IP address obfuscation

[Ewan]

This is interesting, to me at least, and paranoia is tapping on my shoulder asking if I have been re-routed, piggy-backed, whatever. You will see I am not at all technically competent in this area.

I use a company called IPVanish and am currently connected according to -

IPVanish - 81.171.53.2 Copenhagen, Denmark

WhatIsMyIP - 81.171.53.7

ISP: Eweka Internet Services B.V.
Services: Suspected Network Sharing Device
City: Brynmawr
Region: Wales
Country: United Kingdom

IPVanish also states my visible location, (which I take to mean, anyone like WhatIsMyIP will see via check), as - 172.88.133.252 Copenhagen, Denmark

But that last address is not in Denmark-

IP: 172.88.133.252
Decimal: 2891482620
Hostname: cpe-172-88-133-252.socal.res.rr.com
ASN: 20001
ISP: Time Warner Cable
Organization: Time Warner Cable
Services: None detected
Type: Broadband
Assignment: Static IP

Continent: North America
Country: United States us flag
State/Region: California
City: Palmdale

If I disconnect IPVanish it shows my visible location (IP address unchanged 172.88.133.252) as Palmdale, Florida

Closing IPVanish completely down and refreshing WhatIsMyIp again -

Your IPv4 Address Is: 46.208.153.109

Your IP Details:
ISP: PlusNet Technologies Ltd
City: Rowlands Gill
Region: Gateshead
Country: United Kingdom

That is what it should be.

So, connecting through IPVanish has become a permanent connection to Time Warner, Palmdale, California irrespective of which server I ask IPVanish to connect to. I noticed this yesterday for the first time. The visible location field of IPVanish always resolved to the address of the server I had selected previous to that.

IPVanish also eludes all my attempts to do a screen capture, so short of getting out a camera and transferring files via USB I'm unable to demonstrate this visually.

It is probably just a problem with the IPVanish software but the last time I contacted them about a technical problem they managed to avoid answering my direct questions, restated numerous times, with a bunch of trained responses that were of zero help.

I'll find a new IP obfuscator when this current payment cycle reaches an end, but I was just curious if anyone might have some input?

[The Freedom Train]

I have basically no expertise in this area whatsoever, but my intuitive feeling is that whatever this service is that you are paying for is also just as easily hacked and rerouted as not. If anything, perhaps it warrants more attention by virtue of the fact that you are seeking out and paying for that service - which deems you potentially some kind of threat or at least a party of interest in the eyes of TPTB. It's like waving a flag hey look over here!

I always felt annoyed by antivirus software for that reason. I would spend hours running those damned things years ago and still I could tell that my computer was compromised. I began to suspect that the program itself was a virus of some sort, like some kind of backdoor for ill malware. I also decided it was most likely that viruses were created and paid for by the same companies that developed the antivirus software.

It pays these days to know how to read and write code and how to hack. Without these skills, it seems we are left in the dust, at least, technologically speaking.

[happyuk]

I don't know much about IPVanish but from what I have read about Hide My Ass, they are known to cooperate with the authorities (https://torrentfreak.com/not-so-anonymous-vpn-uses-edward-snowden-for-pr-140101/), keeping logs and handing them over without question.

I don't think it's that easy to set up your computer to be private. It's not something a common user is likely to do. One should probably turn off IPv6. Set some non logging DNS servers (not your ISP!) in case the one from the VPN is compromised or fails. Obfuscate your mac address perhaps, but most definitely spoof your O/S and browser version as that is probably a clear identifier for your computer. All this takes a bit of looking at, and I don't think the VPN provider can be expected to provide everything for their users. Many people just want to download stuff without easy identification, or geolocation, of their IP address.

I see one company using Google DNS. That's just not good. Google logs all DNS lookups and they can be gotten by any 3 letter agency. Another thing to look at is how much the VPN company itself logs. Personally, I think they should run entirely in RAM and not log anything. They should also not keep a record of your payment details. I would choose a company which has as many of the specifications as possible and more. Even after looking at all those things, it still comes down to trust. You never know what they really do.

[Chester]

Personally, I would think that by trying to do something like IP masking might actually raise one's exposure to third party scrutiny simply because of the logical conclusion that if someone goes to these lengths, perhaps they have something they feel they need to hide.

Of course, one might think they should try and remain anonymous if they have any social media presence where they then make statements they deem as perceivably negative and dangerous to the "illuminati" or "deep state" et al.

I can understand both concerns.

I, personally, have moved past those concerns because I am a nobody who posts on one forum and otherwise has no other "perhaps perceived offensive" comments made elsewhere and two... if they want go after me and/or shut me down or harm my loved ones or myself... they surely can no matter what I might try and do but even more to the point... knowing the being I have grown to become, if they wish to do that to get to me through threats to loved ones or to directly scare me... God bless 'em, because I am as harmless as one can be and I operate under the assumption they know that.

Clearly this also indicates I have no whistles to blow and no testimony to share.

[TargeT]

You can make your web traffic a bit harder to find via forensic examination, but you cannot completely hide it; ever.

It's just not worth your time, the chances of anyone of us being a person of interest is very very very small & frankly, you (and even I ) do not have the time nor technical ability to hide from the current collection methods (everything that goes over the wire is collected, even your connection initiation to IPvanish, which can be correlated to the traffic from them and tied to you...)

I think this is one of those things that can be safely ignored, you won't stick out from "the crowd" (a crowd of around 4 billion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Internet_usage), by now) and you DO have a finite amount of attention and effort... I do not think this is an area that deserves significant energy... just make sure your mitigating data loss via virus and use this tool like it should be used... and with out fear.

[Ewan]

Thank you for the responses, they have provided me with a much needed fresh perspective.