Totally! Mullvad is _the_ pioneer in this space, and we look up to them. This is why they were our top pick for being an exit hop provider!
What would you like them to do? Considering that AIUI they outright don't log or monitor users at all, I can't think of anything they could do with your reports.
The issue is that VPN providers have zero motivation to do this, because a non-zero percentage of their user base is literally paying them BECAUSE they can use the service to attack other servers with a level of anonymity. If the VPN providers were to combat this issue it would negatively impact their revenue.
In other words, to break the fundamental premise of their product and identify traffic to a user.
> I think there would be a better way using AI to analyze abuse patterns, and automatically flag bad users which match these patterns.
Not without, again, creating an entire system which exists only to record traffic and tie it back to users.
Basically, both of your suggestions amount to "stop providing the product that is their entire business model", because the whole point is that they go out of their way to avoid having the information that you want them to use.
they can't have AI detection or any other thing to help you. Simply put they can't help you. If they have to , then they aren't that private.
And they are in the business of privacy.
I wonder why threat actors are abusing your website ? I think you have also used cloudflare anti DDOS ? so the problem isn't DDOS , then what exactly is the problem ? are they signing up and abusing your free service or something like that ?
And with the recent Debacle of Snooper's Law apple e2ee backdoor.
Let me tell you something. A company is asked for a backdoor and they are forced to not tell anybody about it.
The only reason why it was leaked was because of whistleblower. And so , who knows if they have already signed such thing with the NSA or UK already but for their mac's and other devices
I do not believe there is such thing as privacy from such organizations. If they want you bad enough, they will get you. Don't have a reason? They'll make one.
Do you remember the "Heartbleed" exploit in SSL many years ago? There were allegations that the NSA knew about and used that exploit for many years before the public ever knew about. However, that is not exactly an easy statement to confirm nor deny.
Edit: I also wanted to add something I remember from a talk I saw with a person who once worked for the NSA. He was intentionally only talking about surface-level concepts, but he did mention that the one thing the NSA has, that most do not, is unlimited time and patience.
He said something along the lines of how they can just sit and watch a server, for example. Say that the server is on version 1.0.0 of whatever. Well, the NSA can find an exploit in version 1.1.0 and keep it under wraps. All they have to do is just wait. The second the server is upgraded to 1.1.0, then boom, they're in.
He also used the example of BYOD ("bring your own device") in workplace settings. Say they cannot can entry into somewhere. Well, if they can compromise someone's personal device, then they can just wait. The second the personal device connects to the network they want/is in close enough proximity to the network they want, then boom, they're in.
Be it one second, one hour, ... 10 years, etc.. They can wait. All it takes is one brief instance of a hole in the defense.
Truly some boogeyman level stuff, but I just hope they use their powers for good when possible. Though, I imagine plenty of other countries also have similar "arms race" abilities, which does complicate matters.
Some days, I just want to get a cabin in the woods, and get away from all this dystopian technology.
While I was writing this message , I was roaming out side in the street , my street isn't developed, so there is a lot of empty space 2 sides of my house.
I saw a peacock flying & sitting in front of my house. It was so majestic. It's wings when they fly , the sound they produce is such majestic that it touches your mind.
The solution isn't a cabin in the woods , the solution is living in such remote area like I live , seriously I am not that far away from the main town , but still this place is so nice I just realized but development would come , and houses would get built. Then there would be no more peacocks flying in.
I really get what you are feeling. But I believe that getting away from dystopian technology is far more easier by degoogling with grapheneos or getting a dumb phone like me & linux with sandboxing each applications ,I do think that we can get far away , like they would need to find a bug in such things like qemu , pledge , flatpak etc. though I think they might already have found a bug in some version and like you said, are waiting.
The only solution I can find is to read the source code of these sandboxing applications on linux and to never update it / it should be such that doesn't require updates , a completely minimal sandboxing solution.
How can we imagine they use their powers for good , when the president has handed things over to oligarchy who want maximum profits. What benefit do they get from using their power for good ? None. I am sure that they are using the power of both good and evil.
and carrying CSAM is a serious offense and you will get into jail for it. and the jail prisoners aren't kind to CSAM convicted prisoners and they would bully them immensely , maybe even cause them to suicide or just make their life hell.
I have friend/old-coworker that left my current employer for our state's version of the FBI. While no worker in his agency handled CSAM cases full-time, they all have to do rotations.
There is a lot he could not tell me about the work he did, and how they managed the detain suspects. But I do remember him telling me that he witnessed things that he thought were not even possible. Considering we were both developers, I take his word for it.
Anyway, I once asked him, "What is stopping you all from beaming CSAM on a person's computer, and then targeting that individual?" He paused for a second and said, "Well, we would never do that..." I asked again, "Sure, but what is stopping you all from doing that?" He said, "Well, nothing... but we wouldn't do that..."
Right then, my heart had this sinking feeling. While he is probably right, it did instill a sense of "Well, you never know..." in me. Do I believe most people convicted of CSAM are guilty? Absolutely. Everyone? Perhaps not. Still, good luck convincing a tech illiterate jury of your peers that "the government did it to me!" As far as I am concerned, once charged with such crimes, one is guilty until proven innocent.
I have always believed that if 'they' want you bad enough, then they will get you. By 'they', I mean any of the powers that be -- government, organized criminals, etc..
Goosebumps on my f'ing face.
And I was thinking this on 5 eyes level but you are saying a single country can do that?
When I had discovered that conspiracy theory which I now believe is true to some degree.
I then used to think, what if they want you to believe that you hold a chance. They don't want you to know they can get you as you are saying it. They want to give you the illusion of freedom. They will target their opposition , journalists with this if all goes south. There are also secret courts.
May I ask , if they can always get you why don't they use this in making their opposition go poof. If I am being extra conspiracist now , is it that they want you to give the freedom b/w 2 systems both of which don't change things really that much. Both political parties are kind of the same thing
but dude what the actual fuck.
They can use csam to break general encryption by saying it's bad for children etc, they can use csam to punish those they want.
I am now seriously wondering if I even have real tangible choice in the government.
I am now wondering if I am literally living in 1984. What if these wars and shit are just a distraction , yes they happen but...
Dude I have come to a realisation, I am seriously living in 1984. Reward is given to those who comply , those who aren't skeptics , skeptics are brushed off as conspiracist.
But yes the use case for a VPN is pretty narrow. E.g. not wanting your ISP to mess with your traffic and decreasing chances of detection of torrenting