Algo VPN (short for "Al Gore", the **V**ice **P**resident of **N**etworks everywhere for [inventing the Internet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnFJ8cHAlco)) is a set of Ansible scripts that simplifies the setup of a personal IPSEC VPN. It contains the most secure defaults available, works with common cloud providers, and does not require client software on most devices.
* Does not claim to protect you from the [FSB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Security_Service), [MSS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_State_Security_(China)), [DGSE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorate-General_for_External_Security), or [FSM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster)
Certificates and configuration files that users will need are placed in the `config` directory. Make sure to secure these files since many contain private keys. All files are prefixed with the IP address of the Algo VPN server.
Find the corresponding mobileconfig (Apple Profile) for each user and send it to them over AirDrop (or other secure means). Apple Configuration Profiles are all-in-one configuration files for iOS and macOS devices and installing a profile will fully configure the VPN.
Find the included user_ipsec.conf, user_ipsec.secrets, user.crt (user certificate), and user.key (private key) files and copy them to your client device. These may be useful if you plan to set up a point-to-point VPN with OpenWRT or other custom device.
If you turned on the optional SSH tunneling role, then local user accounts will be created for each user in `config.cfg` and an SSH authorized_key file will be in the `config` directory (user.ssh.pem). SSH user accounts do not have shell access and their tunneling options are limited. This is done to ensure that users have the least access required to tunnel through the server.
No. This project is under active development. We're happy to [accept and fix issues](https://github.com/trailofbits/algo/issues) as they are identified. Use Algo at your own risk.
The goal of this project is not to provide anonymity, but to ensure confidentiality of network traffic while traveling. Tor introduces new risks that are unsuitable for Algo's intended users. Namely, with Algo, users are in control over the gateway routing their traffic. With Tor, users are at the mercy of [actively](https://www.securityweek2016.tu-darmstadt.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Group_securityweek2016/pets2016/10_honions-sanatinia.pdf) [malicious](https://chloe.re/2015/06/20/a-month-with-badonions/) [exit](https://community.fireeye.com/people/archit.mehta/blog/2014/11/18/onionduke-apt-malware-distributed-via-malicious-tor-exit-node) [nodes](https://www.wired.com/2010/06/wikileaks-documents/).
Racoon does not support IKEv2. Racoon2 supports IKEv2 but is not actively maintained. When we looked, the documentation for StrongSwan was better than the corresponding documentation for LibreSwan or OpenSwan. StrongSwan also has the benefit of a from-scratch rewrite to support IKEv2. I consider such rewrites a positive step when supporting a major new protocol version.
I would, but I don't know of any [suitable ones](https://github.com/trailofbits/algo/issues/68). If you're in the position to fund the development of such a project, [contact us](mailto:info@trailofbits.com). We would be interested in leading such an effort. At the very least, I plan to make modifications to StrongSwan and the environment it's deployed in that prevent or significantly complicate exploitation of any latent issues.
OpenVPN does not have out-of-the-box client support on any major desktop or mobile operating system. This introduces user experience issues and requires the user to [update](https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/34037/) and [maintain](https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/20485/) the software themselves. OpenVPN depends on the security of [TLS](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7457), both the [protocol](http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/new-attack-can-pluck-secrets-from-1-of-https-traffic-affects-top-sites/) and its [implementations](http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/04/confirmed-nasty-heartbleed-bug-exposes-openvpn-private-keys-too/), and we simply trust the server less due to past [security](https://github.com/ValdikSS/openvpn-fix-dns-leak-plugin/blob/master/README.md) [incidents](https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/34879/).
Alpine Linux is not supported out-of-the-box by any major cloud provider. We are interested in supporting Free-, Open-, and HardenedBSD. Follow along or contribute to our BSD support in [this issue](https://github.com/trailofbits/algo/issues/35).
