403 Error on Adobe Portfolio – Site Inaccessible for VPN Users (NordVPN)

[johna76645166]

Hello,

Visitors using NordVPN receive a 403 Forbidden error when accessing my Portfolio site.

I’ve tested this across multiple devices and VPN servers.

This limits access to legitimate users. Can this be addressed?

VMT

[Tarun Saini · Accepted solution]

Hi 

@johna76645166

,

Welcome to the community! Please try turning off the VPN and let us know if that helps.

Regards,

Tarun

[johna76645166]

Hi,

It works but that's not a solution - prospective customers with a VPN will just seen an error and assume there's a problem with the site.

[johna76645166]

Hi - any solution to this? It seems like an issue with Adobe Portfolio? 

[kglad]

portfolio questions: https://help.myportfolio.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=177168

portfolio faq: https://help.myportfolio.com/hc/en-us

[nickgripton]

Guess thats a "no" to the solution?

Also seeing 403's on all my portfolio sites with a different VPN.

Needs to be fixed. Potential clients lost, makes me look unprofesional, etc

Before any one says why are you using a VPN? It's actually not about me, but about my potential website viewers (AKA future clients). Or perhaps myself/anyone else are accessing the internet from an untrusted network and would like to protect their privacy...

[kglad]

that's a tip about where to ask.

[nickgripton]

Cool @kglad I've also followed up on there. But be nice if Adobes third party products were also active in this space. 

[kglad]

@Nancy OShea sometimes helps with portfolio questions.

[Nancy OShea]

@johna76645166 and @nickgripton 

Thanks, @kglad for the shout-out.

1. Adobe makes document & design software, not VPNs. 

2. Problems with VPNs are beyond the scope of Adobe, and this product user-to-user community. 

3. The choice to use VPNs is up to each user, but often results in a double-edged sword that cuts you off both ways. 

What you can do:

• Disable VPN.
• Try another VPN.
• Contact your VPN provider for assistance.

Good luck.

[Nancy OShea]

Also seeing 403's on all my portfolio sites with a different VPN.
Needs to be fixed. Potential clients lost, makes me look unprofesional, etc

By @nickgripton

==========

403 is a forbidden access error code. The server understands the HTTP request, but for security reasons, refuses to authorize it.  

Without getting too specific, I know that Adobe leases from 3rd party cloud providers that service half the world's online websites, apps & CDNs. If your VPN can't access content on Portfolio, that tells me it's blocked from millions & millions of other websites on similarly protected cloud environments as well. That's not an Adobe problem.  It's a VPN problem.

Best advice, use a trusted, secure network whenever possible. Or switch to a less problematic VPN.  

Hope that helps. 

[nickgripton]

@Nancy OShea Thanks for stepping in here.

Unfortunately I see it as an Adobe problem. They provide a service where I host & redirect my website/URL. My website is blocked for [insert reason here] when anyone tries to see it when using a VPN.

I'm not worried that I can't see it when i use a VPN. I'm worried that ANYONE using a VPN can't see it (which they can't). ANYONE being clients, customers, future clients, potential clients, people who just want to look at my website. Millions of potential users. Who I cannot preadvise to use a trusted network to look at my website...

Imagine having to caveat everytime I put my url anywhere that "To see this website you must use a trusted, secure network whenever possible. Or switch to a less problematic VPN." Should I put that on my business card?

This is a problem with a service that adobe provides. Therefore its not a VPN problem. Not all websites are blocked by my VPN, but my Adobe portfolios are. So there must be a solution.

[Nancy OShea]

Switch to another hosting platform.  But I fear you'll encounter the same barriers no matter who hosts your website.

• Squarespace,
• WordPress,
• Webflow
• Wix or whatever....

At some point, site visitors must own up to the choices they make and deal with the consequences of their actions. If they choose to use an inferior VPN, that's their cross to bear, not yours and not Adobe's.

[nickgripton]

Wow. I'm at a kind of loss for words... Site visitors? Wuh?

You shifted the blame from me, to the VPN and now to the site visitor? Definetly not the fault of the product though. Definitly not... Definetly the people who are trying to visit my website while protecting their privacy. 

Also I am currently on an Adobe site right now, writing this on the Adobe Community, and that is not being blocked by a VPN.

[johna76645166]

Yeah - also this is a new problem, Adobe Portfolio's did used to be visible (Nord) and now they're not. 
I deal with businesses and govt. organisations that have a policy of using VPN across all their users. I'm sure many Adobe Porfolio users' potential customers also use them. 

[kglad · Accepted solution]

@johna76645166 

portfolio questions: https://help.myportfolio.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=177168

portfolio faq: https://help.myportfolio.com/hc/en-us

[nickgripton]

This is the response from their support ticket:

"Unfortunately, there’s no reliable way for us to distinguish between legitimate visitors and bad actors using VPNs, so we’re unable to fully eliminate this risk. That said, we only block a small subset of VPN providers—specifically those that are frequently associated with malicious activity.
 
Depending on the nature of the threat, we may block access to either live sites or the Editor, or both. 
 
I understand this might be inconvenient, and I appreciate your understanding. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any other questions or concerns."

TL;DR They're not going to fix it.

[kglad]

thanks for the update.