check out this video where we sum up the VPN, Tor browser and dVPN solutions.
What is TOR - is TOR a VPN?
Tor is a privacy project that launched in 2002. It's an open-source and free browser that enables anonymous communication online. It was first developed by Syverson and computer scientists Roger Dingledine and Nick Mathewson, who originally called it The Onion Router (Tor) project, due to its "layers" of encryption.
Tor browser and VPNs are similar in their aims but not in their technological approach. While both are great at hiding your identity and ensure your browsing activity is kept private and encrypted, there are certain advantages and disadvantages to each. That's why using the two systems together is your safest bet for securing your digital privacy.
How Tor works
The Tor network utilises a system that was originally developed by the US Navy to protect intelligence communications. It "bundles" your data into smaller, encrypted packets before it begins routing these through its vast network of nodes, which can be run by anyone for free.
The chosen path is randomised and predetermined, and your traffic will pass through a minimum of three relay nodes before it reaches a final exit node.
Each time your traffic passes through a relay node, a "layer" of encryption is removed, revealing which relay node the traffic should be sent to next. Each relay node will only be able to decrypt enough data to identify the location of the next relay, and the one before it who passed on the traffic.
Exit nodes, however, remove the last layer of encryption. It can't see your location or IP address, but it is possible for an exit node to see your activity if you visit an unsecure website (one that is not HTTPS).
How does a VPN work?
A regular VPN seems much simpler, because a company simplifies everything with a nice user interface and additional features. You can run an app in the background, or connect through a browser extension, while you access sites around the world.
Your VPN provider will keep you hidden and encrypt all of your data, directing all your traffic to a remote server owned or hired by them. You can usually choose from a list of servers located across the world, so you're able to access the internet via a secure and private connection, and unblock your content based on where a website is located. However, your protection has its limits, and you won't be completely anonymous.
What is a dVPN?
A decentralized VPN mimics the architecture of Tor more closely, but has the same ease of use as a VPN. As a peer to peer system, you plug into a global network of nodes run by people voluntarily. Unlike Tor network, all nodes are paid for providing the VPN service and keeping the network powered and safe.
One example of this in action is Mysterium Network. This dApp (decentralized application) allows people to select the connection from a list of available nodes (mostly providing residential IP addresses) from around the world. Traffic is encrypted and directed through the network, and users pay the provider for the minutes they are connected and the traffic they're sending through those nodes.
But how do all these popular privacy tools really compare?
This breakdown explores the most important differences between VPN, Tor and dVPN, comparing new features, access, connecting speed, rewards and more.
For this comparison, we use Mysterium as an example of a dVPN, though there are other projects out there, each with their own technical approaches, solutions and advantages.
dVPN
A global collection of nodes (usually run in people homes) power a VPN network by sharing their bandwidth P2P in exchange for cryptocurrency. Anyone can easily become a node and also download the VPN app to select from a global menu of node IDs.
The main goal of Tor is privacy and anonymity. It's a browser that anonymizes your web browsing by sending your traffic through various nodes in the Tor network, which can be hosted by anyone. Traffic cannot be traced as each node encrypts it and hides the source IP.
Not a network, but more a global, centralised service that uses dedicated data center servers around the world in hundreds of different locations. Centralized VPNs also allow P2P traffic on certain servers and can additionally provide Dedicated IP address, Double VPN, Onion Over VPN and connection to the Tor anonymity network.
How are nodes rewarded?
Nodes set their own price based on supply and demand. This unique micropayments system utilises cryptocurrency payments, so nodes can sell their bandwidth in small intervals, ensuring security and convenience.
Tor doesn't have incentivisation. All nodes are operated by volunteers. This lack of incentivisation for nodes in the network has meant it remains relatively small (after 10+ years of development, it still only has 6500 exit nodes).
No rewards or incentive – centralized VPNs are businesses who own the infrastructure and charge customers for the service.
Node onboarding
Anyone can run a node using their laptop, or even mini computers such as a Raspberry Pi. (In theory, even mobile devices can run one). Node runners can link their crypto wallet address via an easy to use dashboard, and track earnings.
Anyone can create and run a Tor node. However, there are various technical requirements and it's recommended that you do not run a relay (non-exit) node from a consumer-level route, as it may overwhelm it.
