VyprVPN Server Cluster in Romania

There are many definitions for “prism”; the one I like is from the Free Dictionary “a medium that misrepresents whatever is seen through it.” It is therefore interesting that the government would select PRISM as the name for the latest privacy concern to come to light.

The Guardian recently published excerpts from a top-secret PowerPoint presentation used to train intelligence operatives on “PRISM.” This National Security Agency project is able to access detailed information held by leading Internet companies. While much still remains unknown about this and other NSA programs, the revelation certainly raises a number of privacy questions, particularly around the use of cloud services.

There are two ways to protect on-line privacy; effective legislation and encryption. These are not mutually exclusive; however. While most rely on legislation, many have realized they can better protect themselves by using encryption technologies.

Golden Frog is not part of PRISM. We run 100% of our own infrastructure and do not rely on third party hosting providers. We provide a higher level of protection for our customers than other VPN and Cloud Storage service providers that may have been compromised by this program.

We founded Golden Frog because we believe the Internet should be open and free; that users should enjoy an open and secure Internet experience that respects their privacy. I recently documented our vision in a white paper entitled “Peace Prosperity and the Case for the Open Internet.” It describes the challenges to freedom and offers a solution we call “the Second Amendment of the Internet.” I invite you to read this paper and take up the cause to protect your on-line privacy.

We cannot continue to surrender privacy based on some notion it will provide better “security”. Our founders easily resolved that question long ago: “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety” – Benjamin Franklin, November 11, 1755.

Austin, Texas – June 11, 2013 – Golden Frog announced today that co-CEO Ron Yokubaitis will be speaking at HostingCon 2013 on a panel entitled “The Future of Customer Privacy.” This panel will be held Tuesday, June 18th at 3:00pm and is very timely as privacy issues continue to be discussed frequently in the news. Two key topics dominate the discussion; the Texas bill for email privacy and the PRISM project.

“In Texas, we are on the verge of enacting email privacy legislation that will set the standard for the nation. We look forward to Governor Perry’s support for the bill which passed both houses of the state legislature without a single ‘nay’ vote. We’ll know by the start of HostingCon next week whether or not it will become law,” said Ron Yokubaitis, co-CEO of Golden Frog. “Enacting this legislation will certainly be a proud moment for all Texans.”

The PRISM project is a new privacy concern that recently went public. PRISM is a National Security Agency and FBI project to access detailed information from leading Internet companies. While much still remains unknown about PRISM, the program certainly raises a number of privacy questions, particularly around the use of cloud services.

Golden Frog is proud to be part of the HostingCon panel to discuss the future of customer privacy as it was founded on the belief that the Internet should be open and free and that users should enjoy an open and secure Internet experience that respects their privacy. Golden Frog recently documented its vision in a white paper entitled “Peace Prosperity and the Case for the Open Internet” in which it describes the challenges to freedom and offers a solution as the Second Amendment of the Internet.

We added support for thumbnails in the Dump Truck Web App!

The new thumbnail view makes viewing your photos fast and easy. To activate the thumbnail view, simply click the toggle at the top right of the Web App interface to toggle between list and thumbnail view.

Thumbnail View

You can access all the standard file actions —favoriting, deleting, renaming and drag & drop— while in thumbnail view!

Log in and start using thumbnail view!

We’d like to send a big “Thank You” to all of our great users who submitted feedback and ideas. If you haven’t already done so, please visit our Golden Frog Ideas microsite to share your product ideas and feature suggestions with us.

If you don’t have a Dump Truck account yet, sign up for a FREE 5GB account today!

GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS – May 8, 2013 – Golden Frog, a global software and Internet application development company, announced today that it has added a new VyprVPN server cluster in Bucharest, Romania. VyprVPN is a personal VPN (Virtual Private Network) service used to encrypt Internet connections, protect online privacy, prevent monitoring of online communications and provide access to restricted websites to preserve an open and free Internet. The Romanian VPN server cluster is now available to all of Golden Frog’s VyprVPN customers.

