HMA (VPN)

HMA was created in 2005 in Norfolk, England by Jack Cator.{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8JlMDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA65|chapter=The entrepreneurial character|title=Entrepreneurship and Small Business|page=65|edition=4th|isbn=978-1-137-43035-9|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan Limited|year=2016|via=Google Books}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} At the time, Cator was sixteen years-old. He created HMA in order to circumvent restrictions his school had on accessing games or music from their network.{{cite web|last=Shadbolt|first=Peter|title=How misbehaving at school made one man a multimillionaire|website=BBC News|date=May 18, 2015|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-32702501|access-date=October 21, 2018}} According to Cator, the first HMA service was created in just a few hours using open-source code. The first product was a free proxy website where users typed in a URL and it delivered the website in the user's web browser.

Cator promoted the tool in online forums and it was featured on the front page of digg. After attracting more than one thousand users, Cator incorporated ads. HMA did not take any venture capital funding. It generated about $1,000 - $2,000 per month while the founder went to college to pursue a degree in computer science. In 2009, Cator dropped out of college to focus on HMA and added a paid VPN service. Most early HMA employees were freelancers found on oDesk. In 2012, one of the freelancers set up a competing business. HMA responded by hiring its contractors as full-time employees and establishing physical offices in London.

In 2012, the United Kingdom's government sent HMA a court order demanding it provide information about Cody Andrew Kretsinger's use of HMA's service to hack Sony as a member of the LulzSec hacking group.{{cite web|title=HideMyAss defends role in LulzSec hack arrest|website=The Register|first=John|last=Leyden|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/26/hidemyass_lulzsec_controversy|access-date=October 21, 2018}}{{cite web|first=Ole|last=Reißmann|title=Anonymisierdienst hilft bei der Nutzeridentifizierung|website=Spiegel Online|trans-title=Anonymizing service helps with user identification|date=September 26, 2011|url=http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/hidemyass-com-anonymisierdienst-hilft-bei-der-nutzeridentifizierung-a-788360.html|language=de|access-date=May 20, 2018}} HMA provided the information to authorities.{{cite book|last=Stryker|first=Cole|title=Hacking the Future: Privacy, Identity and Anonymity on the Web|publisher=Gerald Duckworth & Company|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7156-4454-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=deAoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT80|access-date=May 19, 2018|page=80|via=Google Books}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} HMA said it was a violation of the company's terms of use to use its software for illegal activities.{{cite web|last=Blessenohl|first=Holger|title=VPN-Dienst bestätigt Weitergabe von Verbindungsdaten ans FBI|trans-title=Hide My Ass - VPN service confirms forwarding of connection data to the FBI|website=GIGA|date=September 26, 2011|url=https://www.giga.de/personen/lulzsec/news/hide-my-ass-vpn-dienst-bestaetigt-weitergabe-von-verbindungsdaten-ans-fbi|language=de|access-date=May 19, 2018|archive-date=October 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021151239/https://www.giga.de/personen/lulzsec/news/hide-my-ass-vpn-dienst-bestaetigt-weitergabe-von-verbindungsdaten-ans-fbi/|url-status=dead}}

In 2013, HMA added software to anonymize internet traffic from mobile devices.{{cite web|last=Woods|first=Ben|title=HideMyAss Now Has Its Own Dedicated Free to Download iOS App|website=TNW.com|date=October 10, 2013|url=https://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/10/10/hidemyass-now-has-its-own-dedicated-free-to-download-ios-app-but-youll-still-need-a-subscription|access-date=May 19, 2018}} In 2014, the company introduced HideMyPhone! service, which allowed mobile phone users to make their calls appear to come from a different location.{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Hattie|title=How I Made It: Jack Cator, founder of Hide My Ass!|website=The Sunday Times|date=November 16, 2014|url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-100-tech/hardware-profile/article/how-i-made-it-jack-cator-founder-of-hide-my-ass-z0d9hz2mnqx|access-date=May 20, 2018}}{{subscription required}}

By 2014, the service had 10 million users and 215,000 paying subscribers of its VPN service. It made £11 million in revenue that year.{{cite web|last=Cadwalladr|first=Carole|title=HideMyAss! Your secret's safe with Jack|website=The Guardian|date=March 15, 2015|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/15/hidemyass-startup-secrets-safe-with-jack-cator|access-date=May 20, 2018}} HMA had 100 staff and established international offices in Belgrade and Kyiv.

