Popular Chrome extension Hola sold users' bandwidth for botnets - Polidicks

[QUOTE=BazzBerry;47833905]They're using your bandwidth that you pay for to in turn make more money for themselves??[/QUOTE] It's more WHAT other users can use your connection for that is worrysome. The reason this was discovered in the first place is because some Hola users were being used as part of a botnet doing a DDoS attack on 8chan.

Its been known for months now that if you install Hola your computer serves as a node for other Hola users, making users liable for any criminal uses of their bandwidth. This isn't surprising at all.

[QUOTE=Zyx;47833910]Eh.. I haven't had any problems with it really. At least I haven't noticed anything bad. Not paranoid enough to get rid of it just because of this. (Just like those people freaking out over App Permissions).[/QUOTE] eh people are right to be freaking out about app permissions like people have actually taken apart the facebook app and proven that it's doing a bunch of shady shit with those permissions i still have it installed because frankly i don't care, but i definitely think it's bullshit and people have are right to be against this shit

[QUOTE=Scot;47833917]They're providing a service for their users so I don't see why it's so shocking that they're making some money off it.[/QUOTE] You have no control over how they use your data, whether illegal or unlawful in your country.

I guess this is why I've been getting those warnings from google, and I was led to believe it was because I was running a test server out of my house. [url]https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/86640?hl=en[/url]

[QUOTE=Scot;47833875]What's so bad about this? Legit asking.[/QUOTE] Potential legal liability for whatever the other people do using your connection is probably the biggest concern anyone faces.

[QUOTE=Zyx;47833910]Eh.. I haven't had any problems with it really. At least I haven't noticed anything bad. Not paranoid enough to get rid of it just because of this. (Just like those people freaking out over App Permissions).[/QUOTE] Dude, people can actually download child porn using your computer via this addon. [B]Edited: [/B]Freaking out over app permissions is a good thing - why would a simple QR code scanner need access to my contact list? Just one of the many absurd things apps keep requesting

[QUOTE=DrogenViech;47834226]Dude, people can actually download child porn using your computer via this addon. [B]Edited: [/B]Freaking out over app permissions is a good thing - why would a simple QR code scanner need access to my contact list? Just one of the many absurd things apps keep requesting[/QUOTE] While true in every way and also quite scary that it is possible, I'm just not.. "Paranoid" enough to remove the Facebook app or not use Hola anymore. Sure, it'll suck to me be when/if I am proven that I should have been cautious, but so be it.

[QUOTE=Giraffen93;47833503]apparently when turned off too [img]http://rp.braxnet.org/scr/2015-05-24_19-00-56_63.png[/img][/QUOTE] If you were using the Windows executable there's no way of knowing what it was doing, but if you were just using the Chrome extension it's completely impossible for it to have been active while disabled or uninstalled.

[QUOTE=Zyx;47834489]While true in every way and also quite scary that it is possible, I'm just not.. "Paranoid" enough to remove the Facebook app or not use Hola anymore. Sure, it'll suck to me be when/if I am proven that I should have been cautious, but so be it.[/QUOTE] Imo, one really ought to stand up to this stuff, even when it's not being used for bad things in that instant. Mainly for the principal of it, it'll help keep apps from doing unreasonable things if consumers refuse them if they ask for permissions/do things they really shouldn't have. Also, while I can't quite speak for hola, many questionable apps do have much nicer alternatives. For example, utorrent can and should be replaced by transmission, deluge, or qbittorrent.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;47834534]If you were using the Windows executable there's no way of knowing what it was doing, but if you were just using the Chrome extension it's completely impossible for it to have been active while disabled or uninstalled.[/QUOTE] i used it in firefox not disabled as in "addon disabled" way but the icon said "off"

[QUOTE=Giraffen93;47834594]i used it in firefox not disabled as in "addon disabled" way but the icon said "off"[/QUOTE] Then no, that doesn't actually disable it. Does Firefox have no way to actually disable extensions?

[QUOTE=Zeke129;47834642]Then no, that doesn't actually disable it. Does Firefox have no way to actually disable extensions?[/QUOTE] right, i have no doubts at this point removed it a few days ago you can disable addons sure, but hola itself had a 'turn off' feature, and i turned it off months ago and just forgot about it too bad i'm banned and i can't do anything about it

[QUOTE=Giraffen93;47834684]right, i have no doubts at this point removed it a few days ago you can disable addons sure, but hola itself had a 'turn off' feature, and i turned it off months ago and just forgot about it too bad i'm banned and i can't do anything about it[/QUOTE] it says on the FAQ that the turn off feature means no traffic is going in or out. if they're lying about that i hope they get in deep shit

[QUOTE=TheHydra;47834715]it says on the FAQ that the turn off feature means no traffic is going in or out. if they're lying about that i hope they get in deep shit[/QUOTE] if it really turns off then i can't explain that ban in any way, so i dunno really

[QUOTE=TheHydra;47834715]it says on the FAQ that the turn off feature means no traffic is going in or out. if they're lying about that i hope they get in deep shit[/QUOTE] Of course they were lying Hola has been sketchy as fuck from day one

This is why I kept telling people to never use it. Same with Zenmate. Both leave open connections on your computer, even when you turn it off after finishing a browsing session(unless zenmate has fixed this now). If you're going to use a VPN, buy one or wait until froot opens up free accounts again.

So if you remove the addon does it leave any nasty stuff behind?

[QUOTE=Tobin;47835460]So if you remove the addon does it leave any nasty stuff behind?[/QUOTE] run adwcleaner it found the hola binaries in local appdata

[QUOTE=Giraffen93;47835737]run adwcleaner it found the hola binaries in local appdata[/QUOTE] Odd. I had the extension installed but I don't have anything in my local folder.

Note that not only were you both used and sold as an exit node but it was also possible to remotely run code on your system - in some cases, running as the SYSTEM user. Through hola, someone could install something even more nefarious and with the SYSTEM user, could hide it like any rootkit [url]http://adios-hola.org/[/url]

This would explain why sites have loaded tremendously slow, bye Hola [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] well fuck would you look at that, as soon as I remove the extension everything loads up again

god damn it, i've had this shit just sitting on my computer for years, i think i only used it like twice i hope they get sued into oblivion and thrown in jail

It looks like Hola has been removed from the Chrome Web Store

I think they're up shits creek now.

I usually suggest [URL="https://zenmate.com/"]Zenmate[/URL], not sure how good (as in: *not* sketchy) they are. I use it occasionally, it works fine for me.

[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;47836451]I usually suggest [URL="https://zenmate.com/"]Zenmate[/URL], not sure how good (as in: *not* sketchy) they are. I use it occasionally, it works fine for me.[/QUOTE] I've checked it out and haven't detected any suspicious internet activity but I don't have the knowhow to properly analyze it. Has anyone done so to make sure it's safe?

[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;47836451]I usually suggest [URL="https://zenmate.com/"]Zenmate[/URL], not sure how good (as in: *not* sketchy) they are. I use it occasionally, it works fine for me.[/QUOTE] It's probably best to buy a vpn with a good track record of protecting privacy

[QUOTE=Van-man;47833920]The reason this was discovered in the first place is because some Hola users were being used as part of a botnet doing a DDoS attack on 8chan.[/QUOTE] Explaination: [url]https://8ch.net/hola.html[/url] (SFW)

I'm surprised that people have trusted Hola for this long. It has been known for its shadiness for at least two years now. All it took was a few Google searches to know that it forces you to become an exit node without telling you straight up and clearly.