1. Getting it
HidraVPN is installed from the HidraNet Browser: open the VPN page from the new tab and press Install. The browser downloads the programs listed in a signed release manifest, checks each file's hash, and installs the VPN service.
It runs on Windows x64 and Linux x64. macOS is not supported yet.
2. One hop or two
| Mode | What the nodes see |
|---|---|
Fast, one hop (rapido) | The node sees your address and your traffic. It hides them from your own network, not from the node. |
Private, two hops (privado) | The entry sees your address; the exit sees your traffic. No node sees both who you are and where you go, and, from HidraVPN 0.1.2, nothing that carries your pass account goes through the two hops (see Passes). |
Two hops are refused when one operator runs both the entry and the exit, because that operator could see both ends. You can allow it, and the VPN page says so plainly.
Each connection shows a node a key made for that connection only, and the exit of two hops is asked for admission through the entry, never from your address. From HidraVPN 0.1.2, a key the exit was shown that way is never shown to it from your address later; 0.1.0 can show it again from your address when you connect to that node with one hop. A node of one hop that takes passes, with none left for it, is reconnected with the last key it saw from your address, and the VPN page says so. Apart from that, no node can tell, by key, that two connections are the same person.
3. Passes
The exits admit with a pass: one pass is one connection through a node that takes passes. Passes are signed blind by the pass issuer. The issuer never sees what it signs, so it does not learn which node a pass is for, and the node that takes a pass does not learn which account it came from.
Passes are bought with HNET, on Solana: today from the hidravpn command line, soon from the VPN page. They are kept on an anonymous prepaid account: a random token on your machine, with no name, e-mail or sign-up. When you buy, the issuer sees the payment and, today, the address you buy from; buying through Tor is planned.
The maintainers run both the exits and the issuer. So, from HidraVPN 0.1.2, passes are never fetched, bought or claimed while two hops are up: the request would leave through the exit, and the exit and the issuer together could tie your two-hop session to your account. Automatic top-ups happen only in one hop; get passes before you connect with two.
HidraVPN 0.1.0 still tops passes up automatically while two hops are up, and buys and claims through them. If you run 0.1.0, update to 0.1.2 when it is available. Until then, if you use two hops, switch off "Top passes up by themselves" on the browser's VPN page (or run hidravpn passes auto off with sudo, or from an administrator prompt on Windows), and fetch, buy and claim passes only in one hop or while disconnected.
4. What it does not do
- It does not stop someone who watches both hops at once from matching the timing and volume of your traffic. No VPN can promise that, and this one does not.
- Your DNS goes to the exit's resolver through the tunnel, so the exit sees the names you look up, as with any VPN. With HidraVPN 0.1.0 on Linux, leave "Allow LAN" off: with it on, a hostile local network can make DNS queries leave outside the tunnel (fixed in 0.1.2).
- A node that admits openly can be filled by someone with enough machines. That costs real computing for each connection, but it is possible.
- It is not Tor, and it does not make you anonymous. It moves who sees what, and with two hops it splits it.
The full audit, party by party and with the tests behind each claim, is in anonymity.md; it describes HidraVPN 0.1.2.
5. What preview means today
- Every node is run by the HidraNet maintainers: exits in Finland and the Netherlands, and an entry. Two hops keep your address and your traffic on different machines, but until independent operators run entries, not with different people.
- The Windows programs are not code-signed yet. Signing is being set up (code signing policy). Until then, Microsoft Defender may block or remove the VPN service.
- The nodes are checked automatically and the maintainers are alerted when one stops answering.
- Things will change and break. Report what you find at github.com/NeurexBK/HidraNet/issues; never post a payment, a token or anything from your machine's VPN files there.
6. Checking what you install
Two keys, kept offline by the maintainers, sign what the browser and the VPN trust. The public halves are built into the software; here they are, so you can check by hand.
| Key (Ed25519, base64) | Signs |
|---|---|
denZsjS2YtKOo4LRIGGTaKuHIWDFigChoLa71o0jBq8= | Release key: the release manifest, release/manifest.json with its .sig, which lists every file and its SHA-256. |
0HfVyf5QtcUjBQSvRYQNeirD/I0432RnmlKQ+/gmNkk= | List key: the official node list, nodes.json with its .sig. |
hidravpn-sign verify --pubkey <key> <file> checks a file against its signature. The browser refuses a manifest or a list whose signature does not hold under these keys.
7. Running a node
We are looking for the first independent operators of entries. The operator guide says what an entry sees, what it costs, what we ask and what operators get. Write to contact@hidranet.pro before you rent a server.