VPN companies manage their own servers/exit nodes, so all setup and maintenance is done by company's employees. By paying for the service, you get access to the VPN service, but do not help power it.
Costs & fees
Users pay in cryptocurrency for only the bandwidth they consume on a pay-as-you-go model. Nodes earn cryptocurrency directly from users of this VPN service. They will pay a small fee to payment hubs for validation of their payments, similar to paying miners for processing transactions in a blockchain network. (Mysterium is currently free to use while in BETA)
Tor is free to use.
Monthly subscription model, rather than a pay-as-you-go structure. Sometimes users are even motivated to pay for a 3 year subscription in advance.
User Security
As a fast and scalable security layer to reinvent privacy via VPN, it's built so that different protocols can be plugged into the network.
A traffic slicing solution could send traffic to different services via different nodes. Thanks to Wireguard and OpenVPN protocols, it's already encrypted, so even ISPs can't view what is in there.
While Tor has better privacy properties, offers protection via anonymity, it's not risk free. Your ISP can still see that you're connected to Tor. This could lead to surveillance, as US government agencies (FBI/NSA) are constantly trying to crack Tor and discover its users web activity. Note that installing Tor is not illegal, but if you're looking at things you shouldn't, keep in mind arrests have been made in the past linked to Tor users' browsing activity.
The owner of an entry node will be able to view your real IP address. After this node hides your address, the rest of the nodes will no longer know who you are or what sites you visit. The last node will see what you're looking at, but not your identity. This presents some risks when using the network, but in terms of fully private internet access, it is the best available option at the moment.
Traditional VPN services route all their customer's data through a remote server, hiding IP addresses and encrypting all incoming and outgoing data. For encryption, they use the OpenVPN and Internet Key Exchange v2/IPsec technologies in their applications. One company admits their servers were hacked due to an expired internal private key being exposed, potentially allowing anyone to spin out their own servers imitating their own.
Additionally, a VPN exit node knows a user's IP, destination addresses, and in many cases (because of fiat payments) even user's identity (name, email, etc.). If that destination is not encrypted (e.g. not using HTTPS), they can see the content you're accessing, which may compromise your security.
No centralized logs! The distributed architecture removes any technical possibility for collecting or storing logs centrally.
Some hypothesize that a number of nodes are run by malicious actors (eg. the NSA) who could potentially control enough nodes to effectively track users. The network itself is unable to store logs, however a Tor entry and exit node may be able to see your activity or IP address, but actually piecing the information together to identify you would require a lot of effort.
In theory, a centralized VPN *could* keep logs of a user's activity, but many state they are committed to a zero-logs policy. However, nobody can be really sure that they're not cooperating with governments or not selling user's browsing data to 3rd parties.
Node Security
Mysterium allows users to select whitelisted traffic only, designed to protect nodes. However nodes can choose to accept any kind of traffic and increase their earning potential. They'll soon identify and block bad actors from the network through the use of registered identities and reputation system.
We are currently in R&D for a traffic slicing solution which will allow node runners to preselect the type of traffic they are willing to run through their node – i.e. social media, blogging, streaming, etc. while the remaining traffic could be sent forward into Tor or rejected.
Running a node can be risky, as you can potentially receive a lot of shady outbound traffic as an exit node. Being an exit node comes with the highest legal exposure and risk, so you should not run a node from your home. Your ISP may disconnect your service and you may receive some letters from various authorities.
Nodes are protected as the centralized VPN assumes all security and legal risks.
Simple apps can be used on desktop or a mobile device.
New nodes can get set up in just 5 minutes and 5 steps via a simple, user-friendly dashboard. There is a knowledgebase with all relevant guides and information, and support team on hand to help. Users will need to have some basic understanding of cryptocurrency, and how to keep it secure. An Ethereum wallet is easy to set up and you can receive payments any time.
Anyone can download and install Tor browser to connect to the internet (similar to any other browser).
However, browsing is quite slow (as all your traffic has to pass through numerous nodes first). Its practical usability suffers (e.g. not being able to unlock media content) but this drawback is the exchange for better anonymity and protection. A Tor relay must be able to host a minimum of 100 GByte of outbound/inbound traffic per month.
