In a world where everyone seems to be trying to steal your personal information in the current climate, a VPN can assist you in avoiding this by keeping your online connections secure and private. While sweeping claims of military-grade encryption or total digital anonymity may entice you, Consumer Reports’ Yael Grauer advises you to look for more specific indicators that a service is authentic before you sign up.
Begin with compatibility. The service should be compatible with at the very least the most well-known operating systems like Windows, macOS and Linux, Android, and iOS. Then, you need to determine the number of devices it supports, and how many simultaneous connections it allows. In the end, you’ll need to examine the number of servers available and their locations around the globe. This will help you choose one close to your home or one that has speedy speeds when you travel to another country.
Certain services offer specific features, such as dedicated ‘Netflix servers that do not block geo-restricted websites, or additional security measures, such as RAM-only servers (which erase data every when the service is rebooted) dark web monitoring and threat protection. It is also important to verify the company’s ownership structure and whether it has prior privacy or data breaches. scandals.
The most reliable overall service we tried was NordVPN with its thousands of servers spread across 94 countries AES-256 and ChaCha20 encryption, a reliable kill switch with split tunneling, as well as obfuscated servers. It’s also one of the few providers to publish its detailed no-logs policy and engages PricewaterhouseCoopers for annual audits. The prices aren’t cheap, but you get a lot for your money. A generous long-term plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.