While new VPN services launch frequently, it\u2019s rare to see one with a truly unique technical approach. That\u2019s why\u00a0VP.net<\/a> warrants a closer look. Unlike most VPN providers, it doesn\u2019t ask users for their trust; it relies on hardware-enforced privacy instead. Their Frequently Asked Questions are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n When you use a VPN, your internet traffic is encrypted between your device and the VPN\u2019s server. This is great for protecting your data from snooping on public Wi-Fi and your internet provider. However, to route your traffic to its final destination on the internet, the VPN server must decrypt it first.<\/p>\n At this decryption point, it\u2019s technically possible for the VPN provider to access information about your online activity. This is common knowledge and requires that you trust your VPN. It\u2019s also why using shady free VPN apps from unknown companies should be avoided; the user may end up being the product.<\/p>\n For a successful VPN service to thrive, trust, security, and privacy are paramount. Reputable VPN companies build their entire business model on trust, knowing that a breach would be catastrophic for their reputation.<\/p>\n But what if trust was taken out of the equation entirely? This is what VP.net promises to do, at least up to a point.<\/p>\n Like most VPNs, VP.net hides your real IP-address, replacing it with the address of the server you connect to. This connection is encrypted using the popular open-source WireGuard protocol and can\u2019t be spied on by outsiders.<\/p>\n What makes VP.net stand out from many regular VPNs is its special use of a technology called Intel\u00a0Software Guard Extensions<\/a>\u00a0(SGX). SGX enclaves are private areas of memory that essentially act as a secure black box and not even the operators of the service can see what\u2019s happening inside.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The system within the SGX enclave is reportedly built to map user identities to temporary, anonymous tokens. This means the part of the system which knows that \u201cUser X is connected\u201d is structurally walled off from the part that knows \u201csomeone is accessing website Y.\u201d The design goal is that no one, not even the VPN company, can link \u201cUser X\u201d to \u201cWebsite Y.\u201d<\/p>\n The use of SGX as a verifiable, hardware-enforced separation of user identity and web traffic, is a new concept for a VPN.<\/p>\n VP.net essentially promises \u201cverified privacy\u201d with this technical setup. If everything works as described, it\u2019s not technically possible for the owners of the server, typically the VPN provider, to log who is doing what and when.<\/p>\n The new VPN service is operated by the American company VP.NET LLC, which in turn is owned by\u00a0TCP IP Inc<\/a>, which holds the intellectual property rights. That includes pending patents, including one of \u2018hardware-based anonymization of network addresses.\u201d<\/p>\n The idea to use SGX as a privacy shield comes from Andrew Lee, the chief privacy architect at VP.net. As the founder of Private Internet Access, which he sold to\u00a0Kape<\/a>\u00a0a few years ago, Lee has a long history in the VPN space. However, he believes this new concept is a breakthrough.<\/p>\n \u201cOur zero trust solution does not require you to trust us \u2013 and that\u2019s how it should be. Your privacy should be up to your choice \u2013 not up to some random VPN provider in some random foreign country,\u201d Lee says.<\/p>\n VP.net says it cannot link traffic data to users, even if it wanted to. If a court order requested such data, the company would first scrutinize its legality but, after that, the only data it has access to are unlinked details, such as payment info and email addresses, provided by the user.<\/p>\n The new VPN company is led by CEO Matt Kim. The company also lists the contentious Bitcoin veterans\u00a0Roger Ver<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mark Karpel\u00e8s<\/a>\u00a0in their team, who both have had their legal issues in the past.<\/p>\n VP.net\u2019s source code is open to the public. To address the challenge of showing that this open-source code is the same as the code running on their servers, VP.net relies on a key SGX\u00a0feature<\/a>\u00a0called \u2018remote attestation\u2019.<\/p>\n In essence, this mechanism allows the user\u2019s client to receive cryptographic proof from the server\u2019s hardware, verifying that it is a genuine SGX \u2018safe\u2019 and is running the exact, untampered code that was publicly available. This shifts the trust from the company\u2019s promise to a verifiable, hardware-backed process.<\/p>\n The trust through technology aspect is certainly intriguing, but no technology is infallible. The code needs to be functional and secure, as a software flaw could lead to potential security issues.<\/p>\n Another potential problem lies on the hardware side. Intel SGX itself is a physical product that is part of the CPU, which in turn relies on firmware. Like any piece of hardware,\u00a0vulnerabilities<\/a>\u00a0have been discovered in SGX in the past.<\/p>\n VP.net is aware of this and says it actively monitors the security of its software and infrastructure, while keeping systems fully up-to-date.<\/p>\n Of course, the true test will be speed and transparency when responding to the next major SGX vulnerability, a scenario for which all users should be prepared.<\/p>\n It\u2019s safe to say that one should never have 100% trust in any VPN solution. In this case, VP.net promises to offer an extra layer of privacy but, in the end, even the most secure systems can be breached.<\/p>\n That said, it is interesting to see a novel approach to the \u2018no logging\u2019 discussions. Whether this novelty will scale and be embraced more broadly remains to be seen.<\/p>\n Source: \u00a0Trust<\/h2>\n
VP.net<\/h2>\n
![\"vpnet\"](\"https:\/\/torrentfreak.com\/images\/vpnet-overview.jpg.webp)
<\/picture><\/center> <\/p>\n\u2018Verified Privacy\u2019<\/h2>\n
Novel, Secure, but Not Infallible<\/h2>\n
![\"TorrentFreak\"](\"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/torrentfreak.png\")
<\/a> TorrentFreak.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"