We’ve just launched the Official HMA! Pro VPN iOS app!

We’re very excited to announce the launch of the new Hide My Ass! Pro VPN iOS App.
The dedicated HMA! Pro VPN iOS app provides the best VPN experience for your iPhone or iPad. Giving you quick and easy access to one of the largest server networks available – securing and encrypting the internet connection on your iPhone or iPad has never been so easy.

1. Free to download
2. Easily create and install VPN profiles for iOS devices
3. Government-level encryption on 460+ servers in 60+ countries
4. Super-fast connection speeds
5. Multi-protocol support
6. Unblock all streaming websites

All HMA! subscribers can now download the free app from the app store today and login using their HMA! username and password.

‘Critical’ Facebook flaw left user images vulnerable to deletion by hackers

Indian researcher Arul Kumar has uncovered a security flaw that allowed hackers to delete any image from any Facebook user’s profile, without the user’s knowledge or consent.
The flaw has been classed as ‘critical’ and worked by exploiting the Facebook Support Dashboard, which is used to send Photo Removal requests to the company. These reports are usually either seen by Facebook’s employees or sent directly to the image’s owner with an automatically generated link to remove the photo. Once clicked by the user, the target image is then deleted.

The new bug has revealed that while sending these images, two parameters were left open and vulnerable. If a hacker modified Photo_id and Owners Profile_id, they were able to bypass any user interaction and simply have the removal link sent to their own personal inbox instead.

The owner profile IDs can be found through a simple search with Facebook Graph, and each image contains the fbid value which can found in a Facebook URL. Once the photo’s ID had been pinned down, two Facebook user accounts could then be inserted in order to receive the link needed to remove the image, with one person acting as a sender and the other as a receiver.
Kumar has warned that any photo could be taken from any page or user, including shared and tagged images, photos from groups and pages and images from suggested posts. The researcher has since been awarded a $12,500 bounty through Facebook’s Bug Bounty program and the company says that the error has since been fixed.

If you’re concerned about the security of your personal data then a VPN service can offer you added peace of mind when surfing the web. A VPN gives your computer an extra layer of protection while you’re using the internet, helping to ensure that the information stored on your device remains securely defended against any external forces attempting to access it.

Microsoft and Google press U.S. government for right to release more data on surveillance

Google and Microsoft might be rivals when it comes to most things, but the two companies have recently joined forces in pressuring the U.S. government to give companies the right to publish information requests made by the secret services. Putting their differences aside, Google and Microsoft are pursuing legal action petitioning the government to permit them to release statistics regarding secret surveillance demands against customers using their services.

The Obama administration has already confirmed that it will begin the release of a limited amount of statistics, notably the total number of security requests that have been issued for customer data over the past 12 months. It’s also been confirmed that this data will be released annually for the foreseeable future, but Google and Microsoft say that this isn’t enough. The two companies are looking for the right to release far more detailed statistics. The U.S. government faced the companies in a federal court in June, but has already asked for six extensions in just two months. Google and Microsoft insist that they simply won’t agree to any more delays.

Microsoft’s general counsel Brad Smith wrote on the company blog, ‘We both remain concerned with the Government’s continued unwillingness to permit us to publish sufficient data relating to Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) orders...we believe it is vital to publish information that clearly shows the number of national security demands for user content, such as the text of an email. We believe it’s possible to publish these figures in a manner that avoids putting security at risk.'

Google’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond took the same stance as Smith in a letter to the attorney general and FBI. ‘We… ask you to help make it possible for Google to publish in our Transparency Report aggregate numbers of national security requests, including FISA disclosures—in terms of both the number we receive and their scope.’

With these two giants of the internet teaming up for the sake of information disclosure rights, it looks like the U.S. government has a serious fight on its hands.

If you’re concerned about the security of your personal information, a VPN service can help. A VPN provides your computer with additional defences while you’re surfing the web, to ensure your data stays safe and private.

