Is Hotspotshield good and safe?

[tonyseeking]

Does anyone use HotSpotShield? Any feedback? Good, Safe?

http://www.hotspotshield.com/

Thanks.

[LockBox]

Tony, Really...to be honest...who knows? There's no spyware, I can tell you that. But whenever I have used it I get very frustrated by the ad content thrown here and there. But good and safe from what? Who knows who is really running the thing? Anchorfree may very well be a bought and paid for front of American intelligence. Then again, it might not be and is on the up and up. These things are judgment calls after much research and then you really end up trusting your gut. The same, frankly, goes for all VPN services. There's no way any of them can prove their purity and altruism in simply following a passion of protecting privacy. Xerobank? I feel good about some of Steve's affiliations, but then again, who really knows? It's just the gut thing again.

[tonyseeking]

Originally Posted by Gerard Morentzy

.... Xerobank? I feel good about some of Steve's affiliations, but then again, who really knows? It's just the gut thing again.

Well yeah, Steve could be an FBI agent as far as we know. You cannot 100% rule that out unless you know him personally and sleep at his place and walk around with him 24/7

[Warlockz]

Theirs no such thing as a paid or free VPN that is 100% Anonymous, if you use it for illegal purposes your going to get caught "one of these days" regardless of what they say on their site about anonymity, they have software on their servers that catch certain keywords/activities, just read the shadowvpn TOS and Privacy policy and you will see what I mean, and Xerobank Traffic goes threw shadowvpn servers and Steve tries to say it adds extra security, but if the traffic is going threw shadows servers than It seems like the traffic is going to inherit shadowvpn's TOS, how would it not, if shadowvpn's servers are set up to catch abusers?

I was just using xero/shadow as an example, if that's what a paid service does, I can only imagine what is involved when using a free service.

I see VPNs as a network of spies, big brother is always around the corner in one form or another!

[YeOldeStonecat]

It's a good product, to surf through a VPN connection when you're out using public hotspots is a sound thing to do if you're worried about being sniffed while you're at a hotspot.

Hotspotshield has been around for quite a while. Minor advertising in the product since it's free.

[tonyseeking]

Originally Posted by Warlockz

,,, if you use it for illegal purposes your going to get caught "one of these days" regardless of what they say on their site about anonymity, ...!

The best way is to be an honest person and never do anything illegal at all. That's the real answer and that's the real solution

[Warlockz]

Originally Posted by tonyseeking

The best way is to be an honest person and never do anything illegal at all. That's the real answer and that's the real solution

Thank you tonyseeking, you got that right to the T, so I guess I should answer your Original question!

No I wouldn use Hotspot shield even if you paid me to use it!

Check this out, this is raw user feedback on the product from cnet, no cnet did not write these reviews!

Cons: Sticks an innocuous, removable but nuisance ad over top of each page
After v1.13 update, AdAware scan alerted to a "level 10" trojan keystroke logger
Very difficult to remove once installed

Summary: I found it very useful and was willing to put up with ads which can be clicked off. It's the only free service that worked with Hulu from Canada - UltraSurf does not. However, this last version triggered an AdAware highest level alert for a keystroke logger trojan. Uninstalling was impossible because Add/Remove and Revo found it always "in use" so I had to log in Safe Mode as Administrator to erase the folder. I hope Anchor Free reads this and fixes the trojan problem as I would like to go back to it.


Cons: Blocks EVERY website with a frame linked to RSS2Search. Clicking on any link and any page loads this frame, making it impossible to use the browser.


Cons: This program put a pornographic banner ad at the top of my screen, I was sitting with my little daughter on my lap and looking at sesame street torrents and all of the sudden I have porn at the top of my page. Unacceptable.

Cons: UInless you search late at night, the connection speed is very slow during the day. and as, noted in the reviews, the connection will drop without notice.

Updated on Apr 6, 2009

As others have stated, this product 1.12 and 1.13 has a trojan horse.
I contacted Hotspot shield almost 2 weeks ago and have not received a reply. On their website AnchorFree is promoting Hotspot Shield 1.10, but when one downloads it shows up as 1.13. AVOID THIS PRODUCT! Remember the Conficker virus attacks Networks!!

[n33m3rz]

Originally Posted by tonyseeking

The best way is to be an honest person and never do anything illegal at all. That's the real answer and that's the real solution

Or use WiFi at random locations with Tor ;-) (JUST KIDDING!)

[Warlockz]

Originally Posted by n33m3rz

Or use WiFi at random locations with Tor ;-) (JUST KIDDING!)

Why somebody would waist hours of their time at a wifi spot they are leeching with "dialup speed Tor" is beyond me?

Proxy lists, checked in proxy checker by proxy judges, use 3rd world proxies, proxies in countries out of the reach of the country your located!

[YeOldeStonecat]

Comodo also offers a similar service...however it's not free..but still quite cheap.
http://www.comodo.com/trustconnect/

[caspian]

Originally Posted by tonyseeking

Well yeah, Steve could be an FBI agent as far as we know. You cannot 100% rule that out unless you know him personally and sleep at his place and walk around with him 24/7

I think he's probably part of an alien conspiracy to take over the planet.