By 2015, HMA became one of the largest VPN providers.{{cite web|last=Stobing|first=Chris|title=Three VPN competitors go head-to-head|website=Digital Trends|date=January 23, 2015|url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/decrypt-three-vpn-competitors-go-head-head|access-date=May 20, 2018}} In May 2015, it was acquired by AVG Technologies for $40 million with a $20 million earn-out upon achievement of milestones,{{cite web|last=Osborne|first=Charlie|title=AVG acquires desktop, mobile VPN firm Privax|website=ZDNet|date=May 6, 2015|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/avg-acquires-desktop-mobile-privacy-firm-privax/|access-date=June 21, 2018}} and became part of Avast after its 2016 acquisition of AVG Technologies.{{cite web|title=Avast Software buys AVG Technologies for $1.3bn|website=The Inquirer|first=Dave|last=Neal|date=July 7, 2016|url=https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2464098/avast-software-buys-avg-technologies-for-usd13bn|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708134614/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2464098/avast-software-buys-avg-technologies-for-usd13bn|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 8, 2016|access-date=October 21, 2018}}

In 2017, a security vulnerability was discovered that allowed hackers with access to a user's laptop to obtain elevated privileges on the device. HMA corrected the vulnerability days later.{{cite web|last=Osborne|first=Charlie|title=HideMyAss! privilege escalation flaws exposed|website=ZDNet|date=May 2, 2017|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/hidemyass-privilege-escalation-flaws-exposed/|access-date=May 20, 2018}}

In 2019, it was reported that HMA received a directive from Russian authorities to join a state sponsored registry of banned websites, which would prevent Russian HMA users from circumventing Russian state censorship. HMA was reportedly given one month to comply, or face blocking by Russian authorities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/03/29/russia-threatens-to-block-popular-vpn-services-to-prevent-website-access-a65007|title=Russia Threatens to Block Popular VPN Services to Prevent Website Access|agency=Reuters|date=2019-03-29|website=The Moscow Times|language=en|access-date=2019-04-02}}

In 2020, HMA introduced a no-log policy for their VPN service. Under the policy HMA will not log a user’s original IP address, DNS queries, online activity, amount of data transferred or VPN connection timestamps.{{Cite web |last= |date=2020-05-12 |title=HMA VPN is now a No-Log VPN |url=https://www.24zero.net/hma-vpn-is-now-a-no-log-vpn/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=24zero |language=en-US}} Following HMA’s introduction of a no-log policy, HMA’s VPN was awarded a low risk user privacy impact rating for its no-logging policy, after it was independently audited by third-party cybersecurity firm VerSprite.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2020-08-05 |title=HMA no log policy gets stamp of approval from auditor |url=https://www.techradar.com/news/hma-no-log-policy-gets-stamp-of-approval-from-auditor |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=TechRadar |language=en}}

HMA provides digital software and services intended to help users remain anonymous online and encrypt their online traffic. Its software is used to access websites that may be blocked in the user's country, to anonymize information that could otherwise be used by hackers, and to do something unscrupulous without being identified. HMA's privacy policy and terms of use prohibit using it for illegal activity.{{cite web|last=Martin|first=Adam|title=LulzSec Hacker Exposed by the Service He Thought Would Hide Him|website=The Atlantic|date=September 23, 2011|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/09/lulzsec-hacker-exposed-service-he-thought-would-hide-him/337545|access-date=June 21, 2018}}

