Hi, I have purchased avast one for my family’s iOS devices, to protect them after a family friends had a scare on one of their kids iPads.
My question is that upon set up it installs web shield for safari that blocks anything threats online and a vpn that stays on by default.
This has caused issues with the devices accessing video streaming ie Disney plus Netflix.
I want my family to be as safe as possible online but it is becoming tedious having to keep disabling the vpn when trying to access these.
My question is if the web shield is switched on all the time, is the vpn being on all the time necessary on iPhone and iPad
No. You don’t really need either of them.
Get a refund, those apps are absolutely useless and there are absolutely no actual use cases.
If you want your family to be safe online, teach them not to click on weird stuff. That’s it.
Avast isn’t going to do anything remotely useful.
do not use avast. It’s basically spyware.
I think a VPN is only useful if you:
- care about Privacy : A VPN encrypts your internet traffic and hides your IP address, protecting your online activities from prying eyes like your internet service provider, hackers, or government surveillance.
1.1 If the device is used from home you most probably don’t need a VPN.
- care about accessing restricted content: VPNs allow you to bypass geographical restrictions and access content that may be blocked in your location, such as streaming services, websites, or online services.
So just to east the paranoid side of me i will be absolutely fine just having the webshield to protect browsing (kids click links without thinking sometimes) and having the vpn off
Cyber security is so scary
I will keep it for the vpn and data breach protection but good to know, so will the web shield not do anything then?
I do care about privacy, my job requires access to somewhat sensitive data not anything crazy like a dr or anything, but customer databases etc. so I would very much like to avoid snooping, data breaches etc.
do you know if the web shield part of this product actually works on safari on iOS devices? I’d like to think that it does but one of the other comments has put doubts in my mind
99.99% of users have no use for a VPN, they do not protect you in any way shape or form + you can have one for free fairly easily.
A VPN is a system that allows you to simulate a local network for multiple systems that are not on the same network. Only a few people have an actual use for that.
A VPN provider will :
- mask your IP
- probably record everything you do to sell to advertisers (yes they can see everything you do)
A VPN provider will not :
- make your WiFi secure
- prevent attacks
- make you anonymous
The VPN market is one of the biggest scam in the history of tech, as they are making a niche technology look like an essential for security even tho IT DOES NOTHING FOR SECURITY.
Data Breach protection doesn’t mean there won’t be a data breach, it means that if there is one and Avast notices (which they won’t they are kinda bad at that) they will notify you.
The « web shield » is just a fancy way to say « website filter » which you can have, again, for free (for example through an adBlocker). It means it’s just a list of websites that are known for being malicious.
Moreover, if you are on iOS devices (which by the fact that you are on this sub I would say you are), there aren’t a lot of ways you can get hacked. As long as you don’t input credit card infos, you should be good.
please, dear God tell me you’re not using a free VPN to access confidential customer data.
Think about it this way. If protecting your data was more profitable than selling your data your ISP would offer the same services that the VPN offers. They don’t because sewing data is extremely lucrative. Why would a free VPN not be selling your data? Even paid VPN are iffy, but free ones especially avast just bad.
furthermore, a VPN does very little to protect your privacy. They can be useful in the situation, but even reputable VPN vendors will tell you on their website that they don’t actually protect your privacy all that well. They’re great if your access in public Wi-Fi. But governments and threat actors can still intercept your data. Paraphrased from a reputable VPN btw. If you want to functional web shield, use the brave browser.
Thank you, I guess seeing all the phone hacking stuff on the news has just made me paranoid
I’m not using a free vpn I pay for it
Good luck hacking an iPhone.
It was iPhones? In 91 countries people were getting messages from apple saying that they had stuff on their phones?
Scams ≠ hacks. Those are not messages from apple, those are scams.
I thought it was a genuine message from apple stating that the phone had been compromised, or so the articles I read worded it that way
Apple would never send that kind of message. That’s a scam, 100%.
This was one of the things I had read
That means they tell you if you’re being spied on by a very advanced spyware like Pegasus by a government entity so you can enable isolation mode.
If you aren’t a terrorist or living in a dictatorship you are not concerned.