Human nature being what it is, it seems extremely likely that sometime today we will see millions of U.S.-based TikTok users installing some shady or "free" VPN software just to get around the ban.
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@briankrebs Unfortunately, VPNs don't work, they have US accounts that need to log into a US server even if they pop up in Europe or China, and the US servers aren't turned on. So it'll be a shady VPN with all the security concerns surrounding that for no actual gain!
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@stevenixon If you've found writeups on this, I'd love to see them. I'm guessing people will still try.
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@briankrebs This is the article I read this morning: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/01/19/tiktok-ban-shuts-down-app-does-a-vpn-bring-it-back/
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@stevenixon Thanks. I really detest using anything on Forbes as a source, mainly because they offer so much paid content from so many crooks that you really can't tell what's actual journalism there anymore. Also the advalanche. Not to besmirch the author of that story, which I haven't and probably won't read.
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@briankrebs this thread is a bit meta for the state of infosec.
Security Practitioners: "VPNs don't work"
Reality: Right. But TikTok is a phenomenon, highly addictive, and even lucrative for some. Users are absolutely going to attempt circumvention.
@DomainTools saw a large number of new registrations related to TikTok. We can expect that'll take form as fraudulent apps, VPNs, web portals and chrome extensions.
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@briankrebs I’ve been trying to warn people. TikTok has a backdoor.
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Brianreplied to BrianKrebs last edited by [email protected]
@briankrebs the timing of these posts seems apt.
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@briankrebs At this rate, they're already going to install those shady VPN's to access porn, so why not use it for TikTok as well?
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D [email protected] shared this topic
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@briankrebs VPN's are easily blocked, as well. They simply block by IP address, since they are all public. The publicized VPN solution is fake news (not directed at you).
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@Teop_Versant fake news or no, addiction is addiction, and people will naturally consider VPNs as a solid workaround. Question is, will they uninstall what they installed that didn't work?
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M [email protected] shared this topic
