Security question

[sergani]

Hello all,

I know this might sound like a terribly dumb question, but here goes:

How secure are packets sent and received over any network through an OpenVPN tunnel? I'm not a certificates' guy, but I was hoping to check if it is possible in anyway, that if packets are sniffed, say by the ISP, could they figure out the contents, or anyone for that matter?

[janjust]

in default configuration (i.e. no 'tls-auth') openvpn is just as secure as an HTTPS connection, i.e. plenty secure (otherwise I wouldn't do online banking).
if you add 'tls-auth' openvpn is even more secure, as it also protects you from DoS attacks.

[sergani]

And I believe that's (without tls-auth) is secure, like https?
I mean on the ISP level etc...?

I'm really sorry to bother with this question, but it's of dire importance, and one is still really catching up on the security side of things...