18 new servers and 1873 IP addresses to the Hide My Ass! VPN Network

We’ve added 8 servers, 782 IP addresses and 2 NEW countries to the Hide My Ass! VPN Network

1. France, Strasbourg (LOC1 S2) (128 IPs)
2. France, Strasbourg (LOC1 S1) (128 IPs)
3. Italy, Pordenone, Porcia (LOC1 S2) (60 IPs)
4. Denmark, Copenhagen (LOC1 S2) (126 IPs)
5. Jordan, Amman (LOC1 S2) (60 IPs)
6. USA, New York, Virtual UK (LOC1 S2) (127 IPs)
7. USA, New York, Virtual UK (LOC1 S1) (127 IPs)
8. Saudi Arabia, Riyadh (LOC1 S2) (31 IPs)
9. Norway, Oslo (LOC1 S5) (127 IPs)
10. Norway, Oslo (LOC1 S4) (126 IPs)
11. USA, New York, Virtual Canada (LOC1 S2) (127 IPs)
12. USA, New York, Virtual Canada (LOC1 S1) (127 IPs)
13. Latvia, Riga (LOC1 S2) (59 IPs)
14. Republic of Singapore, Virtual Malaysia (LOC1 S2) (65 IPs)
15. Republic of Singapore, Virtual Malaysia (LOC1 S1) (65 IPs)
16. Republic of Singapore, Virtual Indonesia (65 IPs)
17. Netherlands, Dronten (LOC1 S2) (127 IPs)
18. Ireland, Dublin (LOC1 S2) (127 IPs)

You may have spotted that we have three new ‘virtual locations’. ‘Virtual locations’ are great for getting faster connections through our VPN service. See our knowledgebase for further details.

Android phones account for 79% of malware, study finds Americans willingly open malicious emails and the New York Times and Twitter are hit by the SEA

Android phones account for 79% of malware
The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have reported that 79 percent of malicious attacks on mobile phones in 2012 occurred on devices that were running Google’s Android operating system. The mobile operating system is the world’s most popular, but authorities have blamed the high number of attacks on the system’s ‘market share and open-source architecture’. Nokia’s Symbian operating system had the second highest number of attacks, while Apple’s system has had only 0.7 percent. The news comes in the wake of security firm Symantec’s discovery of a ‘master key’ bug for Android devices which is already being widely exploited in China.

Americans willingly open malicious emails
A study conducted by TNS Global has found that 30 percent of Americans surveyed would open an email even if they knew that it was suspicious or contained a virus. A further one in eleven admitted to infecting their computer with a virus as a result of opening a malicious email attachment. According to statistics from the Anti-Phishing Working Group, more than 74,000 unique phishing campaigns were uncovered during their reporting period which targeted more than 1,100 brands. The fact that so many Americans would knowingly open a malicious email is even more alarming when you consider that anyone who’s willing to open these emails at home is also likely to be willing to open them at the office, putting corporations at risk.

New York Times and Twitter hit by Syrian hackers
The New York Times’ website and Twitter are both still experiencing problems in the wake of a hack carried out at the beginning of this week by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA). The hacking group have also recently claimed responsibility for attacks on companies including the BBC and the Financial Times. The SEA gained access to the two websites by editing their Domain Name System information, which resulted in the domains redirecting visitors to websites hosted by the SEA. Hosting company Melbourne IT has said that the hackers managed to enter through the ‘front door’ and added that they were looking at implementing ‘additional layers of security’ in order to protecting the details of their domains.

China hit by ‘biggest ever’ cyber-attack

China has been hit by its biggest ever cyber-attack, causing multiple websites with a ‘.cn’ domain name to be taken offline for several hours.
The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack began at 2am local time on Sunday before becoming more severe at around 4am. Information about the attack was published on the China Internet Network Information Centre’s (CNNIC) website, along with an apology to any affected users. CNNIC has also promised to ‘enhance the service capabilities’ of the network that is responsible for the affected domains.

The CNNIC has said that they can’t yet be certain about the groups responsible for the attack, but the DDoS method is commonly used by many hacktivists worldwide. It works by flooding websites with excess traffic to disrupt their normal operation.

While DDoS and other hacking attacks aren’t particularly new to China, the country is frequently the focus for accusations of hacking from other nations, particularly the USA. A recent investigation by The New York Times alleged that Chinese hackers had repeatedly targeted their systems over a four-month period – an accusation that the Chinese foreign ministry described as ‘groundless’.

The ease with which the sites seem to have been disrupted has surprised some independent onlookers, with Matthew Aid, an independent analyst, commenting that, 'If all internet sites ending in .cn can be taken down by nothing more sophisticated than a conventional denial-of-service attack, the Chinese internet system is more vulnerable than we previously believed. Clearly Chinese cyber defences are not what they should be.' It's certainly an interesting revelation given how many of America's accusations rely on the extreme sophistication of Chinese governmental hacking capabilities.

Using the internet comes with an inherent risk of attacks, but there are methods individuals can use to help defend the data stored on their personal devices, like a VPN service. A VPN gives your computer an extra layer of security when online, helping to ensure that any malicious external forces are prevented from intercepting information.

Concerns raised by activists over DHS facial recognition technology plans

The USA’s Department of Homeland Security has been warned by civil rights activists that unless it develops a clear ethical framework to cover its facial recognition technology, there will be little to prevent a repeat of the National Security Agency's widespread privacy violations.
The intention is for the video surveillance technology to become capable of picking out fugitives or suspected terrorists from a crowd of people, but privacy advocates are warning the government that the technology will need to come with a civil rights protection clause in order to avoid following in the NSA's footsteps.

The technology works by combining computers, video cameras and facial recognition software to allow it to scan crowds of people and differentiate between individuals, although recent tests have established that the system, known as BOSS or Biometric Optical Surveillance System, is a long way from perfection. A recent test by the Department of Homeland Security found that the system was too slow and unreliable, estimating that several years of additional work would be required before an official release.

For privacy advocates, that makes this the ideal time to act in order to ensure that legislation stays up to date with the technology. Their main concern at present is that the technology thus far lacks a function to keep the public safe and protect their privacy. Very little is known about the technology that BOSS would use, and it’s feared that the database, theoretically there to store images of people on a ‘watch-list,’ could in fact include almost anyone.

Julia Horwitz of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre, which received documents informing them about BOSS, has stated that, 'we didn't see any mention of privacy protection at all,' and confirmed that there were no details given regarding what would warrant an individual's inclusion on the database. As yet another example of the law failing to keep up with technology, it's clear that vigilance is required to ensure we're not faced with another 'Prism'-style scandal.
At least in your own home you can still keep your technology safe by investing in a VPN service to help secure your internet connection. A VPN works as an additional layer of defence that provides a barrier between the private data on your computer and any external users trying to access it.

UK considers ban on ‘key fob’ mobiles, Groklaw news site shuts down over US surveillance, and high speed, in-flight wi-fi is expected by 2014

UK considers banning ‘key fob’ mobile phones
The UK is considering placing a ban on the sale of small mobile phones that have been designed to look like car key fobs. The phones are sometimes marketed as the ‘world’s smallest mobiles’ and feature logos from companies such as BMW, Audi and Volkswagen. The Times has reported fears that the products have been advertised with prisoners in mind, allowing inmates to get around the ‘no mobiles in prison’ rule. The UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says that it had reason to believe that the phones were being made without the permission of its members. Although the devices are still currently available on eBay and Amazon, the National Trading Standards Board has asked retailers to stop selling them.

Groklaw news site abandoned due to US surveillance
Groklaw founder Pamela Jones has announced that the award-winning legal news site is to close, citing her inability to guarantee contributors’ privacy. The site was launched 10 years ago and is known for its coverage of technology law, including privacy disputes and software patents. The news comes after secure email provider Lavabit also announced its closure, referring to an ongoing legal dispute, presumably with the US government, in its closing message. The owner of Lavabit supposedly spoke to Jones and warned her of the privacy dangers when it comes to using email. After concluding that Groklaw would be unable to run without email, Jones decided she felt too uncomfortable with the possibility of constant surveillance and shut down the site.

High speed, in-flight wi-fi expected by 2014
It’s thought that in-flight wi-fi fast enough to stream services such as Netflix could be available on airlines by 2014. The communications regulator Ofcom is currently considering licensing a new satellite that would deliver connections to aircraft, ships and trains at speeds ten times faster than those currently available. Certain communications operators are already planning to launch networks that support the higher speed Earth Stations on Mobile Platforms (ESOMPS) in just a few months. The Federal Communications Commission has already legalised the use of ESOMPS in the US.

HMA! Pro VPN Windows Client 2.8.1.10 Announcement

We’re very excited to announce the latest release of HMA! Pro VPN 2.8.1.10 (for Windows) and to get it into the hands of our users. This is our latest major release and will be available as an automatic update to all our users in the next coming weeks. You can also install this update straightaway if you prefer not to wait, by downloading the latest version from your VPN control panel.

In a nutshell, we have made stability a top priority across all our windows platforms. We have made significant improvements in fixing Windows 8 bugs, so users switching over to Microsoft’s latest operating system will have smoother ride using Hide My Ass!.

We’ve also reworked our load balancing messages, so that users are never left disconnected from our VPN when the client is trying to find the best server to connect to.
We have made many small tweaks to the user interface. Some of our favourites are:

• The client will automatically save what is typed into the ‘username’ and ‘password’ fields. There is no longer an additional step of clicking ‘connect’ to save your login details.
• If you like to test the same servers when doing a speed test, the client will now remember your choice from before, saving you time of having to tick the same servers every time.
• The ‘IP address change’ needed a better on/off switch, so we have now included a checkbox to quickly enable or disable the ip address change feature.

You can see the complete list of improvements and fixes found in this release in our forum here.

Please reach out with any thoughts or questions. We look forward to continuing development and making Hide My Ass! the best it can be.

We have not forgotten about our customers using Macs and we are now underway with new software for OSX. We’ll let you know here first as soon as it is ready.

Google claims that UK privacy laws don’t apply to them as they’re faced with a landmark legal case

Internet search giant Google is using an unusual defence against claims that it illegally tracked internet activity, arguing that the British laws they are alleged to have broken do not apply to them.
The UK-based claimants say that Google bypassed a privacy setting on their iPhones and Apple Mac computers in order to illegally track their activity on the internet and are currently trying to bring a landmark group legal case against the company.

Apple’s default privacy settings mean that websites are blocked from installing things like cookies that let companies like Google track the user’s internet usage and target adverts towards them personally. It’s alleged that Google wrote software that was specifically designed to work around these settings without notifying the users beforehand.

Google maintains that it didn’t use these cookies to harvest personal information, but the Federal Trade Commission has already imposed a record $22.5 million fine on them. The company is now battling hard to have the case dismissed from UK courts in order to have it heard abroad, asserting that it is not subject to British laws because its consumer service, Google Inc., is based in Silicon Valley, California.

The claim has sparked outrage among many campaigners as it comes on the heels of the news that Google had failed to pay a significant amount of tax in the UK, prompting some to claim that the company operate in the country only when it suits them.

Google’s attempt to have their case heard elsewhere will be considered in October, but given the fact that the offences were committed under a ‘.co.uk’ web address - and that the firm is currently constructing headquarters worth $1 billion in the UK - it’s not looking promising for the search giant.
If you’re worried about the safety of the personal information you have on your computer, then a VPN service can offer you some extra piece of mind. A VPN provides your computer with an extra level of security when you’re surfing the internet so that your personal data stays private.

Syrian Electronic Army’s latest hack affects the Washington Post, CNN and Time magazine’s websites

The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) seem to be everywhere at the moment and their latest hacking conquest has affected the websites of the Washington Post, CNN and Time magazine, placing links on the site redirecting readers to the SEA’s website for a short period of time.