Many VPN services offer apps or browser extensions for instant security. Some VPNs have features such as smart algorithms that can automatically choose the best server for you based on location, time, or your special requirements.
You can use a VPN because they're easier to navigate, allow convenient payment methods (eg. via credit card) and have 24/7 user support. However, they may slow down your speed and don't always have unlimited streaming options.
As with most P2P infrastructure, the more participants which join the network, the stronger and more robust it becomes.
Mysterium's micropayments system is a homegrown Layer 2 solution. It was built to handle large volumes of users and transactions, making the network fast and more scalable.
Tor is currently used by a couple million people. Due to its distributed nature, the network can (in theory) grow larger. However it would require a much higher number of nodes. Unfortunately, despite its millions of users, Tor has not had huge growth in nodes due to its being a free service run by volunteers. Without incentivisation for nodes, it can only grow so fast.
The service depends on high bandwidth throughput and fast connection speeds to provide an optimal service for customers. Often use multiple tunneling protocols to ensure their network can scale and can adapt to various needs.
Mysterium – Android devices, macOS, Windows, Linux for desktop. Apps for iPhone coming soon.
Tor for Android, Windows, Mac, Linux and as a separate tab in Brave browser.
Currently offers the widest choice for connecting; Android, Windows, Mac, iOS, Chrome/Firefox extension, Linux.
Open Source?
Yes — always transparent and collaborative from Ground Zero. Check out Myst codebase.
Yes – open source pioneer.
No – centralized VPNs are proprietary and closed source. You can only imagine what they do with your collected data stored in their servers.
Decentralized?
Yes, but it doesn't use blockchain for payments.
Nope. Decentra-what?
In the case of Mysterium, the testnet has 900 residential nodes, with more than 500 live at any given point.
Approx. 6500 exit nodes.
Depends on size of VPN provider, but biggest can provide over 5200 servers in 59 countries.
So, Tor or VPN - why not both?
Tor and VPNs/dVPNs are complementary solutions, so they can work together to enhance your privacy and security even more.
There are two methods for merging Tor with VPN:
VPN on Tor: connect to the Tor browser, then use a VPN. This is a more complex method as it requires some manual configuration. As your VPN server acts as the final exit node, Tor's own exit nodes will not be able to peel back the final layer of encryption to reveal your activity. While your ISP can tell that you're using Tor, it wouldn't be able to trace you and keeps your IP address hidden from your VPN service.
Tor over VPN: Connect to your VPN, then use Tor browser. Your VPN will encrypt your traffic before it enters the Tor network, and also hides your IP address. It also hides the fact you're using Tor from your ISP. However, if your VPN provider chooses to keep logs, it can see that you're using Tor. This is why it's best that you use a decentralised VPN, which cannot keep user logs.
Both Mysterium and Tor can be pieced together to ensure full privacy coverage and secure internet access. One of Mysterium's most considered features is to extend our whitelisting in such a way so that your traffic would only exit via a Mysterium node's IP, while the rest would be forwarded throughout the Tor network. In this way, Mysterium users will get to unblock content, and our node runners will not risk unwanted content passing through.
Decentralized privacy networks like Mysterium and Tor are grassroots, open source technologies who have managed to grow large community-driven platforms without any corporate backing or support.
However, we have one point of difference; while regular VPNs offer to protect you for a price, we believe the fight against surveillance and censorship is a shared one.
Regular VPNs do nothing to address the infrastructural flaws of the internet, instead they apply a quick fix solution. We want to rebuild the internet itself, creating people-powered networks that are immune to corporate or government control.
In the case of Mysterium, our trustless, P2P payment network (currently on testnet) will be the first of its kind. It allows users of our global, distributed VPN to pay each other in short and frequent intervals, whenever they "rent" a VPN service from each other. We believe this is the missing link for current privacy solutions – mutual incentivisation, and the goal of restoring the internet to its former glory.
Tor helped kickstart this grassroots anonymity revolution and now the dVPN industry is taking it even further.
You can try dVPN apps for Android. You can use Tor browser for android.
Try our free dVPN app for Android. You can also decide which tor browser for android to use.
Check us out our Github or join our Discord to ask our developers any questions directly.
Join the Mysterium Army here
Savannah In decentralised vpn, updates
Top 5 online hackathons; cure your quarantine boredom with bounties
Virtual is the new black.
