Michal Marek Almost everyone sometimes uses the possibility to connect to Wi-Fi in a cafe, restaurant, library or airport. Browsing the Internet via a public network, however, carries with it certain risks that users should be aware of.
Thanks to the secure connection via the HTTPS protocol, which is now used by most important servers, including Facebook and Gmail, an attacker should not be able to steal your login information or credit card number even on public Wi-Fi. But not all websites use HTTPS, and in addition to the risk of stolen credentials, public Wi-Fi networks also carry other dangers.
If you use unsecured Wi-Fi, other users connected to that network can theoretically get information about what you do on your computer, what sites you visit, what your e-mail address is, and so on. Fortunately, there is a relatively easy way to secure your public web browsing and that is by using a VPN.
A VPN, or virtual private network, is generally a service that makes it possible to connect to the Internet through a remote secure network. So, if you connect to the Internet in a cafe, for example, thanks to a VPN, you can use a secure network that works quietly on the other side of the globe instead of insecure public Wi-Fi. So although you are actually surfing the Internet in that coffee shop, your Internet activity comes from somewhere else.
VPN services tend to have tens or even hundreds of servers located around the world, and you can easily choose which one to connect to. Subsequently, you already communicate on the Internet via its IP address and can thus act anonymously on the Internet.
Network security should not be underestimated
People on the go will appreciate VPNs the most. They can easily connect to their company network through one of the VPN services and thus gain access to company data as well as the necessary security of their connection. At least once in a while, almost everyone would probably find a use for a VPN. Moreover, it is not just about security. With the help of a VPN, you can simulate a connection from different countries of the world and thus, for example, access Internet content that is only available in selected markets. Netflix, for example, is aware of this practice of its users, and you cannot access it through a VPN.
The range of VPN services is very wide. Individual services differ mainly in their portfolio of applications, so when choosing the right one, it is a good idea to check whether it is available on all the devices on which you will want to use it. Not all VPN services have an application for both iOS and macOS. Furthermore, of course, each service varies in price, with some offering limited free plans where you can typically only transfer a limited amount of data, at a limited speed, and only on a certain number of devices. The offer of remote servers through which you can connect to the Internet also differs across services.
As for the prices, you will pay for VPN services from around 80 crowns a month or more (usually 150 to 200 crowns). One of the most affordable services is PrivateInternetAccess (PIA), which offers everything essential and is usable across all platforms (it has a client for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android). It costs $7 a month, or $40 a year (180 or 1 crowns, respectively).
For example, it is also worth noting IPVanish, which will cost almost twice as much, but will also offer a Prague server. Thanks to this service, citizens of the Czech Republic abroad will be able to easily watch content intended only for the Czech Republic, such as the Internet broadcast of Czech Television. IPVanish costs $10 per month, or $78 per year (260 or 2 crowns, respectively).
However, there are a number of services that provide VPN, the tested applications include the following VyprVPN, HideMyAss, Buffered, VPN Unlimited, CyberGhost, Private tunnel, tunnelbear whether PureVPN. Often these services differ in details, be it the price, the appearance of the applications or individual functions, so it is up to each user which approach suits him.
If you have another tip and your own experience with VPN, or if you recommend any of the services we mentioned to others, let us know in the comments.
What about Opera VPN? It's free and works on iOS without the Opera browser.
I would also wait for the 1st Mist here
After much deliberation, I did not include Opera's VPN in the review for the following reason. Opera is not a VPN in the true sense of the word. While a classic VPN secures your Internet activity completely, the Opera VPN is limited to the browser only. As soon as you use Outlook, Skype or any other application that uses the Internet on your computer, you will be operating insecurely.
And then there is one more problem that I dare to cite under a magnifying glass: “The VPN in Opera has one more problem. It can reveal your IP address even if you are connected through this “VPN”. WebRTC can be exploited to leak the address. You can try it on https://ipleak.net/. If you are connected via a real VPN, your IP address should not be exposed."
Their mobile app acts as a full VPN and covers system-wide traffic. So I connect to public Wi-Fi much more often via mobile than via notebook.
I understand that, but as mentioned, it doesn't apply to iOS. There, the opera application covers the entire system. The VPN settings are also embedded in the operating system settings themselves.
Opera is not a VPN, it shows your IP right away, it doesn't even try to hide it, another disadvantage of Opera is its Chinese owner, it's actually spyware, nothing else.
However, other paid VPN services are not necessarily secure either, some of the services in the US have passed users' communications to the NSA.
It is good to order one of the services that are operated in countries with legislation that protects more personal data of users, typically Sweden, some island states.
In addition, it is almost necessary to avoid all VPN services with their own application, it is optimal to buy only a VPN line and enter the server and login data in the settings in OS X and operate in LPTS IPSEC mode.
Well, I didn't get to such a level that the NSA was watching me. I'm quite curious as to which of the discussants do. Isn't it a matter of priority that we are not casually followed by every "oven" who is currently writing a diploma on the topic of "marketing behavior of coffee shop customers on their laptops"?
Since macOS Sierra, when they canceled PPTP support, all you have to do is create a VPN for home or work on Mikrotik and that's it. In addition, a person has access to all internal network devices and if he is not afraid of the NSA, then in my opinion he does not need more, but maybe I am wrong...
Yeah, basically I agree... :-) I'm not worried about the NSA myself, but I think it's good to know that, for example, Hidemyass doesn't protect its users and transfers data like the Canadian company BlackBerry, even if it flaunts "security"...
However, there is a certain group of users who are in the gray zone of the Internet, then it is better to use a VPN that is based in countries with appropriate legislation and has a higher hope of being more secure.
For example, in the Czech Republic, any audiovisual content can be freely downloaded legally from the Internet for personal use, whereas in Germany or France, slightly stricter legislation applies, although users are not affected in any way, but if you permanently reside in one of these countries, it is better to download movies via a VPN.
However, for this case, any VPN in the Czech Republic on a private line, for example at your home, which can run on a Mac Mini, will be useful, given that "piracy" is to a large extent legalized in the Czech Republic (charged in the form of fees for toners/media/ hdd/ssd/memory cards….).
Na https://deals.cultofmac.com/?rid=539903 look for a VPN, they have a lot of them out there, even with a lifetime subscription. I don't use it myself.
so it mainly differs in who then shares the data to the authorities (if necessary) and then there are those who have nothing to share - this can also be a point of view .. here is a nice list (watch "no logs") https://www.deepdotweb.com/vpn-comparison-chart/ and then maybe http://www.vip72.com/ :-D
Well, for example, a raspberry pi connected to the Internet at home will perform the same service in the same way. If you have a public IP (those given by UPC), then the combination of duckdns.org + openvpn and one setting on the routers will solve all VPN problems for normal use...
But before the closed and difficult-to-configure iPhone connects to the VPN, I manage to download all emails and other updates via the public network in the meantime... :-/ It's a shame that there is no "wait for VPN connection" function... at least I don't know about it...
This is of course complete bullshit, the VPN is connected in a flash. And in principle, there is no reason to turn it off at all. And when the signal is lost or wifi/cellular reconnect, it connects automatically by itself. A kill switch that disables all traffic outside the VPN can also be set.
So when I set up, for example, L2TP, I see the "send all" switch, and the connection to the VPN on both Synology and Mikrotik is probably less than 1 second even on LTE.
Or, for example, in Opera free VPN, which makes a normal VPN profile in iOS, there is a "connect on demand" option in the settings. After that, it is practically impossible to send anything outside of the VPN, even when the connection to a bad WiFi is constantly falling out.
Aren't you, Mr. Martin, just under the influence of stereotypes about Apple?
NordVPN and that's it.