Vpn Vs China firewall + privacy

Rock.87
Rock.87 ✭✭✭

the vpn is working normal on my pc but my country has purchased countrywide firewall from china, so the bitdefender vpn is unable to connect ( used every protocol )
bitdefender vpn was the primary need of buying bitdefender total security. what to do ?
bitdefender vpn shows that the user is connected with the vpn service in location test results which can expose the user for deep packet inspection for ,govs and they can halt the traffic for restricted sites. vpn service should not show it's presence openly like that.

Answers

  • Hello @Rock.87,

    It's unclear to me why the VPN is not connecting in the scenario you have described, but I can think of some possible reasons. It could be that firewall implementing advanced techniques to block VPN traffic. Countrywide firewalls, especially those with technology from China, use DPI to inspect the data packets being transmitted. This technology allows the firewall to identify and block traffic that matches patterns associated with VPN protocols, even if the traffic is encrypted. Firewalls can maintain lists of known VPN servers and block any attempts to connect to these servers. If the Bitdefender VPN servers are on this list, any attempt to connect will be blocked.

    Some countries apply restrictive VPN usage regulations, China included, so I would not expect a firewall designed there to be "VPN friendly'. 🙂 My point is, in some locations a VPN is not welcome and you can find out more here:

    https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/8249/

    Referring to the screenshot, if you mean that the connection IP is known as a VPN service and that it should be a secret, I don't think that it is necessarily a secret to use a VPN and certain sites may have mechanisms by which they can detect its presence and even block it.

    But I'm waiting for other opinions on this as well.

    Regards,

    Alex

    Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user

  • Rock.87
    Rock.87 ✭✭✭

    Hi , how are you, thx for the kind response.
    1- why it's necessary to conceal vpn's presence in web traffic.
    The answer is that the user needs to avail the discounts which are not available in his country, if the vpn connection is shown it's quite possible for websites to block it. it should be concealed .
    2- we can't use friend's/cousin's ( located in other country ) visa card by changing our location via bitdefender vpn due to exposed web traffic AS VPN.
    3- governments & website should not be able to track that your user is using a vpn cuz knowing that ll let them block the specific web traffic & the benefits of vpn ll die. few vpn e.g. nord etc are built in a genuine way & let know govs detect their vpn connections even via DPI.
    in short there is no use to purchase a vpn if geo locations are still blocked & vpn traffic can easily be identified by govs and websites , cuz vpn is not only introduced & advertised as anti hacking software, Geo restriction and foren purchases are always mentioned as it's primary benefits.

  • Hi, I'm fine, thanks for asking. 👍️ Hope you are well too, sorry to hear you've been having those issues.

    Well, I can't think of ways to conceal a VPN server from the top of my head.. I mean, picture this: anyone can take a Bitdefender VPN kit, or any VPN kit for that matter, and try to connect to different countries, write down all the IPs and add them to a public list of VPN servers. Also, if the user is a little bit more advanced, they can take the saved list of sdk IPs and have them all at once, just like that.

    I think the benefits of using a VPN are not entirely obsolete even if its usage can be detected. It will still encrypt your internet traffic, which means that even if someone knows you’re using a VPN, they won’t be able to easily see the content of your communications or what websites you are visiting. Since the data is encrypted, it will be protected from potential hackers. That's one benefit that stays in place. Furthermore, it masks your real IP address, making it harder for websites and advertisers to track your physical location and online activities, even if they detect the use of a VPN.

    For the record, the privacy benefits of a VPN are only as strong as the trustworthiness of the VPN provider. If the provider keeps logs or cooperates with authorities, the anonymity can be compromised. As it can be seen here, the Bitdefender VPN exercises a strict no-logs traffic policy:

    https://www.bitdefender.com/company/VPN-Audit-Pango-2023.html?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D64436296555341248601181974522677312498%7CMCORGID%3D0E920C0F53DA9E9B0A490D45%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1695889499

    Regards

    Premium Security & Bitdefender Endpoint Security Tools user

  • Rock.87
    Rock.87 ✭✭✭

    Hi !

    i do not find any answer related to my previous query.
    you only described few basic benefits of a vpn which were not mandatory.
    there might be some confusion.
    All i need to ask is that '' some governments want to keep an eye on their citizen's online activities, e.g. govs. don't want to let the journalists to upload/comment against their illegal or anti human policies , or they want to ban social sites '' in this case the govs use china firewalls , and keep an eyes on the internet traffic , if someone is using vpn through regular protocols e.g. open vpn etc, govs perform a deep packet inspection which leads to the arrest or blockage of that vpn user.
    if whatismyiplocation.com type common websites can find the fact about bitdefender vpn's users that they are using a vpn server , how that kind of curious govs can be avoided then ? how journalists ll work? how restricted sites like youtube or whatever can be accessed ?
    vpn should ve all the features what it announces. it's traffic should be shown as a normal traffic so govs ll not perform dpi test on it, but in bitdefender case common websites do know that i am using a vpn & even dpi is performed the traffic should not reveal anything about the user.
    in my country there is no freedom of speech , thousands of people including journalists ve been arrested/killed just for telling a truth on social media which is against basic human rights and are the subject of bitdefender's announced privacy ans security as well.
    if bitdefender vpn ll not be able to conceal the user's privacy by showing user's internet traffic as normal ( not secured by a vpn ) or by defending it's data from such so called anti human gov's surveillance then it's announcements about blocking geo restrictions & anonymity are fake , cuz if use of vpn is EXPOSED through such firewalls ( as it's not hidden to the common websites too ) govs ll block the websites the user is trying to access. i hope this time you ll be able to understand my question.
    2- bitdefender vpn is unable to provide it's full features ( e.g. kill switch ) unless until it is configured to choose the vpn protocol automatically ( check screenshot ) which never shows that which protocol has been applied for the current vpn connection. it should provide kill switch or all other features for all of it's protocols and should reveal the info about that or it should only provide a single protocol to which it connects auto.
    why all of the bitdefender protocols ( which are extremely reliable due to being an open source protocol ) except hydra ( which is not an open source and ve privacy concerns ) are not supported by your full vpn features.