A lot of users generally think that there is no risk involved in using free VPN apps but this is just about to be changed as a new study has revealed that almost 40% of the VPN apps available on the Google Play Store can leak data of users.
The study has been conducted by Pro Privacy who took samples of the top 250 free VPN apps on the Google Play Store. While almost 79 apps in total failed to pass the sufficient protection standards, the stats now serve as an eye-opener for anyone who would still prefer to use a free VPN.
Furthermore, the Pro Privacy report has found out that the apps in total have been downloaded for 80 million times and the popularity of VPN services will continue to be on the rise for as long as there is work-from-home culture going on.
Diving deep into the report, we found out Pro Privacy stating that a lot of the VPN apps fail to provide the necessary security measures because they rely on IPv4, an older 32-bit protocol. Back in the days, the protocol held the ability to uniquely identify devices and offered enough variables which then contributed in holding 4.3 billion unique addresses in the 32-bit system.
However, as more and more devices started accessing the internet, the unique addresses started to become outdated and IPv6 took over. The newer protocol is now based on 128 bit addresses, while providing 340 undecillion unique addresses.
The IPv6 now covers 25% to 30% of the traffic on the internet and quite surprisingly around 87% of the leaks were also related to it.
Moreover, to analyze the problem even more, the researchers also observed developers creating a lot of similar VPNs only by changing the look and name of the software. One such example is of developer Softtechstudio who made a total of 98 VPNs and therefore the flawed one easily replicated the app created by the similar company.
Usually, majority of the VPNs are also highly identical. It’s the names that make all the difference with USA VPN , VPN Korea, VPN Australia, VPN Israel, VPN India, and VPN China which are then offered by AltApps and eventually get downloaded a million times by the users.
But with that being said, the suggestion also doesn’t mean that you should go for the most expensive options. The trick is to buy a fully-fledged VPN with good security options.
The study has been conducted by Pro Privacy who took samples of the top 250 free VPN apps on the Google Play Store. While almost 79 apps in total failed to pass the sufficient protection standards, the stats now serve as an eye-opener for anyone who would still prefer to use a free VPN.
Furthermore, the Pro Privacy report has found out that the apps in total have been downloaded for 80 million times and the popularity of VPN services will continue to be on the rise for as long as there is work-from-home culture going on.
Diving deep into the report, we found out Pro Privacy stating that a lot of the VPN apps fail to provide the necessary security measures because they rely on IPv4, an older 32-bit protocol. Back in the days, the protocol held the ability to uniquely identify devices and offered enough variables which then contributed in holding 4.3 billion unique addresses in the 32-bit system.
However, as more and more devices started accessing the internet, the unique addresses started to become outdated and IPv6 took over. The newer protocol is now based on 128 bit addresses, while providing 340 undecillion unique addresses.
What Are The Free VPNs One Should Avoid?
IPv4 had set the foundation of the internet and that is the reason why many of the free VPN apps trust the older addresses to protect the data of users. However, as it just couldn’t keep up with the increasing traffic on the internet, IPv6 is now the new thing that offers all the advanced features which are mandatory to keep the privacy in place.The IPv6 now covers 25% to 30% of the traffic on the internet and quite surprisingly around 87% of the leaks were also related to it.
Moreover, to analyze the problem even more, the researchers also observed developers creating a lot of similar VPNs only by changing the look and name of the software. One such example is of developer Softtechstudio who made a total of 98 VPNs and therefore the flawed one easily replicated the app created by the similar company.
Usually, majority of the VPNs are also highly identical. It’s the names that make all the difference with USA VPN , VPN Korea, VPN Australia, VPN Israel, VPN India, and VPN China which are then offered by AltApps and eventually get downloaded a million times by the users.
Is Paid VPN the way to go?
Pro Privacy concluded their report with the solution that one should trust paid VPNs more than the free ones because more often than not, they sell the user data to the highest bidders, along with no efficient security measures.But with that being said, the suggestion also doesn’t mean that you should go for the most expensive options. The trick is to buy a fully-fledged VPN with good security options.
Here's the list of all the VPNs a privacy savvy person should avoid:
