[aktau]

Looking at Algo (https://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/12/12/meet-algo-the-vpn-th...), it seems like it provides an easy way to setup a (secure) VPN on a piece of hardware you own or one of the supported public clouds. In that respect, I'm not sure if it gives a lot of privacy. As you're the only one using that VPN, the traffic may not be too hard to trace back to you.

[dublinben]

It sounds like you're attempting to gain anonymity, not privacy. Any VPN only offers limited anonymity, since that is not their purpose. If you want robust anonymity, you need to use something like Tor.

[problems]

Algo isn't that much better than any other VPN - arguably it's slightly better security wise, though I'd argue Wireguard tops it by far on cipher choices and security margins.

Ultimately VPNs just aren't for hiding anything that could cause you significant problems. If you want that, Tor, i2p, or piles of hacked boxes are your only options really if you must interact with the clearnet.

[Loony2]

The security of Wireguard is completely unknown. Sure, it might be more secure after a formal release and a security evaluation.

They even state themselves that they should not be used if security is required.

[tptacek]

I don't know anyone working in the field who believes Wireguard is likely to be less secure than StrongSwan or OpenVPN, and Wireguard is something that gets talked about a lot.

It's early days for Wireguard, to be sure, but it's one of the most promising security projects there is right now.

[Loony2]

I work in the field and anybody that says that a piece of software is secure before it has even had a security evaluation by a third party does not know what they are talking about.

I think what you have seen is security people saying that the design of Wireguard seems to be equal or better than other, current, options, that doesn't mean that the implementation is just yet.

[tptacek]

I've spent my career doing third-party software security evaluations --- among other things, I founded the NCC Cryptography Services practice --- and I will tell you right now that the Wireguard security story is far more compelling than any third-party audit.

It's not simply the protocol design, which is superior in pretty much every conceivable way to IKE or TLS, but also the code, which is carefully written to minimize attack surface and increase reviewability.

Choosing OpenVPN or StrongSWAN over WireGuard to minimize exposure to vulnerabilities would be a dumb bet. Sometimes dumb bets pay off, but it's still dumb to make them.

[jwfxpr]

Could you unpack your statement about the careful code writing, or link to an explanation? We would usually expect a formal third-party audit to substantiate such a claim, but if there is other good evidence for their code's secure implementation I'd love to see it.

[nickpsecurity]

I agree with you. It needs formal evaluation by pros with time to dig into it with review and tool-assisted analysis. That said, a person as experienced at pentesting as tptacek saying the crypto and code looked good puts its trustworthiness above most options in my eyes. I mean, you rarely here good things about both in such software. The quality of average development in crypto is just that bad. I also liked what I saw when I looked at it in terms of simplicity.

[dadrian]

The Wireguard protocol has been symbolically verified for correctness using Tamarin.

[__jal]

I only know Thomas via his output, but will say that based on it, he very much knows what he is talking about when it comes to the design and implementation of security protocols.

[jsalinas]

The only problem I have with Algo is that it isn't compatible with Little Snitch :(