BlackVPN


BlackVPN (stylized as blackVPN) was[1] a VPN service offered by the Hong Kong–based company BlackVPN Limited.[2] BlackVPN featured AES-256 encryption and DNS leak protection. The service offered apps or manual configurations for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and routers.[3] The company also maintained a strict no-logging policy.[4]

History

BlackVPN was founded in 2009.[5]

In March 2019, BlackVPN ran 31 remote servers in 20 locations and 18 countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom and United States.[6]

Threat

In April 2016, blackVPN claimed to have received blackmail from the Armada Collective hacker group.[7] According to blackVPN, the group threatened to perform a DDoS attack against their VPN servers on April 25 if the ransom of 10.08 bitcoins was not paid.[7]

blackVPN also stated that two other VPN service providers had received the same e-mail on April 18 and that VPN service provider AirVPN had suffered a similar threat and attack on May 30.[7] At that time, it was unclear whether the sender of the e-mails simply imitated the group or indeed was Armada Collective.[8]

On April 25, DDoS mitigation provider Cloudflare called out the threats as fake,[9] stating that not a single attack was launched against a threatened organization.[10]

Reception

In March 2016, the Dutch computer magazine Computer!Totaal (C!T) listed blackVPN as one of the nine best VPN services available. However, C!T noted the service's relatively high price and lack of own client as potential downsides.[11]

In July 2017, Engadget author Violet Blue mentioned blackVPN as one of the "names that come up as trusted" in the VPN service industry.[12]

TorrentFreak interviewed blackVPN in their annual comparison of VPN providers from 2011 until blackVPN discontinued.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Mocan, Tim (2022-05-04). "blackVPN Review: Don't Buy Before You Read This! [Full 2022 Report]". SafetyDetectives. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09. blackVPN is a discontinued VPN — but it still accepts money, and you can't get a refund!
  2. ^ "About - blackVPN". Archived from the original on 2017-12-31. BlackVPN Limited is registered in Hong Kong.
  3. ^ "About – blackVPN". www.blackvpn.com. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  4. ^ "BlackVPN Reviews ⋆ TorrentFreak". TorrentFreak. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  5. ^ Sead Fadilpašić (November 18, 2020). "BlackVPN review". Tech Radar. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  6. ^ "server list – blackVPN". Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  7. ^ a b c blackVPN (2016-04-24). "Blackmailed: DDoS Attack Against BlackVPN Could Start On Monday 25th of April". Medium. Archived from the original on 2018-01-01.
  8. ^ Keane, Jonathan (2016-04-25). "A hacker group is threatening VPN providers with DDOS attacks". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on 2018-01-01. It's unclear if the people threatening BlackVPN are the same group or just copycats. As with Anonymous, it's almost impossible to verify when someone claims to be speaking on behalf of the group. A report in December even pointed out how these hacker groups are regularly imitated.
  9. ^ Keane, Jonathan (2016-05-02). "Armada Collective DDoS threats were fake, but still scored thousands of dollars". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on 2016-05-06.
  10. ^ Prince, Matthew (2016-04-25). "Empty DDoS Threats: Meet the Armada Collective". Blog. Cloudflare. Archived from the original on 2018-01-01.
  11. ^ Ossewaarde, Vincent (2016-03-14). "De 9 beste VPN-providers getest". Computer!Totaal (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2018-01-02.
  12. ^ Blue, Violet (2017-07-04). "Good luck finding a safe VPN". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2017-12-30. So if a VPN is recommended somewhere, do a little homework before you fork over your data (and your cash). Names that come up as trusted include Perfect Privacy, Freedome, TorGuard, Tunnelbear, Black VPN and others.
  13. ^ Enigmax (2011-10-07). "Which Are The Best Anonymous VPN Providers?". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2011-10-08.
  14. ^ Enigmax; Ernesto (2013). "Review: Is Your VPN Service Really Anonymous?". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2014-01-06.
  15. ^ Ernesto (2014-03-15). "What Are The Best Anonymous VPN Services?". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2014-03-15.
  16. ^ Ernesto (2015-02-28). "Which VPN Services Take Your Anonymity Seriously? 2015 Edition". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  17. ^ Ernesto (2016-02-20). "Which VPN Services Take Your Anonymity Seriously?". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2015-03-02. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  18. ^ Ernesto (2017-03-04). "Which VPN Services Keep You Anonymous in 2017?". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2017-03-04.