“We are committed to preserving an open and free Internet experience for our customers located in more than 200 countries around the world,” said Sunday Yokubaitis, President of Golden Frog. Mr. Yokubaitis adds, “The addition of a global VPN network cluster in Eastern Europe expands our ability to serve customers located in that region while ensuring the highest possible network performance.”

VyprVPN users now have unlimited access to the following server locations:

Asia – Hong Kong
Canada – Toronto
Denmark – Copenhagen New!
France – Paris
Germany – Frankfurt
Luxembourg New!
Netherlands – Amsterdam
Romania – Bucharest New!
Russia – Moscow New!
Sweden – Stockholm New!
Switzerland – Zurich New!
U.K. – London
U.S. – Austin
U.S. – Los Angeles
U.S. – Washington, D.C.

Hello din Bucuresti! We added a new VyprVPN server cluster in Bucharest, Romania!

We’ve been adding a lot of new servers based on your feedback submitted to our Ideas microsite. Please keep sharing your product suggestions and feature requests and we’ll keep delivering you the best VPN service possible.

Our approach is unique in the VPN industry – we own, engineer and manage our VPN server clusters so we can deliver the fastest VPN connections to our global network. Other VPN providers use 3rd party companies to host their VPN servers. We don’t.

Our clustered server also approach increases reliability and uptime. It is unavoidable that servers will go down. And when they do, our server cluster can dynamically switch your connection to another server in the cluster.

Our clustered solution also makes it easy to connect to VyprVPN. Simply choose a server location without scrolling through a long list of servers. Never worry about whether a server is overloaded or unavailable, supports your favorite protocol, or will kick you off and force you to reconnect.

Don’t forget that every server cluster includes unlimited IPs and unlimited bandwidth. We never limit your connection time or bandwidth!

The Romanian VPN server cluster is available for all VyprVPN protocols, including PPTP, L2TP/IPsec and OpenVPN.

If you use VyprVPN Desktop, the new Romanian VPN server cluster is automatically available when choosing your server location. To choose the Romanian server cluster with VyprVPN Mobile, simply log out of your app and log back in.

If you have manually set up VyprVPN on your operating system, you can update your VyprVPN hostname to: ro1.vpn.goldenfrog.com

You now have unlimited access to the following server locations:

Asia – Hong Kong
Canada – Toronto
Denmark – Copenhagen
Europe – Luxembourg New!
France – Paris
Germany – Frankfurt
Moscow – Russia New!
Netherlands – Amsterdam
Romania – Bucharest New!
Sweden – Stockholm
Switzerland – Zurich New!
U.K. – London
U.S. – Austin
U.S. – Los Angeles
U.S. – Washington, D.C.

We recently added a Luxembourg VPN server, a Russian VPN server, a Swiss VPN server, a Sweden VPN server and a Denmark VPN server. And we will continue to add additional VPN server clusters throughout 2013 – so stay tuned!

In April, Symantec released its latest Internet Security Threat Report. The report included cumulative security data from 2012 and provided insight into what can be expected in 2013. There were several major shifts across the Internet security landscape in 2012.

The Median Number of Profiles Stolen Per Data Breach Increased by 350%

Experts quickly pointed out the number of identities stolen per breach in 2012 decreased significantly (604,826 stolen per breach). That statistic is misleading. 2011 was a record year for stolen identities with 5 major data breaches in which more than 10 million identities were stolen. The median number of identities stolen per breach is a better statistic to consider. The median number of identities stolen per breach in 2012 increased 350% from 2,400 in 2011 to 8,350 in 2012.
Watering Hole Attacks – A Whole New Threat

The “Watering Hole Attack” is a new innovation in targeted attacks. This sophisticated approach to data theft targets consumers. It is a four step process:
The attacker profiles their victim and the website they visit
The attacker tests websites for vulnerabilities
When a compromised site is found, the attacker injects malicious code to redirect the victim to a different site which hosts the exploit code
The compromised site is now waiting to infect the profiled victim with a zero-day exploit
Drive By Downloads Increased by 30%

