Posted: 5/3/2016 1:28:40 PM EDT
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I'm going to be in a situation where I'll have to use public WiFi (library, McD's, etc.) about half the week to access the Internet. I can avoid going to my bank's website over that time but would like to be able to check email, log into ARFCOM, and place orders (Amazon, Midway USA, etc.) online. I have avoided public WiFi in the past so I have a couple questions.
I know I should use a VPN, I'm not really computer savvy so I would probably just pay for a service like PIA. My real question is what hardware should I use? I have two options a Dell laptop and an older C710 Chromebook. My understanding is that the safest thing is to use the Chromebook in guest mode, is that combined with a VPN enough? I'd rather use the laptop (dual booted with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, both using the latest Firefox with Privacy Badger, a Flash blocker, HTTPS everywhere) but is there anything I should do to it in addition to the VPN for security? I would guess Ubuntu would be more secure (due to less directed attacks) but that's why I'm posting here. Any suggestions, preferably in $1 instead of $5 words, would help. Thanks in advance! |
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The new Opera browser developer version has a free VPN built in you can turn on when you want. It's under browser settings.
http://www.opera.com/blogs/desktop/2016/04/free-vpn-integrated-opera-for-windows-mac/ |
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Quoted:
The new Opera browser developer version has a free VPN built in you can turn on when you want. It's under browser settings. http://www.opera.com/blogs/desktop/2016/04/free-vpn-integrated-opera-for-windows-mac/ I heard about that on a couple podcasts (Daily Tech News Show and Security Now) but my understanding is that it is not a true VPN but a http proxy. I'm not saying it isn't secure enough for my needs, it very well might be, but had previously dismissed it due to concerns those podcasts had with it. |
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I've used PIA for a few years now and have no complaints. I just use it and don't go through the rigors some folks do. If it's that critical I just don't do it over open wifi.
Personally if you're that concerned I'd use the Dell and setup a Linux VM (with your distro of choice...I run Fedora as main with multiple other distros in VMs) under VirtualBox and a VPN connection. Stop Opera’s New VPN from Leaking Your IP Address |