Many good VPNs charge a fee, and if you don't want to spend money on a VPN just yet, you might turn to the best free VPNs. However, it is crucial to make sure your free VPN is secure and reliable. Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky warns that there has been a surge in potentially malicious apps masquerading as VPNs.
In Q3 2024, Kaspersky experts found that the number of users globally encountering apps posing as free VPNs increased 2.5 times compared to Q2. These apps are universally malware and programs that can be used by malicious actors, and this surge continued into the fourth quarter.
Cybercriminals are taking advantage of users attempting to take advantage of free VPNs; in May 2024, authorities dismantled a botnet (a network of hijacked computing devices) known as 911 S5. Several free VPN services were used to create this botnet, including MaskVPN, ShieldVPN, and PaladinVPN.
The devices of users who installed these VPN apps were turned into proxy servers that forwarded the traffic of others. The malicious network was spread across 19 million unique IP addresses spanning more than 190 countries. Botnet administrators sold access to the proxy servers installed on these devices to other cybercriminals, and the scheme was used for cyberattacks, money laundering, and mass fraud.
“There is a growing demand for VPN apps on all platforms, including smartphones and computers,” said Vasily Kolesnikov, security expert at Kaspersky. “Users tend to think that if they find a VPN app on an official store like Google Play, it is secure and can be used to obtain content that is not originally available in that location. And if this VPN service is free, they consider it even better.”
“However, this often ends up being a trap, as evidenced by recent cases and our statistics showing a sharp increase in encounters with malicious VPN apps. To stay safe, users should remain vigilant of these threats and use security solutions along with a trusted and proven VPN service.”
You may now be asking, “Are free VPNs secure?” The answer is yes - if you choose the right one. The major free providers are secure, but they do not offer the comprehensive coverage that paid VPNs do. Free VPNs are often cut-throat services that don't offer as many features as premium VPNs. If you feel the need to upgrade, it's worth checking out the Black Friday VPN deals.
Often, free VPNs have data and bandwidth limitations and offer slower speeds. They also have a limited choice of server locations and are often less concerned with protecting your privacy, meaning that the VPN provider may collect and store information about you and what you were doing during your VPN connection. What this means is that your VPN provider may collect and store information about you and what you were doing while connected to the VPN.
PrivadoVPN Free is our top recommendation for a free VPN. It is faster than many paid VPNs, reaching speeds of up to 900 Mbps in our tests, making it one of the fastest VPNs; it has a 10GB data limit, which will be fine for daily use, but will eat away at you if you do a lot of streaming - for this, we recommend the best recommend one of the streaming VPNs.
PrivadoVPN Free allows access to a limited number of servers in 13 locations in 10 countries, which is quite generous for a free product, and gives you complete control over which servers you connect to (something not possible with ProtonVPN Free).
Proton VPN Free is Privado's closest challenger and is the best free VPN for privacy, with a no-log policy verified by an independent audit. While its speed and server locations are not as good as Privado's, it offers unlimited data; both Proton and Privado can only protect one device, so if you want to protect all of your devices, you should look elsewhere.
A free VPN that offers unlimited device protection is Windscribe Free. In addition to this, there are 14 server locations in 11 countries to choose from; it is fast, at 900 Mbps, and comes with a variety of features, but there are drawbacks: the 10 GB data limit is again quite generous, but it will not last long for streaming. Privacy protections are good, but not verified by independent auditors; Windscribe certainly can't be considered one of the best VPNs for beginners, as its interface is rather cramped and not the easiest to use.
Nobody wants to be a victim of cybercrime, but it can happen, and having a VPN is a great way to protect your privacy by changing your IP address, location, and encrypting your data. That said, VPNs are not a silver bullet, and there are additional ways to protect yourself.
Most cybercrime arises from human error, and if you click on a link and give away your details, you can't do much about it. It is important to only click on links and downloads that you are confident are secure. Passwords should be long, unique, and contain a variety of letters, numbers, and symbols. “123456” continues to be the most popular password in the world, and using one of the best password managers will help protect your account.
Some VPN companies include password managers and antivirus software in their plans; only NordVPN's Threat Protection Pro can rival the best antivirus software and is the best VPN malware protection rated as the best tool. These tools detect and warn you of suspicious sites and apps before you access them.
If you are a victim of cybercrime, several VPN providers offer identity protection tools; ExpressVPN offers Identity Defender, which includes identity alerts, up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, and data deletion services. ExpressVPN recently enhanced its Identity Defender suite with the addition of a credit scanner tool to protect credit scores and identities; NordVPN offers a similar product, NordProtect, which is a credit scanner tool that can be used to scan a user's credit score and identity. However, this is only available with Nord's most expensive Prime plan.
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