HideMyAss VPN

Sunday, February 1, 2015

HMA! TIP: HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE HMA! PRO VPN IOS APP FOR IPAD, IPHONE AND ITOUCH

Did you know that you can download the HMA! Pro VPN app directly onto your iPhone, iPad, or iTouch from the Apple App Store? You can get the app from here, or you can visit the App Store and search for “HMA!”
Once you have an HMA! Pro VPN account, simply login with your account details, or you can register for a new account and pay directly from within the app.
Getting started
Apple does not allow us to create an app which controls your VPN connection fully – instead our app allows you to correctly setup the VPN settings. You will need to activate it yourself in the “Settings” tab on your device.

To use the app you will need an active HMA! Pro VPN account and an internet connection.
If you already have an HMA! Pro VPN account, just enter your username and password into the “Existing Member” fields, then tap “Login.” If you have forgotten your password, tap the “Forgot Password” button.

If you don’t have an account yet, you can register for one by entering a username, password and your email address into the “New Member” fields, and then tap “Register.”
Please note that you need to place an order for an HMA! Pro VPN account before you can start using the VPN. To do this, click on the arrow on the box marked “Status” which will allow you to place an order using your Apple ID.
Once you are logged in to your account within the app, you will see an overview of your account; this displays your username, the remaining days of your subscription and the type of subscription you have.
In the “VPN Profile” area, you need to select a VPN server location and a VPN protocol (L2TP is default). It’s a good idea to select a server located nearby to get the best speeds.

When both have been selected, tap on “Install Profile.” The app will now download your personal VPN profile for the location you selected and will show you a confirmation window. Here, you need to tap on the “Install” button and confirm the next pop-up by tapping on “Install Now”. The profile will be installed and you can close the window by tapping “Done.”
Note: The passcode that you need to provide (the four digit code) is your iPad/iPhone passcode with which you protect your data. (You’re asked for this code every time you wake or turn on your device before you can access it.)
You can connect to the VPN after having installed a VPN profile by opening the settings menu on your home screen. Tap on “General”, then on “VPN.”

You’re now in the VPN menu and can connect to the VPN by simply moving the slider at the top. The VPN connection will be established within a few seconds and will show you the status and connection duration. Your connection to the VPN server will be confirmed at all times by the small VPN icon displayed in the corner of your screen.
To disconnect from the VPN just simply tap the slider to “Off” as shown in the screenshot below.

If you want to use a different VPN server, just launch the HMA! Pro VPN app again and repeat the process. To change your account settings, billing management, server lists,
and for help and support, please login to your VPN control panel
You will find detailed instructions in our Frequently Asked Questions section on our Help Center if you need assistance with the following:
How can I improve speed or connection quality?
How can I connect via OpenVPN protocol?
Which protocol to select?
How to select a particular server?
How can I improve speed or connection quality?
I need to modify my account settings
For alternative connection methods on iOS devices, please see our getting started article: iOS – Index & Getting started
If you have any questions you can always contact one of our support donkeys by dropping us an email or via LiveChat

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HMA! PRO VPN SERVER UPDATE: 11 NEW COUNTRIES ADDED

We have another HMA! Pro VPN server update adding 11 NEW countries, 14 servers and 2,125 IP addresses to the Hide My Ass! VPN Network.  Yep, we don’t waste any time! Here are the details:
Mexico, Sinaloa, Mazatlan (256 IPs) (New location)
Japan, Okinawa, Onna (256 IPs) (New location)
Hong Kong, Shatin (Loc 1 Server 4) (122 IPs)
Pakistan, Karachi (252 IPs) (New country)
Pitcairn Islands, Adamstown (124 IPs) (New country)
Saint Helena, Tristan Da Cunha (124 IPs) (New country)
Grenada, Saint George (124 IPs) (New country)
Antigua and Barbuda, Saint John’s (124 IPs) (New country)
Cook Islands, Avarua (124 IPs) (New country)
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Basseterre (124 IPs) (New country)
Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint-Pierre (124 IPs) (New country)
Faroe Islands, Torshavn (124 IPs) (New country)
Saint Lucia, Gros Islet (124 IPs) (New country)
British Virgin Islands, Tortola (123 IPs) (New country)
At Hide My Ass! we are thrilled to be able to offer our customers access to 768 servers in 151 countries, with over 101,000 IP addresses!  Plus – we’re working hard to addEVEN MORE VPN servers to our network, so if there’s a country or a location that you would like to see a VPN server in, please let us know by commenting on our blog or you can always drop us an email!
Visit our main site for more information on our VPN server network.