HMA hides the user's IP address and other identifying information by routing the user's internet traffic through a remote server.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3iiLDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT106|title=Network and Data Security for Non-Engineers|page=106|first1=Frank M.|last1=Groom|first2=Kevin|last2=Groom|first3=Stephan S.|last3=Jones|year=2016|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781315350219|via=Google Books}} However, experts note that the company does log some connection data including the originating IP address, the duration of each VPN session, and the amount of bandwidth used.{{cite web|url=https://privacyaustralia.net/vpn-logs-revealed|title=Top 15 VPN Companies Log Policies – Are They Safe?|first=Kelly|last=Gilderson|date=October 18, 2018|website=privacyaustralia.net|access-date=October 21, 2018}}

As of May 2018, the company had 830 servers in 280 locations across the globe and provided over 3000 IP addresses.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/best-mobile-vpn-services|title=Best mobile VPN services for 2018|first=David|last=Gewirtz|date=May 15, 2018|website=CNET|access-date=October 21, 2018}} The software also includes a kill switch across all platforms.{{cite web|last1=Williams|first1=Michael|title=HideMyAss! VPN review|url=https://www.techradar.com/au/reviews/hidemyass-vpn|publisher=TechRadar.com|access-date=1 February 2020}}{{cite web|title=How to Fix Netflix Error Code M7111-1331-5059|date=26 September 2019|url=https://vpngorilla.com/en/how-to-fix-netflix-error-code-m7111-1331-5059|publisher=vpngorilla.com|access-date=1 February 2020}}

According to Invisibler, HMA VPN appears to have cooperated with US authorities in handing over logs in a hacking case. This led to the arrest of a hacker in what is known as the "LulzSec fiasco".

In 2015, a review in Tom's Hardware said HMA was easy to use, had good customer service, and a large number of server locations to choose from, but criticized it for slowing internet speeds.{{cite web|last=Winkle|first=William Van|title=Hide My Ass! VPN Service Review|website=Tom's Hardware|date=May 25, 2015|url=https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/hide-my-ass-vpn-service,4129.html|access-date=May 20, 2018}} In contrast, Digital Trends said HMA had strong speeds and good server selection, but wasn't fool-proof at ensuring anonymity, because it stored user activity logs (in 2020, HMA announced that it would no longer log user activity{{Cite web|url=https://proprivacy.com/vpn/privacy-news/hide-ass-hma-brand-vpn|title=From Hide My Ass to HMA: New brand, new VPN [Sponsored]}}). In 2017, PC World noted that it was difficult to measure the effect a VPN service has on internet speed, because of variables like location, internet service speeds, and hardware.

A 2016 review in PCMag gave the HMA Android app 3 out of 5 stars.{{cite web|title=Hide My Ass VPN (for Android)|website=PCMag.com|date=August 31, 2016|first=Max|last=Eddy|url=https://www.pcmag.com/review/347306/hide-my-ass-vpn-for-android|access-date=May 20, 2018}} It praised HMA for its server selection and user interface, but criticized it for price, speed, and the lack of advanced features. In 2018, PCMag gave similar feedback on the HMA VPN service.{{cite web|title=Hide My Ass VPN|website=PCMag.com|date=May 1, 2018|url=https://www.pcmag.com/review/343171/hide-my-ass-vpn|access-date=May 20, 2018}} PC World’s 2017 review also praised HMA's simple user interface, but criticized the lack of advanced features, saying the software was ideal for casual users that do not need advanced configuration options.{{cite web|last=Paul|first=Ian|title=HMA Pro VPN review: An easy-to-use tool for securing your online privacy|website=PC World|date=February 3, 2017|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/3164573/home-networking/hma-pro-vpn-review-an-easy-to-use-tool-for-securing-your-online-privacy.html|access-date=May 20, 2018|archive-date=December 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208122608/https://www.pcworld.com/article/3164573/home-networking/hma-pro-vpn-review-an-easy-to-use-tool-for-securing-your-online-privacy.html|url-status=dead}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|https://www.hidemyass.com/index}}

{{Gen Digital}}

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Category:Avast

Category:Virtual private network services

Category:Computer companies established in 2005

Category:Computer security software

Category:Proxy servers

Category:2005 establishments in England

Category:British companies established in 2005

Category:2016 mergers and acquisitions

Category:British subsidiaries of foreign companies

Category:Gen Digital software