The redirection was due to a security breach at Outbrain, a company that provides link recommendations for all three sites. A spokesperson for the group said that their staff had been fooled by a spoof email that claimed to be from the company’s chief executive. Outbrain immediately took their service down once they realised what had happened, and then took a further seven hours to ensure that everything was fixed and working correctly before they relaunched their site.

For the Washington Post, this attack marks the SEA’s second targeted attempt at the paper in the space of a week. The publication’s managing editor Emilio Garcia-Ruiz claimed that, ‘A few days ago, the Syrian Electronic Army, allegedly, subjected Post newsroom employees to a sophisticated phishing attack to gain password information.’ At present, however, all three affected websites believe that nothing else was altered on their pages other than the content of the links.

Chester Wisniewski, senior security advisor at Sophos, condemned the attack and warned that it was the same kind of technique used by hackers attempting to get malware out into the web. He claimed that, ‘In this case it may only be sending you to the Syrian Electronic Army's website but it could also be used to install viruses or copy cookies to try and later impersonate a visitor.’

Douglas McCabe, an industry consultant from Enders Analysis, warned that the attack was symptomatic of a wider challenge facing the media: ‘"It is a reminder that while digital news organisations have lower distribution costs, those of technology and security are greater. The technology sophistication required to protect sites is continuously growing. The commercial and editorial implications of down periods during major news events are clearly far-reaching.’

If you’re worried about the security of your personal computer, then using a VPN service can give you extra peace of mind. A VPN acts as a barrier between hackers and your personal data when you’re surfing the web, which means that your private information should stay safe.

Hacker exploits child monitoring camera, cybercriminals using mobile ad networks to siphon money and Google increases the rewards for its bug bounty program

Hacker shouts abuse at child through monitoring camera
A hacker has exploited a vulnerability in a camera marketed as an ideal ‘baby monitor’ in order to shout abuse at a two-year-old child in Texas. The baby’s parents heard a voice coming from the camera as it directed offensive and sexualised language at their young child who was asleep in bed. The camera is manufactured by Foscam, who have recently released an emergency fix for vulnerabilities like this, although it’s not clear whether the parents had applied the emergency updates. The child’s parents have described the fact that their daughter is deaf as ‘something of a blessing’ under the circumstances.

Malware using mobile advert networks to steal money
Cybercriminals from Asia are reportedly using mobile ad networks to steal money from their victims. App developers normally assess the ad networks that they choose to partner with before entering into any agreements, but those that don’t leave themselves open to malicious ad networks. These networks can run their own software in otherwise legitimate apps, and download malware to the user’s smartphone. This malware then sends text messages to premium rate numbers and downloads instructions from a command and control server, effectively siphoning off the user’s money. Android users are advised to only download apps through Google Play, which runs its own scans for these kinds of scams.

Google increases bug bounty programme rewards
Google has announced that it has paid out nearly $2m to security researchers who have uncovered bugs for the company. To celebrate the success of the reward scheme, Google is now set to increase the amount of money on offer to anyone who first alerts them to bugs in future. In some instances this could mean an increase of up to five times the previous reward. Providing a patch along with the bug report will still earn researchers a bonus, and bonuses will continue to be awarded for the discovery of bugs in critical pieces of open source software.

15 days till the end of the HMA Summer Sale!

We’re halfway through August, which now means there is only 15 days left of our summer sale. Don’t leave it too late, grab a discounted HMA! VPN Pro subscription today.

With our 12 month plan receiving the largest discount (save over 56%!), it has therefore been our most popular plan amongst our users. When you order a 12 month plan you will continue receiving the 56% summer sale discount on your renewals for as long as you’re with us.

How to watch Canadian TV in the US with a Canadian IP Address?

