Sunday, August 11, 2013

How to install desktop client on Windows

This howto will help guide you through the installation process of the Desktop Client.

Step 1:
Launch the msi installer for the client and click next:
OpenVPN Client Install
Step 2:
Read and accept the License and click next:
OpenVPN Client Install
Step 3:
Choose the location to install the program files for the Desktop Client and click Next:

OpenVPN Client Install
Step 4:
You are now ready to install the Desktop Client, click Install to proceed:
OpenVPN Client Install
Step 5:
Please wait while the Desktop Client Installs:
OpenVPN Client Install

OpenVPN Client Install

OpenVPN Client Install
Step 6:
You may see a warning asking you to install the Desktop Clients TAP Adapter, check the box that says "Always trust software from "OpenVPN Technologies, Inc." and click Install:
OpenVPN Client Install
Step 7:
The Desktop Client is now installed, click Finish to complete the installation:
OpenVPN Client Install

Friday, August 2, 2013

What is Dynamic DNS?

A dynamic DNS host is a service that provides you with a static hostname (like "user.dyndns.org" or
"user.no-ip.org").
Its main advantage is that you then can connect to the DNS hostname instead of your IP; this makes sense especially since IPs are usually dynamic and change on every reconnection.
This is very useful if you run server software on your computer, like a web- or FTP-server.
Once registered at a dynamic DNS host service, you can either configure your router to automatically update the DNS host with your current IP - or run a client application on your computer that watches for IP changes and tells the DNS service to update the hostname.

Still not sure how this works and what it can be used for? No problem, here some examples:

Example 1: Dynamic DNS on a home computer
You probably have a dynamic IP assigned by your internet provider, which means that it changes on each reconnection. Many ISPs even have a 24h auto-disconnect, so that your IP changes at least every 24 hours. But even if you have a static IP - once you connect to the VPN, your machine is using a different IP, the VPN IP.

So in any situation where you need to access your home computer, you will have the problem that you don't know your computers current IP unless you manually check it at IP-verifying websites like http://geoip.hidemyass.com

That's where dynamic DNS comes in - you can either configure your router to refresh the dynamic DNS hostname regularly with your current IP (if supported by your router), or you simply run a dynamic DNS client application on your computer which does the same job.

Now once you need to access your computer externally, e.g. to stream media to your smartphone or to provide access to your files to colleagues, you won't need to check for your computers current IP - you just connect to it using the dynamic DNS hostname.

Example 2: Dynamic DNS on a server
You have a VPS (virtual private server) or a dedicated server on which you are connecting to the HMA! Pro VPN service.
Your server has a static IP (e.g. 5.199.4.10) through which you are accessing the server itself and server-software running on it.

Now if you connect to the VPN on your server, it will not be accessible through its normal IP anymore and can only be reached through the VPN IP. Since you don't know the VPN IP before you connect to the VPN or you might get logged out from your server once the VPN connection has been established, you might have some trouble accessing your server. That's where dynamic DNS will help: A dynamic DNS client application is running on your server which updates the dynamic DNS hostname you registered (e.g. user.no-ip.org) every few seconds with your servers current IP.
That means as long as your server is not connected to the VPN, the DNS hostname will point to its normal IP (e.g. 5.199.4.10).

Once you connect to the VPN, the client application will refresh the hostname with the VPN IP (e.g. 184.59.49.120) so that it points there. This ensures that you will always be able to connect to your server, independent of what IP it is currently using and accessible through.You can even set a normal domain to point to the dynamic DNS hostname (using a CNAME DNS entry), so that your domain or subdomain always leads to the correct IP.


We recommend to use the No-IP dynamic DNS service, it's free:

Lists of other dynamic DNS host services can be found here:

Why VPS is related to VPN service?

Common problems and solutions with using VPN on a VPS are:

Loosing connection

If you loose connection to your VPS  or can't access it when the connection to our VPN service has been made, this happens because its IP changes and it's not accessible through it's old IP anymore.
You can then only connect to it using the VPN IP. It's recommended to setup a dynamic DNS host, like from no-ip.org or dyndns.org. Then you can connect to the static dyndns hostname (like myvps.no-ip.org) instead of the changing IP.
Necessary steps:
1. Register a Dynamic DNS host @ http://www.no-ip.org
2. Download the No-IP client for your operating system, install and configure it for your DNS host
3. Now the DynDNS-client will automatically refresh your hostname (e.g. myhost.no-ip.org) with your current IP.
4. When connecting now to your VPS, connect to the hostname instead of its IP.

  • For more info about dynamic DNS services, see our article Dynamic DNS

Insufficient privileges

When experiencing problems with installing/connecting to our HMA Pro VPN service from VPS, make sure you have administrator privileges, and installing unsigned drivers is allowed.
Besides using our HMA Pro VPN client for Windows, you can also

- try our alternative client -> http://hidemyass.com/openvpn
- create a manual PPTP connection ( http://newmastervpn.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-create-pptp-connection-on.html / http://vpn.hidemyass.com/vpncontrol/pptp/xp.html )
All available connection methods and instructions for various devices and operating systems can be found through the article Connection Instructions.

Settings on the host machine

For having VPN connections working correctly on virtual machines, there are certain settings required on the host machine.
When having connection problems that can't be fixed, contact your server hosters support to check if all requirements for using VPN have been met.

Summer Vacation Special from HMA!



http://hidemyass.com/vpn/r4662HMA has offered amazing news; for the whole of August as the company is running a ‘Summer Vacation Special’ where all of their VPN packages will be discounted.
During the last holiday sale, 12 month package from HMA aka HideMyAss VPN had received tremendous responses from their users, and it has certainly inspired the marketing team of HMA to go with the Discount offer again for this summer! Being a regular VPN user, this will be a great opportunity, especially those who look for a long term usage of VPN service.               

