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A closer look at Opera’s Browser VPN


Jordan

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A closer look at Opera’s Browser VPN

Opera Software launched what it calls a Browser VPN or just VPN depending on where you find it in the browser in a recent developer edition of the web browser.

Browser VPN can be enabled in Opera with a simple check of a box in the browser's settings, and then turned on or off on the frontend.

It protects traffic by using encryption which improves both the privacy and security while using the browser.

We have mentioned previously that Browser VPN does not support WebRTC or plugin traffic yet which means that sites and services may find out about the public IP address of the device used to connect to it even if the VPN is enabled.

 

opera vpn server

 

A detailed analysis of Opera's VPN integration revealed that it is not a full VPN solution which protects all traffic on the device but a proxy instead.

 

When you enable the VPN in Opera, the following happens:

  1. Opera connects to the SurfEasy API to obtain credentials and IP addresses (SurfEasy is an Opera company).
  2. The browser sends requests to the proxy with proxy authorization request headers whenever sites or services are loaded in the browser. These include the device ID and device password.
  3. These information can be grabbed and used on different machines, even in other programs that are not Opera (as you have the proxy IP address, username, and password).

The connection itself is secure, with HTTPS being used even if non-HTTPS sites are loaded. Hostname resolution is done remotely on the proxy server which means that hostnames are not leaked as well when the VPN is used.

Two issues emerge from this; first, Opera's VPN is not a real VPN but a HTTP proxy. Second, Browser VPN uses a device ID that is linked to the device you are using.

Opera's VPN is not a real VPN but a HTTP proxy

Most users who run developer or beta editions of browsers probably assumed as much when they read about the new VPN that is built-in to the Opera browser.

Opera's Browser VPN works for the most part just like other VPN extensions that you can install for it.

The main difference is that the feature is built-in to the browser so that it may theoretically make use of features that extensions cannot make use of.

Additionally, when it comes to trust, users may trust Opera more than third-party browser extensions considering that they are using the Opera web browser which too requires some level of trust.

The takeaway is that Opera's Browser VPN does not encrypt all browser traffic currently (WebRTC and plugins are not included currently but you can disable those features if you don't require them), and that it won't work on a system-wide level but only within the browser.

Opera is aware of this however and plans to fix this in future releases (probably before it hits the stable channel).

Browser VPN uses a device ID that is linked to the device you are using

The device ID that is used by the VPN is the same ID that Opera has been using for a long time. You can read about it by loading opera://about/privacy in the web browser. There you find the following information about it:

Your installation of Opera browser contains a unique ID that can not be linked to you as an individual person. This unique ID is required for auto-updates of the software and any installed extensions. Data about the features (not websites) used in Opera browser is collected with the purpose to improve the software and services. The software also creates a unique ID that is linked to your computer. This unique ID is processed with the sole purpose to measure marketing campaigns and distribution partners.

Opera stated that they have a strict no-logging policy when it comes to the VPN/Proxy.

 

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Only a few browsers have were you can turn  WebRTC  off  so far Slimjet  and CyberFox  have were you can trun it off but all browsers leak trough WebRTC natively  you can just download  a extension for Opera  and turn it off . But what do you expect  for free  a  VPN   like  I use that cost money  with 100s  of ips  that run trough you're whole  PC  that don't log. You're  welcome  to buy one, but i bet any  of the other free ones log   .  Anyways  Opera  VPN/Proxy is not that fast form streaming  Videos  or anything else  its only  OK to use for normal  web surfing  so  it not all  that no ways.  :)

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It is acceptable that developers want to "sell" their products using advertising for it. But I will die without understanding the reason that leads them to underestimate their "consumers" that way... If VPN , it's natural to call it so. If not, give the name that is appropriate!
 

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21 minutes ago, WALLONN7 said:

It is acceptable that developers want to "sell" their products using advertising for it. But I will die without understanding the reason that leads them to underestimate their "consumers" that way...

They not selling you nothing and it's free  and it does what it says it does it enycrpts  you're traffic even  if you use a ip sniffer  you only see Surf Easy ips  but you will not be able to read its traffric but like other VPN/ Proxy  software  you have to do the footwork  to make sure WebRTC dont leak  . WebRTC  is not  Vpn  providers fault  its  the person who made WebRTC fault . Vpn only leaks WebRTC  trough browser apps no other apps does it leak . The 1st thing I do when I set up a browser  is make sure WebRTC and Canvas fingerprinting  dont  leak  . For along  time only chrome browsers  i would use was Slimjet  were you can trun it off because  the blocking extensions were broke but there's working ones  for now :) 

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19 minutes ago, steven36 said:

They not selling you nothing and it's free  ( ... )

 

Well, I did say "sell", not sell... Yes it is free, I did not say otherwise...

