Can I be sure my OPEN VPN connection is AES 256 as advertised?

I recently purchased OPEN VPN service.

I understand that I place the config file in the config folder of the OPEN VPN software and then connect. I am able to connect and my location shows as having changed when I trace my IP. I do have some questions though and I thank you for taking the time to help me.

1.) How can I be sure I am actually using the AES 256 encryption that I am paying for?

2.)I have a config file for the connection that was provided to me by the company, should I post that info here?

3.) Does it look like I set the VPN up correctly?

thank you again

p.s. I have attached 3 screen-grabs. Capture 1 & 2 show the setup I am using, capture 3 is an example of the provided stock configs my host supply's. I went with the last option, the "ultra paranoid" one. I hope this helps people when formulating a response to my query.

 

When you say Open VPN, you do you mean OpenVPN http://openvpn.net/ or another one. I presume you could put a machine between you and the endpoint, and capture traffic, then parse it with protocol analyzer looking for the specific elements that would prove it was 256AES. Not what these specific elements would be though.

 

I mean this, which I guess is the same as the link you posted.

http://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/downloads.html

 

You purchased free software? Or do they offer some "extra" pay service?

 

I am paying for service and they told me to use the free software to use it

 

What about that config file, it should say somewhere what cipher to use?

 

All I could understand from the config file is that it said AES 256 CBC. Because I am a total VPN newb I wanted to make sure

 

The config tells your client what cipher it should use. Since you initiate the connection the other end has to respond with the same cipher. Therefore you just verified that it must work as advertised.
OpenVPN is absolutely trustworthy software, it's open source and reviewed. No way it would try to fool you

So, no worries. However what no encryption in the world can guarantee you is that your provider is trustworthy....

 

Thank you very much for explaining that process to me, katio. Curious, would you be able to recommend a trustworthy foreign VPN provider or point me in the direction of a person/people's that make those calls?

 

Sorry, can't help you on that one. I don't use any anonymity providers myself and on principle don't trust anyone to provide me with anonymity after giving them my identity and then pay for it as well.

As I see it the only real anonymity on the internet is by going in over public wifi, of course disguised IRL as well (those pesky CCTVs...)
For my personal usage I don't see a point in doing that so I simply don't bother.

VPNs have other uses as well, for example "circumventing censorship" and by that I mean pandora and such services. For those any will do as long as it's cheap and reasonably fast.