Open Menu
AllLocalCommunitiesAbout
lotide
AllLocalCommunitiesAbout
Login

UK households could face VPN 'ban' after use skyrockets following Online Safety Bill

⁨1036⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/uk-households-could-face-vpn-32152789

source

Comments

Sort:hotnewtop
  • MehBlah@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    There are ways around this even if they do ban vpn. Its a hopeless battle being fought by the ignorant.

    source
    • derpgon@programming.dev ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      I mean anyone can rent a server in Europe and install OpenVPN themselves. Hell, it doesn’t even need to open OpenVPN, Wireguard works just as well and is basically undetectable.

      Eat shit, UK government, for real. Idiots think that by speaking the same language as US fascists they can have similarly dumb ideas.

      source
      • MehBlah@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        It would have been my go to. But they can detect openvpn and other protocols. I would just use a ssh tunnel with squid proxy. The squid wont cache ssh traffic unless you run your own cert and set up the squid that way. It will however seamlessly allow you to connect through a ssh tunnel with one port forward.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
      • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        wireguard is not undetectable, even wireshark has a simple way to identify it, but there are more accurate ways

        source
        • -> View More Comments
      • jabjoe@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        To be honest, I’ve found WireGuard’s performance is harmed more by reply attacks than OpenVPN. Least that is what I put it down to when I tried them both from a VPN provider that offered both.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      They will use it as an excuse to give themselves more power and to take more civil liberties from you.

      source
  • cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    labour really doesn't want people to access lgbtq safe spaces and resources huh?

    source
  • wrassleman76@lemmy.ca ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I don’t think it’s even possible to get rid of VPNs. If I set up a VPN that uses an obscure port, and the traffic is encrypted, how are they going to know it’s even a VPN?

    source
    • NateNate60@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Attached below is a Wireshark trace I obtained by sniffing my own network traffic.

      Image

      I want to draw your attention to this part in particular:

      Image

      Underneath “User Datagram Protocol”, you can see the words “OpenVPN Protocol”. So anyone who sniffs my traffic on the wire can see exactly the same thing that I can. While they can’t read the contents of the payload, they can tell that it’s OpenVPN traffic because the headers are not encrypted. So if a router wanted to block OpenVPN traffic, all they would have to do is drop this packet. It’s a similar story for Wireguard packets. An attacker can read the unencrypted headers and learn

      • The size of the transmission
      • The source and destination IP addresses by reading the IP header
      • The source and destination ports numbers by reading the TCP or UDP headers
      • The underlying layers, up until the point it hits an encrypted protocol (such as OpenVPN, TLS, or SSH)
      source
      • wrassleman76@lemmy.ca ⁨45⁩ ⁨minutes⁩ ago

        You’re using the default port though, are you not? If the source port were not 1194, a port associated with openvpn, would wireshark still identify this as openvpn traffic?

        source
    • herrvogel@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      They’re going to know it’s VPN fairly easily because it’s fairly obvious what you’re doing when all or most of your traffic is encrypted and is directed at one or two addresses. Even more obvious if those one or two addresses happen to belong to known VPN or VPS providers or something.

      source
    • Ironfist79@lemmy.world ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Traffic patterns. There’s always ways to tell.

      source
  • MU5T4N6@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Labour was supposed to destroy the Tories, not join them!

    source
  • BagOfHeavyStones@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Couldn't people just hire a VPS in another country and VPN with that using Wireguard etc, or even use RDP etc to it? Is it even a VPN if you're remotely operating a computer in another country?

    source
    • 4am@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      WireGuard would be illegal. ISPs would monitor for encrypted traffic streams. All remote workers must now come back to the office. ofcom can see any and all traffic. Your loyalty to the king shall be examined. You choices of media will be scrutinized. The threat of losing your children will be used to force compliance. Welcome to the machine.

      source
      • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Perry much every single website uses HTTPS these days which means all traffic is encrypted anyway. Instead of a VPN you could use an encrypted proxy that connects over HTTPS. I doubt the UK is just going to completely cut itself off from the rest of the world’s internet (because all it takes is one path out).

        source
      • moseschrute@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Can we develop a new VPN protocol where the encrypted traffic is disguised as a 24 hour continuous stream of Never Gonna Give You Up

        source
        • -> View More Comments
      • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        I remember in Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother (Great read, Free e-book here. they had an insider at the ISP who just encrypted all the traffic that came through, so it just became the “new normal”.

        source
      • tankplanker@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Work based VPNs would likely have to obtain a license from Ofcom, it would be highly unlikely to block them completely. Probably be requesting a back door into the work VPNs at the same time just like they have for other encryption, lol.

        source
      • warm@kbin.earth ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Tempora already snoops on traffic.

        source
    • Eximius@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Refer to other comment. They don’t see “VPN traffic”, they see encrypted tunnels between two ports to some offshore vps. At best, they see a header saying “openvpn”. The article is alluding to the country wanting to crack down on encrypted tunnels (because you cannot discriminate VPNs from them).

      source
      • elvith@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        At best, they see a TLS handshake that gets upgraded to an encrypted websocket which hides VPN traffic…