Duration of summerspecial offer from HMA

This special offer will remain until 31st august. So what are you waiting for? You must check all the suitable VPN packages until the sale finishes! It’s a great opportunity for sure as you can reduce the service charge in a big amount!

Summer VacationSale 2013 of HMA in Details

If you like to order for just 1 month, you can save up to 13% which is huge! If you look for a half yearly offer, you can save 42% which is staggering discount in any point of view. If you look for a yearly offer, you can save 56% from its original price! Detailed information is given below. Have a look! =>

Connect to our VPN service to anonymously encrypt your internet activity from prying eyes. All applications on your computer that utilize your internet connection will become anonymous with just a click of a button; no technical experience is required due to our easy to use VPNsoftware. Enjoy internet freedom and anonymity knowing that your sensitive web traffic is securely hidden behind 53'500+ IP addresses located in 110 locations in 61 countries. 

Thursday, August 1, 2013

How to setup PPTP for Android of HMA!

Android instructions

On this page you will find setup instructions for setting up PPTP on your Android OS.

1. Create a new VPN connection

Press the Home icon, press Menu, and tap Settings. Tap Wireless & networks and then tap VPN settings.

Tap Add VPN.

Select PPTP VPN.

Login to your control panel http://vpn.hidemyass.com and navigate to your PPTP page to find server details. Fill in VPN details such as VPN name, VPN server, etc. Remember your PPTP password is different and shown in your control panel.

2. Connecting to the VPN

Press the Home icon, press Menu, and tap Settings
Tap Wireless & networks
Tap VPN settings (figure 2 above)
The VPN connections you have added are now listed
Tap the VPN you wish to connect to
A dialog box will open asking for your credentials, enter them and touch connect
When connected to a VPN, you will see an ongoing notification in the Status bar on your HTC Desire. If you should get disconnected, you will receive a notification and an option to go back to the VPN settings.

3. Connecting to the VPN

Simply open the notifications panel at the top of the screen on your HTC Desire and click on the VPN notification, then tap disconnect.

How to Setup PPTP for HP TouchPad of HMA!

HP TouchPad instructions

On this page you will find setup instructions for setting up PPTP on your HP TouchPad.

1. Install the "PPTP VPN Plugin"

Navigate to HP App Catalog and search for "PPTP VPN Plugin", then install it.

2. Add VPN Profile

Navigate to HP Launcher and to the "SETTINGS" panel and tap the "VPN" icon

Tap "Add profile"

Select "PPTP" from "CONNECTION TYPE"
Login to http://hidemyass.com/vpn and navigate to your PPTP page to find server details.
Enter a server IP address into the "VPN SERVER" field, tap "Next".

Now you need to enter your username and PPTP password (this can be found on the PPTP page your PTTP password is different to your VPN account password) within this screen, ensure only "MSCHAPv2" is checked within authentication methods.

Hit connect... you should now be connected.
If successful, a tick should be adjacent to the profile name and a little VPN icon in the top right corner.

What is OpenSSL VPN?

OpenSSL is an open-source implementation of the SSL and TLS protocols. The core library, written C programming language, implements the basic cryptographic functions and provides various utility functions. Wrappers allowing the use of the OpenSSL library in a variety of computer languages are available.
in the

Versions are available for most Unix-like operating systems (including Solaris, Linux, Mac OS X and the various open source BSD operating systems), OpenVMS and Microsoft Windows. IBM provides a port for the System i (OS/400). OpenSSL is based on SSLeay by Eric A. Young and Tim Hudson, development of which unofficially ended around December 1998, when Young and Hudson both started to work for RSA Security.

FIPS 140-2 compliance

As of December 2012, OpenSSL is one of two open source programs to be involved with validation under the FIPS 140-2 computer security standard by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP). (OpenSSL itself is not validated, but a component called the OpenSSL FIPS Object Module, based on OpenSSL, was created to provide many of the same capabilities).
A certificate was first awarded in January 2006 but revoked in July 2006 "when questions were raised about the validated module’s interaction with outside software." The certification was reinstated in February 2007.

Licensing

OpenSSL is "dual licensed" under the OpenSSL License and the SSLeay License. The OpenSSL License is Apache License 1.0 and SSLeay License is a 4-clause BSD License. The common usage of the term dual-license is that the user may pick which license they wish to use. However, OpenSSL documentation uses the term dual-license to mean that both licenses apply.

As the OpenSSL License is Apache License 1.0, but not Apache License 2.0, it requires the phrase This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit. (http://www.openssl.org/) to appear in advertising material and any redistributions (Sections 3 and 6 of the OpenSSL License). Due to this restriction, the OpenSSL License and the Apache License are incompatible with the GPL. Some GPL developers have added an OpenSSL exception to their licenses specifically allowing OpenSSL to be used with their system. GNU Wget and climm both use such exceptions. Some packages (like Deluge) explicitely modify the GPL license by adding an extra section at the beginning of the license documenting the exception. Other packages use the LGPL licensed GnuTLS which performs the same task.

Vulnerability in the Debian implementation

In order to keep a warning from being issued by the Valgrind analysis tool, a maintainer of the Debian distribution applied a patch to the Debian implementation of the OpenSSL suite, which inadvertently broke its random number generator in the process. The broken version was included in the Debian release of September 17, 2006 (version 0.9.8c-1). Any key generated with the broken random number generator, as well as data encrypted with such a key, was compromised. The error was reported by Debian on May 13, 2008.
On the Debian 4.0 distribution (etch), these problems were fixed in version 0.9.8c-4etch3 and for the Debian 5.0 distribution (lenny), these problems were fixed in version 0.9.8g-9.