Web-based attacks, primarily drive by downloads, increased by 30% in 2012. The good news is the number of new vulnerabilities increased by only 6%, which means these attacks primarily affect consumers who do not update their software. These are not zero-day attacks. Symantec experts state the rise in web-based attacks is primarily due to the surge in malvertising.
Fake Offerings are the Most Popular Type of Social Media Attack

Scammers and spammers follow the crowd so they constantly have access to a large group of potential targets. In 2012, the most common type of attack was the fake offering. Scammers invite social network users to join a fake event or group. They incentivize their offer with the promise of a free gift card or discount. To join, users then share sensitive information with the attacker, such as their mobile phone number. This allows the attacker to send a text from the user’s phone to a premium rate number. Other popular social media attacks include manual sharing scams, likejacking, fake plug-in scams, and copy/paste scams.
Every Type of Mobile Attack Increased in 2012

The short story in mobile Internet security is every type of attack has increased. Threats which increased the most are android exploits, privacy leaks, premium number fraud, and mobile botnets. Taking mobile device security seriously is more important than ever.

The latest Symantec report highlights the ever-changing trends in Internet threats and security. 2012 introduced several new threats and highlighted the importance of online identity protection as attackers target consumers on all fronts. The best way to minimize the odds of becoming a target is by taking proactive steps to secure every device that connects to the Internet. One of those proactive steps is using a personal VPN for desktop and mobile devices.

VyprVPN provides a secure, encrypted connection to the Internet to protect user privacy and security. VyprVPN Desktop and Mobile apps make it easy to connect to VyprVPN with a single click or tap. Protect your Internet connection while at home or on the go!

Our approach is unique in the VPN industry – we own, engineer and manage our VPN servers so we can deliver the fastest VPN speeds in the world. We didn’t invent VPN, we optimized VyprVPN for modern broadband connections. Other VPN providers use 3rd party companies to host their VPN servers. We don’t. We are the only company who handles your data so your privacy and security are protected from end-to-end.

GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS – May 2, 2013 – Golden Frog, a global software and Internet application development company, announced today that it has added a new VyprVPN server cluster in Luxembourg. VyprVPN is a personal VPN (Virtual Private Network) service used to encrypt Internet connections, protect online privacy, prevent monitoring of online communications and provide access to restricted websites to preserve an open and free Internet. The Luxembourg VPN server cluster is now available to all of Golden Frog’s VyprVPN customers.

“Our approach is unique in the VPN industry. We own and operate the global infrastructure that powers our VyprVPN service so we can deliver increased performance, reliability and security,” said Philip Molter, Golden Frog’s Chief Technology Officer. “And because we don’t rely on third parties we are able to protect the privacy of our customers from end-to-end.”

VyprVPN users now have unlimited access to the following server locations:

Asia – Hong Kong
Canada – Toronto
Denmark – Copenhagen New!
France – Paris
Germany – Frankfurt
Luxembourg New!
Netherlands – Amsterdam
Russia – Moscow New!
Sweden – Stockholm New!
Switzerland – Zurich New!
U.S. – Austin, TX
U.S. – Los Angeles, CA
U.S. – Washington, D.C.
U.K. – London
We added a new VyprVPN server cluster in Luxembourg!

Our approach is unique in the VPN industry – we own, engineer and manage our VPN servers so we can deliver fast and reliable connections. Other VPN providers use 3rd party companies to host their VPN servers. We don’t. We are the only company who handles your data so your privacy and security are protected from end-to-end.

We also have VyprVPN Desktop and Mobile apps to make it easy to protect your Internet connection with a single click or tap.

The Luxembourg VPN server cluster is available for all VyprVPN protocols, including PPTP, L2TP/IPsec and OpenVPN.

If you use VyprVPN Desktop, the new Luxembourg VPN server cluster is automatically available when choosing your server location. To choose the Luxembourg server cluster with VyprVPN Mobile, simply log out of your app and log back in.

If you have manually set up VyprVPN on your operating system, you can update your VyprVPN hostname to: lu1.vpn.goldenfrog.com

You now have unlimited access to the following server locations:

Asia – Hong Kong
Canada – Toronto
Denmark – Copenhagen
Europe – Luxembourg New!
France – Paris
Germany – Frankfurt
Moscow – Russia New!
Netherlands – Amsterdam
Sweden – Stockholm New!
Switzerland – Zurich New!
U.K. – London
U.S. – Austin
U.S. – Los Angeles
U.S. – Washington, D.C.

