Tag Archive for: VPNs

YouTube influencers selling VPNs may be a security issue


 Pro gamer recording a live stream while playing computer games

Pro gamer recording a live stream while playing computer games

Whether you’re a keen YouTube streamer or you hop on the platform from time to time, it’s very likely you have come across several hosts advertising the best VPN service of the moment for top privacy and geo-blocking online.

From a niche tool targeting businesses and cybersecurity nerds, virtual private networks (VPNs) have seen a boom in usage among everyday users in the latest years. VPN popularity is indeed tangled up with the fact that today’s digital life—for better or worse—is getting more complex and central in our lives. Even so, influencers trying to convince their subscribers to make the purchase have inevitably been a big push for this growth—while getting their cut.

Nothing out of the ordinary that other companies don’t do, you might think. Yet, helping people to protect their most sensitive data involves way more responsibilities than recommending a new pair of shoes or a smartphone.

Recent research investigating influencer VPN ads might be more harmful than good after all, by “negatively influencing viewers’ mental models of internet safety.” We asked the main providers out there what they are doing—if anything—to prevent this from happening.

The risks of influencer VPN ads on YouTube

“Our analysis suggests that VPN ads make many claims that have the potential to influence viewers’ mental models not just of VPNs, but of computer security and privacy in general,” concluded the research paper after reviewing 243 YouTube videos containing these ads.

For instance, researchers found many influencers using absolute terms, false technical claims, and misleading visuals to oversell the security and privacy guarantees of the products.

Among all the providers analyzed, VirtualShield was the one with the highest ratio of videos contaminated with overpromises and exaggerations. These ads less frequently mentioned encryption and IP address routing, too, the two very features at the core of the product itself.

Bar chart describing VPN ads in YouTube video content

Bar chart describing VPN ads in YouTube video content

Bar chart describing VPN ads in YouTube video content (Image credit: Omer Akgul, Richard Roberts, Moses Namara, Dave Levin, Michelle L….

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Best Android VPNs Of 2023 – Forbes Advisor Australia


The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, first-person testing, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content to guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.

Our team analysed 16 VPN providers with 33 factors such as transparent pricing, number of server locations, the number of devices it can cover, access to customer support and customer ratings to organise this list of the best VPN services for Android.

Our Australian-based editorial team then applied an additional layer of editorial judgment and oversight, ensuring the shortlisted products were suitable to local users and their needs. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

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Best VPNs for Australian iPhones – Forbes Advisor Australia


An iPhone VPN can protect your privacy on the go and at home. Here’s what you need to know about choosing the best one.

Essential Mobile VPN Features

  • Strong Encryption: Get a VPN with industry-standard encryption protocols such as OpenVPN and WireGuard for better security and privacy.
  • Strict No-Logs Policy: No-logs policy assures that the VPN provider doesn’t store any info on your internet usage, making it impossible for them to share your data with other people.
  • Kill Switch: This feature automatically severs your device from the internet if the VPN connection disconnects, ensuring there are no data leaks.
  • DNS Leak Protection: DNS leak protection safeguards your DNS queries, keeping your browsing activity private and secure.
  • IPv6 Leak Protection: This feature prevents IPv6 leaks, which can expose your real IP address and compromise your privacy.

iOS Compatibility and Multi-Device Use

Most iPhone VPNs also work on other iOS devices such as iPads and iPod Touch. Additionally, many VPN providers offer apps for non-Apple products, including Android and Windows devices, allowing you to secure multiple devices under a single subscription. However, some providers have protocols built for specific devices (for example, hide.me has Bolt for Windows).

Pricing

Users should expect to pay for VPNs on a subscription basis, typically monthly or annually. Standard iPhone VPN rates are around $5 AUD to $15 AUD per month if paid month to month, but users can save significantly by opting for longer-term plans. Annual and multi-year subscriptions often come with considerable discounts, lowering the average monthly cost.

There’s usually no difference in pricing for mobile VPNs compared to desktop computers, as most VPN providers offer multi-platform support within the same subscription plan. However, additional features such as a dedicated IP address, which provides you with a unique IP for enhanced privacy and access to certain services, may come at an extra cost.

To reduce VPN costs, you can:

  • Look for promotional offers or seasonal discounts provided by the VPN provider.
  • Choose a longer-term subscription plan, which often comes with a lower average monthly cost.
  • Compare various VPN…

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Everyone is selling VPNs, and that’s a problem for security


Whatever YouTube rabbit hole you’ve spiraled down lately — gaming playthroughs, political commentary, niche eight-hour video essays — you’ve encountered an ad for virtual private network, or VPN, services. The influencers promise military grade encryption and streaming content from anywhere as long as you use code FOLLOWME10 at checkout so that they get their cut.

It’s not just anecdotal that VPN ads are everywhere on YouTube. Since the beginning of 2016, VPN companies have collectively sponsored about 247,000 YouTube videos, according to Daniel Conn, co-founder of influencer marketing consulting firm ThoughtLeaders. Almost none came up before then, signaling rapid growth as both influencer marketing and VPN companies took off.

For the YouTubers, it’s a lucrative and consistent way to fund their aspirations; for VPN providers, it’s helping to bring the obscure security product into the mainstream. But for the casual viewer, the sharp spike in VPN ads adds to the confusion and jargon around cybersecurity — and it could be misleading us on how secure we really are.

“If you do think of it like education, it might be the most pervasive form of security education out there,” said Dave Levin, assistant professor in computer science at the University of Maryland.

Researchers at the University of Maryland took a random sample of those hundreds of thousands of ads to better understand what these influencers are saying about security. While not explicitly inaccurate, most of the ads featured vague or exaggerated claims on what VPNs could do, according to Michelle Mazurek, also an associate professor in computer science at the university.

All a VPN can really do is mask your IP address and the identity of your computer on the network by creating an encrypted “tunnel” that prevents your internet service provider from accessing data about your browsing history. They can’t keep your identity secret, protect from financial exploitation, offer “military-grade encryption” or other marketing terms these companies use. Military-grade encryption refers to AES-256, but that’s become an industry standard, and won’t protect you from security threats like phishing attacks.

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