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HMA! TIP: DD-WRT ROUTER USING PPTP

In this tutorial we show you how to set up your DD-WRT router using the PPTP protocol. Using PPTP, as well as L2TP (which we will cover next week), is a lot easier to setup than using OpenVPN, and is generally faster than using L2TP.
If you have any issues with speed, or experience connection problems, we recommend that you try using all 3 protocols (PPTP, L2TP, and OpenVPN.)
To set up your DD-WRT router using the PPTP protocol, you will need a router with the latest DD-WRT firmware installed. If you’re not sure if your router supports the DD-WRT firmware, then please check their  router database or supported devices list.  The firmware used in this tutorial is “v24-sp2 (08/07/10) std” with a D-LINK DIR 600.
NOTE: If you need any help, please read this article DD-WRT troubleshooting carefully and completely, as it covers most issues and solutions.
Right, so let’s begin. Here are the instructions for the DD-WRT firmware:
1. Navigate to the DD-WRT Control Panel (usually http://192.168.1.1/ – default username “root”, password “admin”)
2. Setup
3. Basic Setup
4. WAN Setup
5. Connection type: PPTP
6. Use DHCP: Yes
7. Gateway (PPTP Server): Enter any of the server IPs that you can find by logging into the VPN Control Panel and clicking on “Software & Help“. Then click on “View” next to “Manually set-up VPN – No software
8. User Name: Your VPN account username
9. Password: Enter your PPTP password. Find this in the VPN Control Panel and click on “Software & Help“. Then click on “View” next to “Manually set-up VPN – No software
10. Connection Strategy: Keep Alive: Redial Period – It’s your choice how many seconds you choose. We recommend a minimum of 30 seconds.
11. PPTP Encryption: Enable
12. Disable Packet Reordering: Enable
13. Additional PPTP Options: mppe required, stateless
14. STP: Disable
15. Leave everything else as it is
16. Save and Apply

It should look like this when finished:
PPTP setup with DHCP turned off


PPTP setup with DHCP turned on
NEED HELP?
If you need further help with configuring your DD-WRT router, please take a look at the following pages: 

DD-WRT:

If you have any questions, or need assistance with setting up your DD-WRT using the PPTP protocol, please feel free to drop us an email.
Check out our website for more information on HMA! Pro VPN and also ourHMA! Help Center for more how-to’s and tips!

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HIDEMYASS! EXPERIMENT: 7-YEAR OLD GIRL HACKS PUBLIC WI-FI IN LESS THAN 11 MINUTES

A 7-year old was able to hack into a public Wi-Fi hotspot and access a stranger’s laptop in less than 11 minutes.  
Alerting the public to the risks of using unsecured public Wi-Fi is something we at Hide My Ass! are really concerned about, so much so, that we ran a recent experiment to demonstrate how easy it is to hack into a public Wi-Fi hotspot, and what better way than setting the challenge to a 7- year old?
We set the challenge to IT-savvy primary school student Betsy Davies from Dulwich in South London, who was able to hack into a public Wi-Fi hotspot after she searched and watched a video tutorial online which explained how to hack a network. It took 7-year old Betsy just 10 minutes and 54 seconds to hack into a Wi-Fi hotspot. She then set up a Rogue Access Point which is often used by cybercriminals to trigger a ‘man in the middle’ attack allowing her to ‘sniff’ traffic.
Stay safe when using public Wi-Fi hotspots
The most secure way to protect your data from being hacked when using a public Wi-Fi hotspot is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).  A VPN encrypts all the data you send over the internet, sending it through a private VPN tunnel, meaning that if there is anyone waiting to steal your information, all they will see is a lot of mumbo jumbo. When you use a VPN, you are given a new personal IP (Internet Protocol) address and your data is encrypted, so when you use public Wi-Fi, every task you perform appears as if it is coming from the VPN.
Coverage
We’re delighted that our campaign to warn the public about the dangers of using public Wi-Fi hotspots has made the rounds in so many different publications, highlighting the fact that if a 7- year old is able to hack into public Wi-Fi, then anyone can!
Here are some of our favourites – where, of course, you can find out more information including how to stay safe on Wi-Fi networks and a Wi-Fi hacker’s glossary.
Check out our great Wi-Fi safety tips to learn more.
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CAR HACKING ON THE RISE! HOW TO PREVENT CAR HACKING

