VPNs and Your Managed Attribution: Nsight Series
One of the reasons that people flock to VPNs, or virtual private networks, is to appear “anonymous” to their ISP. However, as we have already discussed with our managed attribution paper, online anonymity is a myth. Instead, users need to manage their digital fingerprint and behavioral footprint to operate online without giving away their identities.
This naturally leads to the question: Do VPNs give users enough control over their data in order to manage their attribution? The case of Wall Street Market, a dark web market, and the arrest of its three administrators suggests that VPNs fail to provide this level of identity oversight. While VPNs provide some security through processes like network traffic encryption and proxy routing, they are missing key components required for complete online identity management.
Our newest Nsight paper, Not Too Big to Fail: Managed Attribution, VPNs, and a Dark Web Market, examines how the administrators’ use of commercially available VPNs contributed to their arrest. Check out this excerpt below:
They obviously let their guard down after a surge in popularity. This was the consensus on Reddit—“the front page of the internet”—after authorities seized the dark web marketplace Wall Street Market in April 2019. Observers attributed the market’s seizure and the arrest of its three administrators to “a lack of basic OpSec [sic] from the hidden service operators.”
The Nsight paper also explores how proper managed attribution practices can provide users with enough control over their own data for them to be able to practice effective operational security online. Read the entire paper in order to gain valuable insight into your managed attribution operations, including exactly why VPNs cannot guarantee online privacy.
