Free Android VPNs Are Costing Users Their Security And Privacy, Experts Warn
The first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term VPN is a tool that’s created to better protect your privacy as a user. But wait, there might be more to the story than just that.
We were always told that VPNs are a great means to stay guarded when using the internet. But what many forgot to warn us about is how those coming free of cost should never be trusted.
New research from Top10VPN has shed light on some alarming findings including dozens of Android VPNs breaching users’ privacy and security. And they all have one thing in common, they are for free.
The latest privacy nightmare has people talking for all the wrong reasons including how the tool is leaking IP addresses as well as their data online. While some give rise to encryption, the level is designated as poor and some go as far as to expose their sensitive information. So what you get in the end is greater vulnerability to cyberattacks.
When we look at the top 100 most downloaded VPN platforms around the globe that come free of cost, you’ll be amazed how the figure crossed the 2.5 billion mark in regards to combined global downloads. But close to 10% failed to encrypt data the right way and more than 50% entailed VPN tunnel instability.
15 of the apps entail codes taken from ByteDance that increase the number of security and privacy concerns on this front. Broadly speaking, American regulators argued how ByteDance gave rise to risks to national security and recently, we saw a new law passed that bans TikTok in the US by next year.
The list entails a host of free-of-cost VPNs that leaked IP addresses and some are said to be so popular without anyone realizing the dangers they come with.
Most apps don’t have any IP leaks but one did have a DNS leak. So many also got flagged for rolling out encryption issues and the list in this regard was shocking for many as more popular names made it.
While some were dubbed with tags like Fails, others entailed suggestions like poor security and privacy in general. There were also quite a few that entailed Trojan malware and featured a host of false positives.
Small figures of the platform also make content via IP addresses that were flagged as having malicious IPs from cybersecurity companies. Amongst those being offered free of cost, Atlas VPN and even BitDefender did not have issues with leaking data.
But we do admit that VPN leaks are not a huge and new problem. They are a serious concern for so many years and one of the best means to avoid such risks is by switching to VPN providers that don’t leak your data and instead, give you a stronger form of encryption.
If you don’t have the right VPN installed, your internet provider can see all the pages you explore online. This includes what you search for and any form of email data too. But the great news is that setting up the right VPN is no longer difficult.
In case you’re an avid Android user, the number of VPNs to select from is plenty but opting for those that are free of cost is never recommended by experts as this report shows. There is even more greater variety when you have Apple devices as there’s no limit to VPNs providing protection.
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