Car hacking is on the rise, with thousands of cars being stolen in London, UK alone. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent your car being hacked.
In a recent crime report The Metropolitan Police reported around 21,000 cars were stolen in London and another 68,000 were broken into – that’s an incredible 89,000 cars stolen and broken into in one year. And more than half of these break-ins and thefts were down to car hacking – meaning that criminals were able to break in and steal cars without using physical force. What’s also frightening is the speed with which they were able to make off with a car – in under 10 seconds!
Car hackers can easily hack into a car’s security system and then program a blank key, and start the engine without the need of a physical key, according to The Sunday Times. You can find out more about how thieves can break into your car at The Sunday Times Driving.
The London Evening Standard reported recently that car hacking is so prevalent in some areas of London that criminals are turning their attention to luxury cars such as BMW’s and Range Rovers. So much so, that police in the affluent borough of Kensington and Chelsea began to stop any driver of a luxury car after midnight, to verify that they are indeed the rightful owner.
What is car hacking?
Many luxury cars are fitted with a wireless network or Bluetooth which car hackers exploit to access a car’s internal computer. What may come as a surprise to some is that in a modern day car, according to Mr Corman, a spokesman for grassroots group I Am The Cavalry (IATC), told the BBC that up to 200 Electronic Control Units (ECU’s) are embedded in a vehicle. These mini computers perform  important functions including the braking system, acceleration, and the airbag.
These mini computers communicate with one another, passing on information such as monitoring the journey a car takes, keeping a record and storing the data in the computers memory system. Data from the airbag, for example, can indicate that a collision is imminent, this information is sent to the main computer, and the airbag is  deployed.
Edmund King, president of the AA, told The Times “You are now getting cars that are connected to the internet 24 hours a day. If cybercriminals targeted automobiles like they’re targeting other things we’d be in for a hard and fast ride.” He added, “the more cars rely on technology, particularly remote technology, the more there is to get at.”
Our need to stay connected, whether by phone, laptop or car, brings a smile to many a criminals face. As technological capabilities expand, so do the abilities of car hackers,  and criminals – it’s a serious cat-and-mouse game. A spokesperson for BMW speaking to the Daily Mail said “It’s a technology race between ourselves and the criminal gangs.”
And if that’s not bad enough, car hackers and criminals could also be able to listen in on our conversations, by switching on car microphones, according to Jacques Louw of MWR security.
But, what can you do to prevent your car from being hacked? Norton and the London Metropolitan Police have a number of recommendations.
5 steps to prevent your car being hacked
  • Remember crook locks? Well, the Metropolitan London police recommend using this simple security measure to secure your car
  • Use car tracking devices
  • Keep your car in a secure place, for example, a garage or a safe area under CCTV surveillance
  • Only trust reputable car dealers and repair stores – you certainly don’t want unscrupulous garages meddling with your car’s computer systems
  • Don’t be afraid to ask the car dealer about the car’s wireless systems. Ask them whether the systems can be operated remotely
For more ways to prevent your car from being hacked check the Norton website and more information can be found by visiting the London Metropolitan police website.
And don’t forget that you can easily bolster the security on your PC, MAC, Android or iPhone with HMA! Pro VPN – the best VPN provider on the market. Check out our website for more information on HMA! Pro VPN and also check out our great tips on Wi-Fi safety!

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Hide My Ass
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