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Thread: HotSpotVPN Provides Easy, Inexpensive Hotspot Security

  1. #1
    Macht Nicht Aus moxnix's Avatar
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    HotSpotVPN Provides Easy, Inexpensive Hotspot Security

    Now I am hoping that I am reading this wrong.
    ARTICAL HERE
    After signing up at the HotSpotVPN Web site, the service e-mails you a randomly created password that is between 13 and 16 characters in length. The company says it selected that length to prevent successful dictionary attacks.

    After receiving the password, I set up HotSpotVPN by using the Windows XP (news - web sites) wizard for creating a VPN connection, a process that took just a couple of minutes. I created a shortcut to the VPN on the desktop and, after logging on to a hotspot, I simply double-clicked the icon to automatically log on to HotSpotVPN. After that, access to the Internet proceeded normally.
    Are they just selling you a password??
    HotSpotVPN is reasonably priced and supports a wide variety of platforms. It costs $8.88 per month and the vendor says it plans to offer daily subscriptions for roughly a third that amount.
    From their website <http://www.hotspotvpn.com/>, I got this:
    No additional software is needed.

    If you are running Apple MAC OS X, Microsoft Windows XP, 2k, or NT you only need to configure your existing software to use this service. Linux, OpenBSD, FreeBSD and NetBSD users are also supported.
    Am I missing something here, or can I start making money by sending passwords to people over the internet, so they can configure their own VPN?
    \"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Champagne in one hand - strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!\"
    Author Unknown

  2. #2
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    Am I missing something here, or can I start making money by sending passwords to people over the internet, so they can configure their own VPN?
    Some things come to mind:

    1) most general users don't know what a VPN is and barely know how to configure their networking. This does make it easier for them.

    2) basically, besides the password, they are providing the encryption that is often needed for a secure connection in a wireless situation. Not everyone has a company that has a VPN setup (you usually need a start point and finish point with a VPN). It looks like they are making their VPN available for users in a wireless cafe (or other wireless location) that goes: cafe -->HotSpotVPN start ---> HotspotVPN end--> Internet. The point is to protect the connection in a unsecure place (the wireless open areas). Not a bad concept when you think about it.

    3)lastly, this seems targetted towards consumers rather than business (as is pointed out at the end of the article). It would tend to go in hand with point 1.
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