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Researchers warn: Free VPN Hola vulnerable to hacking

Around 52 million users are using Hola free VPN service (Free VPN, Secure Browsing, Unrestricted Access) in and around the world. The free service has made the hackers to constantly track the activity of any user. It has security issues and it has to be looked upon as it has higher chances of serious consequences. It is best advised by the security researchers to instantly call a farewell to the Hola VPN service.

The Hola VPN works in such a way that it provides a distinct marker that is specific to a single user. The identifier seems to be the same even after rebooting the system. Hola allows you to get tracked across the Internet.

Hola is an israeli company that generates a browser plugin to use it as a provision to go around the region locks and can be tracked when the users browses the web and hence the hackers get through the personal information of the users. This is done by exploiting the user’s PC resources that are found idle to route traffic. Lately on Friday, a research team of security experts unveiled the details of the vulnerabilities that were found in the Hola Software.

The flaws were found in the Hola Chrome extension, Windows client, Android application and Firefox add-on. This flaw gives way to the hacker to exploit and generate code execution and possibly provides privileges on the user’s system. This vulnerability is sure to eat up to compromise the entire system. When the user navigates to a web page with a Hola plugin, and clicks on any malicious site, the hacker is given a chance to execute any type of program remotely on the victim’s system.

The Israel based Hola is very much destructive to rip out the entire internet and to its users as well.

• With Hola VPN you are sure to tracked over the internet.
• Hola lets a fleet of strangers to get into your internet connection.
• Hola gives access to third parties in exchange of money and does not care as to what it is used for.
• With Hola on your computer, there is a freedom for anybody to execute the code.

Technical details of four different vulnerabilities have been found

1. It permits a website to read random files by traversing the path on a local system remotely.
2. Information disclosure enables any hacker to gain access to the system and use it to keep a check on the user across the network.
3. Remote Code Execution (RCE) is made possible through the vulnerable Windows and Android app
4. While the user’s system is RCE vulnerable there is a huge chance of increase in the remote level access privileges.

Guides to uninstalling Free VPN Hola

1. Uninstalling on Android (video)

2. Uninstalling Free VPN Hola for Chrome and Chromium (infographic)

Author Bio:

Natasha Miranda is a Technical Content Writer from Comodo, who writes blogs and articles on internet security. Her posts generally aim to create awareness about Virus Protection, malwares and firewall.