Again, if VPN , it's natural to call it so. If not, give the name that is appropriate!

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16 minutes ago, WALLONN7 said:

 

Well, I did say "sell", not sell...

Again, if VPN , it's natural to call it so. If not, give the name that is appropriate!

I done  explained  this  here already

Why multiple post  about the same thing ?

 

 

On 4/23/2016 at 3:37 AM, steven36 said:

According to this article  it depends  on the type of VPN  its does not exclusively have to run trough the whole computer  to be called a VPN  . A VPN  that only works in you're Web Browser  is a SSL VPN.

 

SSL

Quote

SSL or Secure Socket Layer is a VPN accessible via https over web browser. SSL creates a secure session from your PC browser to the application server you’re accessing. The major advantage of SSL is that it doesn’t need any software installed because it uses the web browser as the client application.

http://techpp.com/2010/07/16/different-types-of-vpn-protocols/

 

And if you read at Opera  they  already say they use proxies.

Quote

Our VPN is something we call a browser VPN. Under the hood it works by routing all the browser traffic properly encrypted via our secure proxies in various parts of the world. It will not route the traffic from other applications – as a system wide VPN would do – it’s a browser VPN after all.

http://www.opera.com/blogs/news/2016/04/opera-doubling-server-capacity-vpn/

 

Some features  of the browser they   dont have yet so you have install the  extension to install Google Chrome  extension and import them from there to block Canvas and Fully block WebRTC.

 

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"Why multiple post  about the same thing"

 

Different article = Separate thread!

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Just now, steven36 said:

I done  explained  this  here already

Why multiple post  about the same thing

 

It's not about the same...

  1. I quoted you to clarify what I said, because in your answer seemed that I had said something else. By using quotation marks, in the specific case, I gave to word "sell" a distinct sense of what it has... 
  2. Whatever...

 

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7 minutes ago, jordan4x said:

"Why multiple post  about the same thing"

 

Different article = Separate thread!

I guess  that means we all can post articles  with the same news in them all over the board just because they had the words changed around a little. .  No a normal members  post would be merged . If you dont like it use something else is all i can tell you its a free world

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Please re-read the title and the content of this article!

if it was the same content, i wouldn't post it at all!.

My colleague @Batu has read this article, if it was a dup, he would reported it to me and i would delete it!

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As  a browser VPN  there's very little to chose  from for free unless you want to use public proxies  or Tor or wait on a giveaway   because you  take Hoxx VPN Proxy its free but they harvest you're  data.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hoxx-vpn-proxy/

https://hoxx.com/privacy-policy/

 

If you dont want to pay you cant be choosey and out the free ones I seen Opera  is the best .. This is why  I pay 4 bucks a month  for a computer VPN  . All of the free ones I seen are less than to be desired unless you're lucky  enough to get in on  a giveaway you get what you pay for. :P

 

What gets me people  have been using  this Surfeasy one and many others for a coons age  and as soon as a company  builds one in there  browser  Bloggers  want to try to make a big deal out of stuff  people have used for years.

 

SurfEasy VPN For all  Chrome browsers 500 mb free.pay if you want more.  Well  they gave me 750 mb  a month when testing  it  :) 

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/surfeasy-vpn-security-pri/odiddbcijempnhhobijfbggjogofdlgl

 

But  Opera  is nice enough provide  it too you free  and some want too complain?

 

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2 hours ago, jordan4x said:

Please re-read the title and the content of this article!

if it was the same content, i wouldn't post it at all!.

My colleague @Batu has read this article, if it was a dup, he would reported it to me and i would delete it!

Like we believe this ?. People are not bind  both articles  explain  how they use a proxy and the fact  it dont  stop WebRTC  from leaking the only thing different  i got out of it was the fact there is  no logging  but surf  easy is from Canada  witch is a 5 eyes country  so  i would never buy surf easy  its OK for free i guess.  just like Id never buy PIA .

 

Everything posted  here  and the other post was  because of it all centers  around his proof of concept.

 

The original article about them using a proxy

https://gist.github.com/spaze/558b7c4cd81afa7c857381254ae7bd10

https://github.com/spaze/oprah-proxy

 

9hRGJUI.jpg

 

People can post something at github  and a 100 bloggers will write same story just like they watch reddit  and do it too. that's what the news is they post about others findings but opera done said it was a proxy  so how is it news ?

 

 

 

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