On the use of the app called Hola....

I was recommended to use this app by one of the players on our beloved server, so I thought I'd pass the word back along this direction.

Hola is a bad app.

Yes, it works as it's designed to - it is a proxy service that actually handles captcha correctly. Just like Tor. However, the issue is in how it does that, and quite possibly, how it's even less safe than Tor is.

Basically Hola sets up every user to be a proxy for anyone else using the service, which means you can get traffic from anyone trying to vote for multiple minecraft accounts or distributing child pornography. This is called "being an exit node". In some cases, the user (YOU) can get criminally prosecuted for what someone else does using this service. By the way, the exit node behavior violates pretty much every terms of service for an internet access point that I've ever read (which can lead to blocking and bans), and the vpn behavior violates the ToS for the video sites that Hola is marketed for.

And the fun doesn't stop there. It allows access from the sandbox of your browser to the actual operation of your machine - meaning your virus software can't block the installation of malware run through this app - including grinding out data or ddos as part of a botnet. One site even had a setup going where if you clicked a button on the webpage, it would launch an app - not through the known and verified channels that Chrome uses, but through the backdoor that Hola set up. I got a virus, thanks to Hola. Haven't gotten a virus in years, on any of my systems, but I got malware this weekend after installing this program.

Don't believe me? Maybe you'll believe PCWorld, Lifehacker, or a security company called Vectra.

At any rate, I cannot use a service where someone else's data could even possibly be run through my access point. I'm glad I got a virus. This literally could have ruined my career.