Hulu might be an efficient solution to enjoy the American TV programming streaming online, but some might also miss the Canadian TV channels. Actually Canadian expats must be faced with the geo-restriction issue.
This blocking system is operated on content sites, even for Hulu or Netflix. When this kind of website put some content on the internet, it had pay broadcasting rights for each chosen country. Because it’s quite expensive for such companies, they don’t allow every user to access to their contents.
In this case, the sites thus implement a blocking system. It analyzes your IP, that contains your precise location. If it turns out that your don’t live in the granted area, the contents will be blocked.
As other content sites, the Canadian TV sites are concerned with this issue. For example the CBC site implemented this kind of restriction:

How to watch Canadian TV in the US?

As you browse from America, your IP is American. To bypass the restriction you must change your IP and appear as a Canadian.
The VPN is an user-friendly application that provides new IPs. When you use a VPN, you see a list of available servers. If you connect to one of them, you will get a new IP, according to the server location.
Thus to bypass the restriction choose a VPN offer with Canadian servers.

Best providers to unblock Canadian TV in the US

Name of the Provider	Website Address
Hide My Ass	Visit Provider
Strong VPN	Visit Provider
Switch VPN	Visit Provider
Pure VPN	Visit Provider
IPVanish VPN	Visit Provider
Hotspot Shield Elite	Visit Provider

Bottom line

The VPN is an unmissable tool for the expats, it allows to bypass the geo-restriction wherever you are. Aside from unblocking the Canadian TV, you can benefit from a free access to the French, German or British TV.
Furthermore the VPN encrypts your data which prevents you from any kind of security breach on your computer, your mobile phone, your tablet…

How to watch french tv online on the iPad?

Are you a French citizen working abroad or living abroad? Would you like to learn French, or just enjoy what has to offer French television on your Apple iPad 1 / iPad 2 or iPad 3?
Luckily, most of French Tv Channel offers an iPad application that will allow you to stream online French Tv.
However, you have to know that you need to get a French Ip Address in order to be able to stream their program. Those iPad programs will indeed detect where you are connected from and disable your ability to view the program if you are localized outside of France.
We then advice you to get a Vpn (you can see the list of the top rated vpn on the right column of the website). This will allow you to connect from a French ip and stream efficiently the programs.

Which iPad application allows you to stream French TV?

We advice you the below iPad Application:
Watch Tv (many channel from 31 countries)

BFM TV HD (economical news and global information 24/24)

France 24 (news 24/24)

TF1 (first French Channel)

France Television (France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5, France Outre Mer)

M6 and M6 Replay (direct program of M6 and access to the archive of the channel)

Now that you get all the useful application to watch french tv on your new ipad, we advice you to read our vpn review to pick up the most suitable for you.

Watch French TV Abroad with Hidemyass VPN

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How to watch ABC iView, News 24 & other Aussie TV services overseas

Want to watch ABC News 24 online when you're travelling overseas -- or just enjot some of your favourite TV shows using online 'catch-up' channels like the ABC's iView and programmes from the commercial channels?

It's not as easy as you'd hope: the TV networks block their online video channels to Internet users from outside Australia.

Fortunately, there's an easy workaround for these restrictions. It's a clever bit of technology called a 'Virtual Private Network' or VPN, which disguises your location to make it appear that your notebook, tablet or even your smartphone is still in Australia.
Just follow the steps outlined in this article (we've covered how to do it for both Mac and Windows).

What is a VPN, and how does it work?

VPN stands for "virtual private network" and it works by creating an encrypted link between your computer and a server somewhere else. It's somewhat similar to the technology used by banks to secure online banking websites between your browser and the bank's computers.
The technology was originally invented to allow businesspeople to connect in to their company network from remote locations safely, encrypting company info as it was transmitted across the internet so nobody else could tap into the connection and harvest it.

However, VPNs have a wonderful side-effect that can help travellers craving a hit of Australian TV while they are overseas: the location of your computer, when connected to a VPN, is disguised. If you are in the USA and connect to a VPN server in Australia, your computer will appear to be located in Australia.

