Microsoft Testing Integrated VPN 'Secure Network' in Edge

Microsoft Edge could soon receive an integrated VPN service called the "Microsoft Edge Secure Network." The VPN (Virtual Private Network) service would work very similar to commercial VPN services, but it could be deeply integrated within the Microsoft Edge browser. From a report: The VPN service will be powered by Cloudflare. The company assures it permanently deletes the diagnostic and support data collected, every 25 hours.

and anything that needs geoip will block you

[Joe_Dragon]

and anything that needs geoip will block you.
Like most pay steaming tv with local only stuff and sports that has blackouts.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re: and anything that needs geoip will block you

[satanicat]

I know. There are lots we can do to protect privacy, finger printing etc. But the user experience is always going to be impacted in some way.

I'm more concerned about who I trust with this sort of role to be honest. Like only an idiot would use a free proxy server listed on some underground forum.

I mean, do we really trust a service that is provided out of the box, for presumably free to some extent, hosted by a company that doesn't allow you to opt out of telemetry entirely in the os you bought from them with real money?

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[Ormy]

I may be off the mark here because I don't use streaming services. Only streaming services that you access through your (edge) browser would be affected. Any streaming service using it's own application and not using the browser would still work fine. Don't most streaming services have their own windows app rather than using the browser? Maybe not, I wouldn't know.

Uh huh...

[erp_consultant]

Looks like you have to be signed into a Microsoft account while you use it. So much for privacy. And you are limited to 1GB of data per month. Think I'll pass.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[postbigbang]

I wonder if I can use my own keys and certs.

Oh, wait...

Re: Uh huh...

[RegistrationIsDumb83]

It's pretty sus how much Microsoft wants people logged in. Between Windows and their various game offerings, they keep pushing harder and harder. I hate it.

Tied to MS account, limit 1GB free / month

[fahrbot-bot]

From Microsoft Edge is getting a built-in VPN powered by Cloudflare [xda-developers.com]:

Microsoft Edge’s Secure Network mode will require you to be signed into your Microsoft account, and that’s because the browser keeps track of how much data you’ve used in this mode. You get 1GB of free data per month, and that’s tied to your Microsoft account.

Why not Azure?

[Catvid-22]

The VPN service will be powered by Cloudflare. The company assures it permanently deletes the diagnostic and support data collected, every 25 hours.

Is this just because of possible anti-trust issues? I'm too lazy to research whose network actually powers Cloudflare (or whether it's in-house), but it seems using Azure would be a good advertisement for Microsoft's cloud services.

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

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[thegarbz]

I'm going to guess that Cloudflare has more endpoints than Azure. You don't need a good highly scalable cloud service for a VPN, you need lots of network cables all over the world.

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[Catvid-22]

I'm going to guess that Cloudflare has more endpoints than Azure. You don't need a good highly scalable cloud service for a VPN, you need lots of network cables all over the world.

Makes sense. In a network, we'd need more cable than storage. Still, I didn't think Cloudflare was that rich or had that many "connections", figuratively or literally.

25 hours data...ha

[usedtobestine]

Until they receive, before the service goes live, an NSL signed by a tame judge, at which point some 3-letter agency will simply get a stream of log data that Cloudflare won't be allowed to tell us about.

With that in mind, they could add a line to their financial reporting statements with a tag of "National Security Letter payments'.

Cloudflare deletes 25 hrs but Microsoft NEVER

[mattaw2001]

I see Cloudflare commits to deleting all VPN data every 25 hours. I bet Edge, which shares unique hardware fingerprints and every keystroke with Microsoft anyway, never deletes a damn thing (techradar [techradar.com]).

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[Canberra1]

VPN testing. I have noticed your last nnn network connections are stored in the registry. I presume other logging entries will log the time of registry updates. Therefore the time you you used a VPN is LOGGED. NordVPN on win7 also does nothing about MS local connection logging in networklist profiles.

Translation

[MachineShedFred]

We're not getting enough data from people, so we're going to make sure we get ALL the data by routing it through our analysis cluster while advertising it as a "privacy" measure.

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[luvirini]

They could if they really wanted to, as it would be easy for them to insert a new root cert in windows systems and then use that to sign certificates to other places, but then that would likely be detected fast so not worth it to them to do it.

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[Ormy]

No, but they can see the origin and destination of said traffic, which is plenty useful (read: profitable when exploited correctly) on its own.

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[MachineShedFred]

Yeah, because nobody has ever gotten useful information out of source / destination or quantity metadata without seeing the encrypted payload before.

Are you new to this?

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[thegarbz]

Nice conspiracy theory, but the reality MS already knows, no need for some VPN for that.

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[thegarbz]

The laws are the same, the ToS applies to MS and MS alone, and you're running their code without ability to audit.
There's zero reason to assume this is any additional data exposure vs what you already have (especially given that we already know they collect things like your entire browsing history and link it to your profile, .... which is after all an advertised feature of their account sync functionality).

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[Ormy]

This. They are basically forcing you to route ALL your browser based traffic through their servers so they can slurp up all that delicious data regarding your browsing habits. No thanks.

An MS VPN?

[nospam007]

Sorry, I prefer a VPN that MS can't get access to.