In a time when everyone seems to be trying to steal your personal information in the current climate, a VPN can assist you in avoiding this by making your connections secure and secure. While the promises of military-grade security or invisibility may entice you, Consumer Reports Yael Grauer advises that you should look for more concrete evidence that the service you’re considering is legitimate.
A good start is compatibility. Look for the service to support at least the most popular operating systems, which include Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. You should also check the number of devices that the service supports, as well as the number of simultaneous connections it can provide. You should also check the number of servers that are available and their locations around the world. This will help you choose the one that is close to home or gives you high speeds when traveling across the globe.
Certain services provide specialized functions, such as dedicated servers called ‘Netflix’ that allow access to geo-restricted websites, as well as additional security features, such as RAM-only servers that wipes data every when the service is rebooted or switches to dark web monitoring and security features to guard against threats. Review the ownership structure of the company, and see if it has had any privacy scandals or data breaches in the past.
The best overall service we tested was NordVPN with its thousands of servers in 94 countries AES-256 encryption and ChaCha20, a reliable kill switch as well as split tunneling and obfuscated servers. It’s also one of the few providers to publish its detailed no-logs policy and engages PricewaterhouseCoopers for annual audits. The costs aren’t cheap, however, you get a lot for your money. A generous long-term plan includes a 30-day guarantee on money back.