We recently added a Russian VPN server, a Swiss VPN server, a Sweden VPN server and a Denmark VPN server. And we will continue to add additional VPN server clusters throughout 2013 – so stay tuned!

CISPA (Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act) was passed by the US House of Representatives last Thursday 288 to 217. It now sits in front the Senate despite a myriad of privacy concerns. President Obama has been vocal about the lack of protection offered to US citizens. The big questions are whether or not CISPA can actually make it through US Senate and how citizens can protect themselves if it does.
What Are the Most Important Privacy Concerns for US Citizens?

Most of the opposition to CISPA centers on information being turned over to the federal government. Under CISPA, online companies gain the ability to provide emails, usernames, passwords, browsing history, and other data to the federal government without incurring liability. Additionally, ISPs gain the ability to turn over information about browsing habits of individual IP addresses. CISPA will supersede all of the user agreements signed by users, including Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
What is the Likelihood CISPA is Passed in the Senate?

It is difficult to predict the future of CISPA. The original version passed by the House of Representatives in 2012 was swiftly abandoned in the Senate at the hands of a filibuster. The growing support from the House is the important difference this second time around. Following an $84 million lobbying effort from major bill sponsors, the number of Democrats supporting the bill increased from 40 to 92. The major sponsors of this effort include Verizon Wireless, Time Warner and Viacom. If this trend is mirrored in the Senate, the chance of CISPA passing increases significantly.

President Obama has consistently stated he will veto CISPA if it is passed in the Senate. If he follows through, then all of the concern about CISPA can perhaps be laid to rest.
What Proactive Steps Can Citizens Take to Protect Themselves?

The core privacy issue boils down to the open sharing of user data. If CISPA becomes law, there are several proactive steps users can take to minimize the invasion of privacy. The easiest step is using a VPN. Not only does a VPN encrypt data so ISPs cannot see what users are doing, but it also alters the IP address websites associated with that particular user. Implementing additional Internet security and privacy best practices such as using a different username and password for each online profile can help as well. All best practices are designed to both protect privacy and mitigate risk by ensuring the exposure of individual user profiles does not endanger all of the others.

If CISPA would become law, there is no way to accurately predict the implications because the wording is vague. It can potentially undercut every tenet of online privacy that has been built over the past decade by giving the federal government authority to access every piece of digital information without a warrant or just cause.

Golden Frog was founded to keep the Internet open and free while respecting user privacy and security. In 2009, we launched VyprVPN Personal VPN to encrypt Internet connections, protect online privacy, prevent monitoring of online communications and provide access to restricted websites to preserve an open and free Internet. VyprVPN supports all devices and has servers in Asia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, the U.S. and other locations around the world.

GRAND CAYMAN, CAYMAN ISLANDS – April 23, 2013 – Golden Frog, a global software and Internet application development company, announced today that it has added a new VyprVPN server cluster in Moscow, Russia. VyprVPN is a personal VPN (Virtual Private Network) service used to encrypt Internet connections, protect online privacy, prevent monitoring of online communications and provide access to restricted websites to preserve an open and free Internet. The Russian VPN server cluster is now available to all of Golden Frog’s VyprVPN customers.

“We have customers in more than 200 countries around the world that rely on our products to help them maintain a secure and private Internet experience,” said Sunday Yokubaitis, President of Golden Frog. “By launching more VyprVPN server locations we are preserving an open and free Internet experience for our users.”

VyprVPN users now have unlimited access to the following server locations:

Asia – Hong Kong
Canada – Toronto
Denmark – Copenhagen New!
France – Paris
Germany – Frankfurt
Netherlands – Amsterdam
Russia – Moscow New!
Sweden – Stockholm New!
Switzerland – Zurich New!
U.K. – London
U.S. – Austin
U.S. – Los Angeles
U.S. – Washington, D.C.