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • Lyra_Lycan@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      There will always be a way to bypass laws that do not serve the people.

      source
    • shalafi@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      I have a Digital Ocean droplet in Amsterdam, runs OpenVPN server. $6/mo., no one sees my activity, haven’t logged into it in years.

      source
      • No1@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Netherlands is part of the Nine eyes. They know exactly what your activities are.

        source
  • Luouth@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Bye bye UK economy. How do you expect businesses to work without VPNs?

    source
    • themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      My guess they will block VPN services IP addresses like proton, shouldn’t affect business VPN.

      source
      • Vinstaal0@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        But what if I work for Proton and I am in the UK?

        source
        • -> View More Comments
    • then_three_more@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Ban remote working, vpn now only allowed from business addresses as registered with companies house.

      source
      • MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        VPN in businesses is mostly to secure internal use infrastructure against external threats.

        source
        • -> View More Comments
  • WaffleWarrior@lemmy.zip ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I though the UK was a Western democracy. What the hell are you guys doing over there?

    source
    • IcyToes@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago

      Lol. Democracy.

      Democracies don’t care about their citizens privacy. Just the optics of getting spied on citizens.

      source
  • krigo666@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Ah, fascism on the rise.

    source
  • PushButton@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    The Collective Shout Out must feel envious of such power… Think about all what they could ban, you know, for you and your children protection of course.

    source
  • MITM0@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Download Tor, Whonix & Tails

    source
  • kokesh@lemmy.world ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Turning into China, aren’t we?

    source
  • MCasq_qsaCJ_234@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Freenet, I2P and Tor will be the new refuge

    source
    • 0x0@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      I think it’s Hyphanet now.

      source
  • febra@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    So now it’s not just TERF island but also nazi island.

    source
    • frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      As a Brit I’m sorry for how embarrassing our country’s authorities are becoming

      source
      • MangioneDontMiss@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        As an American, can we trade governments?

        source
    • uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      Every society has its pathway there. TERFs are one of the last milestones.

      GB has really wanted to go fascist autocratic since Germany looked over in the 1920s and saw a like minded kin.

      source
      • BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Did we? Some maybe, I do recall the fascists got the shit kicked out of them on Cable Street. More of that please.

        source
  • assassinatedbyCIA@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    The UK government doth protest too much about protecting the kids. It’s obvious that this who thing is just an attempt to increase the surveillance of the UK population.

    source
  • AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Will the next step be banning VPS then? Because that’s what will happen: if you ban VPNs (good luck with that lol), people will just connect to a VPS in a less stupid country and exit from there.

    I hope they start looking at TOR too, that should be really fun.

    source
  • badbytes@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Banning VPNs is quite a serious move.

    source
  • Buffalox@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Freedom from EU regulation. 😋

    source
  • Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Oh, that would be hilarious to watch.

    source
  • MangioneDontMiss@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    China Laughs Communistically

    source
  • TheBat@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Tfw Big Brother is charmless potato named Keir Starmer.

    source
  • RejZoR@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    That sounds awful lot like dictatorship…

    source
  • Vinstaal0@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    What would be defined as a VPN and even then there are other options to get access to content as if you where in a different country or ways to bypass the age restriction. A lot of companies and governments also use VPN’s to get people to work on their servers, so how would the UK function.

    It always baffles me that they try shit like that.

    source
    • 0x0@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Edit: heck proper sex education is a way better solution to reduce unhealthy sex habits

      It’s not about sex, or protecting the children.
      It’s about control.

      source
      • Vinstaal0@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Maybe it and maybe it isn’t, but kicking against it trying to change won’t help because there is a certain amount of the population who believes that it isn’t for control, but it is actually for sex or protecting the children or what not.

        If you want to get those people over to change their behaviour, you want to work on compromises or in this case you want to deflect them into fixing something else.

        Trust me, I have a lot of right and even some mildly right people around me and with going hard against them you will just confirm their bias.

        source
  • peoplebeproblems@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Man I can’t follow UK politics. I thought Labour was a progressive party

    source
    • Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      For starters, the whole “Progressive” thing is an American concept born out of the American environment (with its very deep religious moralistic strain amongst a large fraction of the population) and does not really applicable to Britain because, at least until recently, they didn’t really have regressive tendencies.

      Beyond that Labour hasn’t been Leftwing since Tony Blair took over in the 80s and started talking about it being New Labour - they’re Neoliberals and quite strongly so, so pretty rightwing.

      What they did was performative Identity Politics like in the US: theatrics in the Moral space to make them seem different from the other mainstream party, rather than actually having genuine Liberal Principles.

      Of late they even ditched that and seem to be trying to outfascist the Fascists.

      source
    • towerful@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Old labour was.
      They pivoted quite hard a few years ago to try and win an election.
      They are just Tory Lite now.

      source
  • sirico@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Geeze I hope I don’t…slap tailscale on a vps

    source
  • hisao@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    It’s not so easy to ban VPNs. They need to setup DPI everywhere. And then people will start using DPI circumvention software.

    source
  • ftbd@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    Wireguard evil, mmkay?

    source