I am considering online security options now as a I grow older because now i have more significant information to protect. Is actually worth the cost and are there any good scanning tools to completely protect my devices?
Is actually worth the cost
I use one, which didn’t cost me much (special lifetime deal). Some features come in handy, especially when traveling or (I’m an expat) when needing to access something in former home country. Costs and benefits may vary for you. You can try a couple of reputable VPNs for free before deciding whether to buy.
Some benefits of using a VPN:
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hide some info from your ISP, a company which already knows far too much about you
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hide info from other devices on your LAN, and your router, which is especially important if you’re on public Wi-Fi
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make it a little harder for web sites to track you, by hiding your home IP address from them
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defeat geo-locking by some sites
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some VPNs provide malware-site blocking, ad-blocking, parental controls features
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maybe add multiple jurisdictions/countries in the way of anyone who wants to DMCA or sue you
Sign up for the VPN without giving ID (easy to do), always use HTTPS for all sites, and use OS’s generic VPN client.
any good scanning tools to completely protect my devices?
Malware or file-integrity scanners running on device, port-scanners from outside ? What operating system ?
There is no “completely protect”.
A VPN is a tool that add security to your connection, not your devices. If you just want DNS filtering (blocking bad websites) you don’t need a VPN. A VPN has some security benefits : it technically protects your information from your ISP or anyone on your network (including on public wifi networks). I said technically because we already seen VPN providers giving data that thay shouldn’t have, they aren’t all trustable.
From my point of view, using secure services, like encrypted email or private browser is something you need to do if you have important data to protect. A VPN is absolutely useless if you use services that doesn’t protect your data (it doesn’t matter how secure is your connection if at the end the data is not secure).
There is a very good website that allow you to know if you need a VPN. Just one last thing I would like to say is, if you buy a VPN, choose carefully and avoid VPN based in non-private laws country or fiscal paradise (edit : fiscal paradise without real privacy laws). And don’t rely on online comparatives, they just recommand the ones that gives the bigger affiliate link (based in fiscal paradise, what a surprise!), the best is to make your own research and create your own opinion.
I’ve been exploring this topic and my impression so far is that VPNs don’t really help with your personal privacy and security.
The intend of the VPN is to create a private internal network so that companies can manage accesses to their systems.
As far as privacy/security for the individual user it doesn’t seem to provide a lot of benefits.
You just decide to trust your VPN provider, instead of your ISP. And my issue with VPN providers is that they get acquired at scale from big players from China and the US.
And I don’t find VPN companies to be trustworthy. All these affiliate marketing programs with 99% discount look too dodgy for an IT product.
Disclaimer: I work for a company developing cybersecurity products but I’ve only scratched the surface in regards to VPNs.
yep. never trust vpn “review sites” . troll the reddit comments . lol. my last 3 ive tried were in the comments. think i’m going back to #1 asap.
black friday deals coming
It’s better to opt for a VPN-based browser to protect your identity online. You can stay anonymous and surf the web with multiple IPs. Open as many sessions on the same website as you want as you get a different cookie jar for each tab so you can run many sessions at once.
This is speculative, but. A few years ago I downloaded some music and my internet provider was contacted and then I was contacted - BAD USER! WE SLAP YOUR WRIST! I’ve never downloaded music from the artists concerned again.
I want to download an album from one of the artists in SACD, but I don’t wish to incur the wrath of the music industry. If I signed up for a reputable VPN, would I be safe in assuming some form of anonymity? I’m more than likely not even going to attempt this, but I thought I’d pose the question. Thank you
If you are on a home network then a VPN isn’t necessary especially with an anti-virus provider. VPN’s are more so used for traveling / public networks. Please for the love of God do not waste money on one if you stay home 24/7.
which services would you recommend? or do you use yourself?
What is wrong with fiscal paradise countries? Here’s what I read about Switzerland:
Does that mean I should avoid purchasing VPN there?
Wouldn’t Windows Defender be enough to protect you? I don’t understand why people pay a subscription for an anti-virus when the default anti-virus is more than enough to protect you. I’ve heard from many people that paying for anti-virus is actually a scam.
What is your opinion on using free DNS with DoH and DoT encryption in conjunction with paid proxy? Can they do most of what VPN can?
VPNs are not a security feature. They help with obscurity, preserving your IP and traffic but it does not make you inherently more secure. All it does is create a tunnel between you and an end point in another geo-location that encrypts your traffic, can circumvent web restrictions and regional restrictions and help change to different locations for things like shows or games in different countries. They are also commonly used by employees to remote in to a corporate office from the road when traveling.
I also used to think it was about security but am in school for this now and have come to learn a lot; mostly that advertising uses “security” as a blanket statement to make money. Even though your ISP doesn’t know what you are doing, the VPN company/server manager still does and would have to turn over that information if subpoenaed for any reason.
def agree with you 100% btw
So have you got yourself a VPN deal?
Are these incognito sessions you are talking about? So far I only know about incognito new windows but have not seen incognito tabs. It would make things more organized.
What would that be? Can you message recommendation that are safe? New to all this cyber security but it’s needed
We’re not supposed to recommend here. I’ll send you a message.
Switzerland is a country with privacy-respcting laws, even if it’s a fiscal paradise. Other fiscal paradise countries don’t offer Switzerland’s respect on privacy, and generaly don’t even have a working online-data-safety organisations, meaning they are weaker against illegal/non-legitimate data disclosure.
Does that mean I should avoid purchasing VPN there?
It just means that you must be sure 1) A VPN is what you need and 2) You understand what a VPN do and not (because the lying marketings of bad VPN makes people think so much things that a VPN can’t do)
Could you msg me the recommendations as well? Especially good ones for Germany…