[caspian]

Originally Posted by Warlockz

Thank you tonyseeking, you got that right to the T, so I guess I should answer your Original question!

No I wouldn use Hotspot shield even if you paid me to use it!

Check this out, this is raw user feedback on the product from cnet, no cnet did not write these reviews!

Cons: Sticks an innocuous, removable but nuisance ad over top of each page
After v1.13 update, AdAware scan alerted to a "level 10" trojan keystroke logger
Very difficult to remove once installed

My God warlockz. If I ever needed any convincing, you just took care fo that. They are doing the exact thing that they are supposedly protecting you from.

[caspian]

Originally Posted by tonyseeking

you know him personally and sleep at his place and walk around with him 24/7

k..

[flyted]

I have a post asking how to remove HotSpot. The product seemed to work fine for a while, then I also as another has said here got a level 10 alert on it, and have been dealing with trying to remove all the individual files for weeks. At its worst, it almost brought my computer to a standstill with crazy browser stuff I never had gotten before. Now that all but 1 file(I think) has been removed, everything is back to normal. A simple remove in the add/remove leaves so many pieces of this program its sad. I would not use the program again.

[SteveTX]

Originally Posted by Warlockz

if the traffic is going threw shadows servers than It seems like the traffic is going to inherit shadowvpn's TOS, how would it not, if shadowvpn's servers are set up to catch abusers?

It's the other way around Shadow and XB run on Xero Networks AG servers. Different levels of anonymity/service/offerings/support/software/bw etc, but same corp entity doing legal protection. The real answer is it is much more preferable to shutoff or block abusers/targets rather than track them down (waste of resources and goodwill).

Originally Posted by tonyseeking

Well yeah, Steve could be an FBI agent as far as we know. You cannot 100% rule that out unless you know him personally and sleep at his place and walk around with him 24/7

I think the FBI would be offended: We're setting folks free, not putting them in a pen.

[CaixFang]

Originally Posted by tonyseeking

The best way is to be an honest person and never do anything illegal at all. That's the real answer and that's the real solution

Tell that to the new Dir of DHS in the US after declaring that anyone that believes in the following can be classified as a "right wing radical" and can be monitored under the Patriot Act and DHS electronic measures.

Being a "Right wing radical" is now classified by the US Govt as believing in ONE of the following:

English should be the [only] official / national language
Against illegal immigration (which is upwards of 82% of the US if I remember correctly)
Voted against / doesn't support gay marriage
Pro-life / Anti-Abortion
Against an "NA Union"
Believe that the 2nd amendment provides you the right to own legal firearms

I wont go on, my purpose is not to turn this into an idealogical thread, just a warning that "nothing to worry about as long as you are doing nothing wrong" all comes down to WHO is choosing what is WRONG, and according to the new US Dir of DHS, anyone with beliefs, donations to the causes of, etc the above and many other areas can be classified as potential TERRORISTS. US CITIZENS INSIDE THE US!

I long subscribed to that thought of "Im doing nothing wrong, I dont need to worry" - and I'm not wearing a tin hat these days - but you just cant think that way anymore. When the freedom of ideas is becoming illegal in the US, its time to find a new way to surf the Internet.

PS I slept at Steve's once, I dont think he's an agent, but he sure has a big gun! lol

[Hiker]

Originally Posted by flyted

I have a post asking how to remove HotSpot. The product seemed to work fine for a while, then I also as another has said here got a level 10 alert on it, and have been dealing with trying to remove all the individual files for weeks. At its worst, it almost brought my computer to a standstill with crazy browser stuff I never had gotten before. Now that all but 1 file(I think) has been removed, everything is back to normal. A simple remove in the add/remove leaves so many pieces of this program its sad. I would not use the program again.

Since it stopped working, using Revo I just uninstalled version 1.07 and it only left 4 registry entries.

[caspian]

Originally Posted by CaixFang

Tell that to the new Dir of DHS in the US after declaring that anyone that believes in the following can be classified as a "right wing radical" and can be monitored under the Patriot Act and DHS electronic measures.

Being a "Right wing radical" is now classified by the US Govt as believing in ONE of the following:

English should be the [only] official / national language
Against illegal immigration (which is upwards of 82% of the US if I remember correctly)
Voted against / doesn't support gay marriage
Pro-life / Anti-Abortion
Against an "NA Union"
Believe that the 2nd amendment provides you the right to own legal firearms

I wont go on, my purpose is not to turn this into an idealogical thread, just a warning that "nothing to worry about as long as you are doing nothing wrong" all comes down to WHO is choosing what is WRONG, and according to the new US Dir of DHS, anyone with beliefs, donations to the causes of, etc the above and many other areas can be classified as potential TERRORISTS. US CITIZENS INSIDE THE US!

I long subscribed to that thought of "Im doing nothing wrong, I dont need to worry" - and I'm not wearing a tin hat these days - but you just cant think that way anymore. When the freedom of ideas is becoming illegal in the US, its time to find a new way to surf the Internet.

PS I slept at Steve's once, I dont think he's an agent, but he sure has a big gun! lol

Well in all fairness, during the previous 8 years, you were an enemy of the State if you supported gay marriage, religious freedom (separation of Religion from government), a right to privacy, and Heaven forbid the word "peace" was ever uttered from your lips.