This defeats the 'geoblocking' that the TV networks' websites use to stop people accessing the videos outside Australia.

The VPN service that Australian Business Traveller journos use is Witopia. It's very affordable, starting from US$40 per year with an unconditional 30 day money back guarantee; has 24 hour live-chat tech support; and you can make your computer appear to be in Sydney, many cities in the US, many cities in the UK and Europe, and several cities in Asia.
That means you can also use Witopia while you're in Australia to watch online video from overseas which is usually available only to viewers in that country, ranging from news and sports to regular catch-up services.

Note: Australian Business Traveller is not affiliated or partnered with Witopia — we're just recommending a service we know to be reliable and easy to set up.

How to watch Australian TV overseas with your Windows laptop

Got a Mac? Skip down to our Mac tutorial.

Step 1: sign up at the Witopia website

Go to the Witopia website and choose a plan. Note, Australian Business Traveller is not affiliated or partnered with Witopia — we're just recommending a service we know to be reliable and easy to set up.
If you are not travelling to Belize, Canada, China, Morocco, Guyana, Italy, Oman or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) you can get away with buying the US$39.99/yr PersonalVPN PPTP service.
However, if you are visiting Belize, Canada, China, Morocco, Guyana, Italy, Oman or the United Arab Emirates (UAE), you need to get a more secure service which is less easily blocked by the governments and ISPs of those countries — the  personal VPN SSL service.
Note: if you want to be able to watch Australian TV on your iPad or iPhone, you'll have to subscribe to either the plain PPTP service, or the SSL/PPTP combination service a year. This is because the Apple's iOS supports PPTP VPNs automatically, but not SSL VPNs.
Choose the service appropriate to you and proceed with the sign-up. For this tutorial, we selected the personal VPN SSL service, as it's the most secure and hardest to block type for use on a PC or Mac. Our instructions below are specific to the SSL account type and will not work for the PPTP one.

Step 2 - Download the Witopia software
You should receive an email in your inbox that looks like this. Click the link we've highlighted in red to go to the Witopia page that activates your service and lets you download the software installer.

This page of instructions should appear. You could follow Witopia's instructions from here on, however we've continued our tutorial below so you don't have to change over to a different set of instructions (also, ours is tailored specifically to the issue of watching Australian TV while you're overseas!)

Click the activation link, and you'll be taken to this page, where you'll be asked to put in the order number and your email address. It's important to put "ORD" in all caps before the number, and your email address in lower case.
If you copy and paste the details from the email Witopia sent you, also make sure there are no spaces before or after the information, as that may cause the login to fail.
For example:
ORD123456789
example@email.com.au

The next screen allows you to activate the service.

On the next screen, click continue to start the process of making the Witopia software. This software has your account details baked into it, so don't share it with anyone else. The benefit of this all-in-one approach is you don't have to do any tricky configuration yourself (which is common with most other VPN providers.)

Once that's done, a link will appear on screen that allows you to download the installer.

Step 3 - install the Witopia software
When the file has finished downloading in your browser, locate the personalVPN_Installer.exe file in your downloads folder, and open it.
If a message like the below appears saying you need the Java runtime environment 1.4.0, download and install Java from this website, then re-run the personalVPN_Installer.exe file.

Follow the installer steps as shown below.

After installation, there is one more important step you have to do manually if you are running Windows 7 or Windows Vista. Right-click on the personalVPN desktop icon and select properties, then click the compatibility tab and tick the box "Run as Administrator". Click OK. This allows the software to run correctly; Windows will otherwise block it.

Step 4 - run the Witopia software and connect to the VPN

You can now run the Witopia app by clicking the personalVPN icon that has been installed on your desktop. A small icon should appear in your taskbar in the lower right-hand corner of the screen with two red squares in it.

To watch Australian TV while you are overseas, you need to connect to an Australian VPN server. Right click on the personalVPN icon and select the "au sydney" menu option, then "connect" from the pop-out menu.

