cryptostorm

Windows

Windows users have two options:

  • Connecting using our custom client, which we like to call the 'widget'

  • Connecting using OpenVPN GUI.
For most Windows users, we recommend the 'widget'.


widget

(Source code available on our GitHub)

  • The widget download should start automatically when this page loads. You can also download it from https://cryptostorm.is/cryptostorm_setup.exe


  • If you would like to verify the file's integrity (you should), the MD5/SHA1/SHA256/SHA512 hashes are at https://cryptostorm.is/cryptostorm_setup.exe.txt
    • You can use the built-in Windows command 'CertUtil' to verify these hashes:
    certutil -hashfile cryptostorm_setup.exe MD5
     certutil -hashfile cryptostorm_setup.exe SHA1
     certutil -hashfile cryptostorm_setup.exe SHA256
     certutil -hashfile cryptostorm_setup.exe SHA512
     Click here to see a video tutorial.


  • Click "Run" if you get the security warning that "the publisher could not be verified"


    • On Windows 10 you'll see:


    Click the "More info" link, then "Run anyway"



  • Choose "Yes" when prompted by User Account Control (UAC)


  • Follow the prompts in the installer


  • Click "Finish" to complete the installation and start the widget


  • Copy your token from the welcome email, or if you received it in-browser, from there.
    Paste your token into the widget's main window, next to where it says "Token:", then click "Connect"


    • If you'd like to use the Ed448 or Ed25519 instances, before you connect click the "Options" button then the "Security" tab
    then select from the drop down list the EC curve you want to use.
    More information about the ECC instances is available at https://cryptostorm.is/new


  • That's it! Check with https://cryptostorm.is/test to verify that your IP has changed


OpenVPN GUI

(Source code available on OpenVPN's GitHub)

  • Download and install the latest OpenVPN installer from https://openvpn.net/index.php/open-source/downloads.html


  • If prompted by User Account Control (UAC), choose "Yes"


  • Follow the installer instructions


  • Once installation is complete, start OpenVPN GUI from the Desktop or the Start menu


  • Next, download the cryptostorm OpenVPN configs.
    The ECC configs are at https://cryptostorm.is/configs/ecc/configs.zip
    The RSA configs are at https://cryptostorm.is/configs/rsa/configs.zip
    See https://cryptostorm.is/configs/ for information about the difference between the two.

  • Open the configs.zip from the previous step and copy the configs you want to use.
    OpenVPN can only handle 50 configs, and at the moment there's 58 configs for each config type (rsa, ecc, ed25519, ed448).
    So you won't be able to import all of them all at once.

  • Navigate to either C:\Users\%USERNAME%\OpenVPN\config\ or C:\Program Files\OpenVPN\config\ and paste the configs into that folder


  • Now right click on the OpenVPN GUI system tray icon in the bottom right hand corner. It may be grouped under hidden icons:
    Choose the exit node you want to use, then select "Connect".
    For OpenVPN, UDP is always recommended over TCP. See Why TCP Over TCP Is A Bad Idea to learn why.
    TCP is only provided here for those behind a very strict firewall that doesn't allow UDP OpenVPN, or for those using ISPs that throttle UDP OpenVPN but not TCP.


  • Next you will be prompted for a username and password.
    Enter your cryptostorm access token in the Username: field, and put any random text in the Password: field
    • (Optional: We recommend you first hash your token using the token hasher on https://cryptostorm.is/#section6 [under the teddy bear])


  • That's it! You should now be connected. Check with https://cryptostorm.is/test to verify that your IP has changed