As more and more of the world makes a pact to #StayTheFHome this COVID19 season, all planned conferences, meetups and hackathons are adapting their events for the online domain.
So switch off Netflix and polish up your webcam – there's hacking to be done, things to learn and bounties to win.
Funding the Future Virtual Hackathon
Organised by: Gitcoin
Dates: March 16 – 30th
Prize: Up to $6500 per challenge
Gitcoin is a platform for you to get paid for working on open source projects. They've built a strong community of developers who collaborate and monetize their skills.
They frequently host online hackathons and bounty programs, so you can check out the full list of current and upcoming virtual events, including their Funding the Future Hackathon.
This two-week virtual hackathon features sponsors and projects from across the emerging decentralized finance (DeFi) space. Hackers will work together to build projects and tools that create, grow, and share value in brand new ways.
They're also running a Blockchain for Social Impact hackathon, with 4 different categories: Sustainable Cities, Plastics and Pollution, Carbon Footprint, and Celp Peace and Prosperity. Winning ideas receive $6,500 in prize value (and runner up gets $1,500). Not a bad sum for trying to fix the planet.
Can't Be Censored Challenge
Organised by: Mysterium.Network
Dates: Applications close April 14th
Prize: Up to $5000 (first prize)
Calling all devs who give a sh*t about keeping the internet accessible and free.
Mysterium Network is a distributed, permissionless privacy network. We've grown a large residential IP network for all kinds of next-gen privacy applications to be built on top of.
Enter our "Can't be Censored" challenge by submitting an app/DApp that fits into one of the featured categories and ultimately helps global citizens access the internet, no matter where in the world they are.
We're looking for new application ideas that span across iOS, Browser Plugin, Android TV, Bitcoin's Lightning Network, Windows – or anything you like that you can build on our Network.
Use code (and your brains) to put an end to internet censorship, data breaches and the abuse of our privacy rights.
International Women's Hackathon 2020
Organised by: HackerEarth
Dates: March 8th – April 30th
Prize: Up tp $3000
The annual International Women's Hackathon has returned for 2020! This is its 6th edition, an all-women event and platform to showcase talents and build ideas for the Financial Technology, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Blockchain industries.
The IWH 2020 supports the UN's theme for International Women's Day – "Think equal, build smart, innovate for change," and promote women developers around the globe.
It invites women innovators, developers, creators, designers, and hackathon enthusiasts to showcase their projects to the world and take them to the next level.
GitLab Hackathon
Organised by: GitLab
Dates: May 13th – 14th
Prize: $100 to spend at the GitLab store
If you're a dev, then you definitely have a GitHub or GitLab account. Easily join the GitLab community for this 2 day virtual event.
The Hackathon is open to anyone who is interested in contributing code, documentation, translations, UX designs and more to GitLab. Prizes are given to participants for having Merge Requests (MRs) merged and there may also be special award categories at each Hackathon.
You can choose an existing issue to work on, or file a new one. If it's your first time contributing, a good way to join the Hackathon is to pick and fix a bite size issue. There are also issues for more experienced contributors.
Hack Quarantine
Organised by: Hackathons UK
Dates: March 23rd to April 12th
Prize: Cure the world and get to go outside again… (i.e Non-monetary)
Fight the flu! With your brain?
This fully-online, people-focused hackathon brings people together to use their skills to help combat the issues the world is facing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Work with medical professionals who will provide the knowledge and tools to empower all hackers to work on improving health, remote working and helping vulnerable populations.
Instead of having different challenges, the hackathon has separate "tracks". Your project doesn't have to fit perfectly into one track, it could be a mix and match of several (or all of them). Tracks were chosen based on areas where tech could be used to help solve some of the problems that the world is currently facing with the ongoing pandemic.
And for Data Scientists with a little more time on their hands…
Microsoft's AI for Earth awards grants to support projects that use AI to change the way people and organizations monitor, model, and manage Earth's natural systems. They've already awarded 508 grants to projects with impact in 81 countries, and the list of grantees continues to grow. The four categories cover climate, agriculture, biodiversity and water.
Microsoft also offers awards to support environmental technology projects. They work with partner organizations to distribute special grants, including cash awards. You can check out these opportunities and learn how to apply.