Hola unblocker is a giant botnet. (Basically selling your connection to fund the software running costs)

PillowDefender on 29/05/2015 - 00:04

Hey all. I've seen a lot of people recommend hola unblocker to gain access to other countries online stores to buy items & also to get bigger libraries on steaming sites. This is probably not a good idea according to this
http://8ch.net/hola.html

In layman terms is that someone could have been using your internet for nefarious purposes (copyright infringement, illegal goods/services) and you would be responsible.

The best way to fix it is to completely uninstall the extension and program, or that's what I would recommend if you are using it.

Internet

Related Stores

hola.org
hola.org

Comments

  • shadowarrior on 29/05/2015 - 00:54
    -2

    Yeah and then there are those chemtrails. They deliberately turn on the chemtrails when flying over cities. I think it's a way the world leaders use to keep us subdued to their will. Make us their puppets. We should boycott flying till they remove the chemtrail buttons from the aeroplanes!

    • IVI on 30/05/2015 - 05:59

      "When things or services are "Free" that cost to create of maintain, there's usually a story-behind-their-offer… not always nice" :IVI

      "Popular Chrome extension Hola sold users' bandwidth for botnets"

      HOLA also has versions for Android [& maybe iOS & OS X ]

      HOLA users be[a]ware.

      • IVI on 30/05/2015 - 06:07

        "No matter HOW MUCH THEY CHARGE,
        You NEVER KNOW if they do this"

        Just keep an eye on your bandwidth,
        with -any- VPN or similar services.

  • cheesecactus on 29/05/2015 - 01:01
    +1

    'Hola generates revenue by selling a commercial version of the Hola VPN service to businesses (through our Luminati brand)' - Holas website

    Well, good thing i use an actual vpn and not hola anymore.

    • PillowDefender on 29/05/2015 - 01:22

      From what I was reading they only changed the T&Cs since this has all come out. Pretty shady if you ask me.
      Oh well, just a warning. Pay the $3 a month for a VPN or DNS without all this.

      I just wanted to make people aware.

      • cheesecactus on 29/05/2015 - 21:16

        or split a vpn like purevpn with some mates, boom $10 for 2 years of an excellent vpn

  • [Deactivated] on 29/05/2015 - 03:42
    +4

    In layman terms is that someone could have been using your internet for nefarious purposes (copyright infringement, illegal goods/services) and you would be responsible.

    Hola has always been a peer-to-peer service, they've never covered that up.

    The service has been explained in numerous articles, eg Say Hola! to the newest route around web censorship, The Conversation, 12 Feb 2013

    … The Hola! client software makes bypassing these blocks trivial. When a user wants to visit a blocked site, the Hola! client takes that request, encrypts it and sends it to another computer with Hola! installed.

    That second computer works as a proxy by then decrypting the request and then accessing the relevant service. The resulting content is again encrypted by the second computer and forwarded to the original user.

    Paying customers can use the service (and are not used as peers), Hola FAQ, archived 3 Mar 2014

    About Hola Premium:
    … You are never used as a peer

    And concerns about the service, eg PSA: If you're uncomfortable running a Tor exit node (acting as an ISP for users around the world), you shouldn't install Hola Unblocker, Reddit, 12 Dec 2013

    … The core issue I want to bring up is that the full application (and maybe the extension) operates as an exit node on the public Internet: something most people are very reluctant to do when it comes to other proxy services, such as Tor. By making your connection available to anyone online you're incurring risk, and Hola Unblocker doesn't tell you about this. It's entirely feasible that someone will use your connection not for Netflix, but for content that's illegal in your country.

    Hola is a peer-to-peer service. It's not a giant botnet. It's great to make people aware of how it works and what the issues are, but misinformation isn't helpful.

    • PillowDefender on 29/05/2015 - 08:17

      I'm not going to get into an arguing on here, I just wanted to make people aware of the dangers of this extension.

      I disagree about you saying it isn't a botnet however. The site calls itself peer to peer, however one user bought up a ton of bandwidth from from holas sister company, and used it to attack message board 8chan. That my friend is a botnet.

      This is going to be all in the news today, even now if you do a quick google websites are already starting to post about it. All the info will be on those sites will explain it way better then I can.

      I wouldn't use the extension and I advise other people to do the same on oz bargains, it's as simple as that.

    • IVI on 30/05/2015 - 06:16

      If you weren't aware of any -specific- actions/usages by others, ie, via your Internet link, I don't get how you could be held responsible for it.

      To be sure, IANAL. But I seem to recall that:

      • To be guilty of an offence, one must INTEND to commit it.

      If I have NO IDEA about any specific event(s) happening over my service (eg, via a VPN)), I don't see how I can be held liable for it/them.

      And even if one pays Hola (or any other VPN service),
      Who KNOWS if they don't -still- sometimes use your
      service, eg, at peak times, in ways you're not aware of?

      "The Defense rests, your Honor." :Perry Mason ;-)

  • scotty on 29/05/2015 - 10:00
    +1

    Some interesting discussions on Hacker News.

    Comparing to Tor, you need to opt-in as an exit node, whereas for Hola it's the other way around. You need to pay for the premium service to opt out, and that's a big difference. Many Hola users installed it thinking they can now get pass geo-blocked sites without understanding the P2P aspect of it, and their computer / IP address can potentially be used to perform illegal activities.

    It's probably wrong to define Hola as botnet because users have agreed with the terms of use of being an exit node thus not "without owner's consent". However with Luminati Hola actually resells your IP address and network connectivity & bandwidth (at $20/GB!!!) I think the users need to know about it.

    • IVI on 30/05/2015 - 06:19

      $20/GB…? Why, that's even WORSE (mostly) than our mobile data providers
      (Read: Telstra, Optus, etc.)…!!! :-0

  • Randxyz123 on 29/05/2015 - 12:20

    Wow I am actually quite cross about this. It was recommended by Adam Tuner in The Age /SMH about 2 years ago, back then I didn't really understand properly how P2P worked. I bet 98% of the readers didn't either. I just thought it redirected through a proxy for you so you wouldn't need to do it yourself.

    After studying how P2P works this semester at Uni I am un-installing it immediately.

    • IVI on 30/05/2015 - 06:23

      So, what's your Plan B VPN?

      And… why is a person like you (who [then] would be going off to Uni) taking the word of a newspaper writer?!?

      There's a network of geeks, et al. - StackOverflow? - who offer answers (Free) that could be more reliable than hack-writers.

      • Randxyz123 on 30/05/2015 - 11:01

        Ok EDIT:
        it was actually explained in the article how P2P works in the article at that time (2013) I didn't have a very good understanding on how P2P worked. I had also just started Uni and I think I came across the article by accident while browsing The Age.

        Having studied more in depth about how these services work it is not something I'd do again. Besides the free version never really worked for me.

  • peteru on 29/05/2015 - 14:49

    Look at the positive side of this. If you get a letter from Dallas Buyers Club, you can pass it onto Hola and tell the Dallas lawyers you had no idea.

  • InfraRed on 01/06/2015 - 20:11

    Anyone know what's the best way to buy NBA League Pass now? I'm assuming proxy, but does anyone know where to get the 'best' free proxies for african/south american/south asian countries?

    • chilliconcarne on 24/07/2015 - 15:25

      Yes also curious what the best way to buy league pass will be?
      Most people used hola last year

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