Virtual private networks (VPNs) are getting attention due to huge marketing budgets and influencer partnerships. It’s not easy to navigate through the burgeoning VPN market, and a lot of the assertions made about its features and benefits may not be accurate. Consumer Reports’ online security expert Yael Grauer suggests looking for open-source software, reproducible builds and up-to-date support for industry standard protocols.
CyberGhost’s zero-logs policy is a fantastic selling feature. It claims that it will not record your online activity or IP address. Apps are available for the majority of major operating systems and include 256-bit encrypted encryption, a kill button, leak protection, and the option of connecting via an unrelated port. It also scored higher on our tests of internet speed than the majority of other VPNs we tested, but this could be due to a chance or a result of the shaping of traffic by your ISP. It also provides a variety of additional tools, including Threat Protection, Onion over VPN and Double VPN.
Nord is a different alternative that is highly rated in our tests, including an impressive score in our geoblocking and streaming testing. The apps are extremely powerful and easy to use. However, a map-based user interface can be a bit overwhelming when used on smaller screens. It’s compatible with a broad range of routers, Kodi TV set top boxes and has the biggest geographical reach of our choices. It’s also a great option for streaming overseas Netflix and has dedicated ‘Windflix’ servers for this purpose. Recently, it introduced a new feature known as Perfect Forward Secrecy, which secures the data by using a unique key for each session. This makes it much more difficult for hackers to encrypt the past activities.
Tell us about your thoughtsWrite message