Once you've selected the Australian server, you should notice that the personalVPN icon in the taskbar goes green to indicate that it is connected.

You should now be able to access any of the Australian TV websites to watch full episodes online, and live ABC News 24 streaming video.
See our huge A-Z list of full episode Australian TV shows to watch online and which websites to watch them on.

When you're finished watching TV, you can disconnect from the Sydney VPN server by right-clicking on the personalVPN icon again, selecting "au - sydney" again, then "disconnect" from the pop-out menu.

How to watch Australian TV overseas with your Mac

Step 1: sign up at the Witopia website

Go to the Witopia website and choose a plan. Note, Australian Business Traveller is not affiliated or partnered with Witopia — we're just recommending a service we know to be reliable and easy to set up.
If you are not travelling to Belize, Canada, China, Morocco, Guyana, Italy, Oman or the United Arab Emirates (UAE) you can get away with buying the PersonalVPN PPTP service.
However, if you are visiting Belize, Canada, China, Morocco, Guyana, Italy, Oman or the United Arab Emirates (UAE), you need to get a more secure service which is less easily blocked by the governments and ISPs of those countries — the personalVPN SSL service.
Note: if you want to be able to watch Australian TV on your iPad or iPhone/iPod Touch, you'll have to subscribe to either the plain PPTP service, or the SSL/PPTP combination service  a year. This is because the Apple's iOS supports PPTP VPNs automatically, but not SSL VPNs.
Choose the service appropriate to you and proceed with the sign-up. For this tutorial, we selected the  personalVPN SSL service, as it's the most secure and hardest to block type for use on a PC or Mac. Our instructions below are specific to the SSL account type and will not work for the PPTP one.

Step 2: Download the Witopia software

You should receive an email in your inbox that looks like this. Click the link we've highlighted in red to go to the Witopia page that activates your service and lets you download the software installer.

This page of instructions should appear. If you like, you can follow Witopia's instructions from here on, but we've continued the tutorial below for the sake of completeness.

Click the activation link, and you'll be taken to the below page, where you'll be asked to put in the order number and your email address. It's important to put "ORD" in all caps before the number, and your email address in lower case.
If you copy and paste the details from the email Witopia sent you, also make sure there are no spaces before or after the information, as that may cause the login to fail.
For example:
ORD123456789
dan@ausbt.com.au

The following screen allows you to activate the service.

On the next screen, click continue to start the process of making the Witopia software. This software has your account details baked into it, so don't share it with anyone else. The benefit of this all-in-one approach is you don't have to do any tricky configuration yourself (which is common with most other VPN providers.)

Once that's done, a link will appear on screen that allows you to download the installer.

Step 3 - install the Witopia software

When the file has finished downloading in your browser, locate the PersonalVPN.dmg file in your downloads folder, and open it. Drag the Viscosity.app file over to the app folder shortcut on the right hand side of the window to install it on your Mac.

Step 4 - run the Witopia software and connect to the VPN

Viscosity is the program that connects you to the Witopia VPN. Open your app folder and run Viscosity. It will ask if you want to automatically check for updates (untick the box, as the version you have downloaded from Witopia is the newest one they've tested and approved.)

The Viscosity icon appears in your menu bar as a small globe icon.
To watch Australian TV while you are overseas, you need to connect to an Australian VPN server. Click the globe and select the "connect - au sydney" menu option.

Once you've selected the Australian server, you should notice that the small padlock icon next to it goes orange, then green to indicate that it is connected.
You should now be able to access any of the Australian TV websites to watch full episodes online, and live ABC News 24 streaming video — from anywhere in the world.

Where to find Australian TV shows to watch online

See our full A-Z list of full episodes of Australian TV shows to watch online and which websites to watch them on.
Once you're finished watching TV, you can disconnect the VPN — simply click on the globe icon in the menu bar again, and click the "disconnect au - sydney" item.

There's no need to quit Viscosity — it doesn't do anything while you are disconnected from the VPN, but it's handy to have it available in case you do need to connect while travelling.