Choosing an off-the-shelf VPN service, is it safe to access my Gmail, Paypal, … accounts?
The accounts are accessed via https, but I don't know if with a VPN there is one secure channel between my computer and the https server, or two, i.e [me] <-> [vpn server] <-> [https server]
If it is the latter case, could the VPN admin see unencrypted traffic between me and https server?
Best Answer
HTTPs connections can only really be validly done between the client and https server.
If the VPN admin was able to decrypt the traffic, they would have to have a valid SSL certificate purporting to be from the server's domain, with a private key that is valid for the certificate. This shouldn't be possible as long as the root certificate authorities enabled in your browser are safe. To be sure of this, keep your browser up to date.
If a man-in-the-middle was to do the latter method you mention without this, your browser would complain of an invalid certificate.