Avoid these ‘unregistered’ VPN services that leaked data from millions of users


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I wish we didn’t need VPN, but they can be a necessary part of a balanced data security breakfast. ISP, governments, advertisers and even individuals interested in what you do online you can find ways to Easily track your browsing data. VPNs do it more difficult (but almost impossible) by obfuscating your connection through a proxy server. They can’t hide you from everyone, but they are a valuable privacy tool, provided they are not responsible for filtering your data.

Comparitech cybersecurity company reports The UFO VPN user information database has been leaking data daily due to poor security. The firm reported the leak to UFO VPN on July 1. Comparitech says that the database contains:

  • Account passwords
  • VPN session tokens and secrets
  • IP addresses of both user devices and the VPN servers they connected to
  • Connection timestamps
  • Geotags
  • Device and operating system features
  • URLs that appear to be domains from which ads are injected into users’ free web browsers

Much of this data is stored in easy-to-read, plain text files, but the database was neither secure nor encrypted. It didn’t even require a password to access. The number of accounts affected is unknown, but possible all UFO VPN users had at least some of their data leaked; the database exposed more than 20 million user records per day. Worse yet, UFO VPN shared the same code base and configuration like a host of other Android VPN apps with generic names, some with up to a million individual installs. These additional applications, as reported by Android Police, include:

  • Fast VPN
  • Free VPN
  • Super vpn
  • Flash VPN
  • Secure VPN
  • Rabbit VPN

What to do if your information leaked

If you have used any of these VPNs, change your account information as a minimum. Update any other account that uses the same passwords:get unique passwords, now – and turn on two-factor authentication for any service you can. Use Have you sent me to check for any additional commitments and update your passwords as necessary.

I don’t blame anyone for leaving UFO VPN after this debacle. This leak puts users at risk and undermines trust in them. and frankly he VPN market as a whole. Many VPNs make the same “no registration” promise as UFO VPN, and it is now fully justified wonder if they tell the truth more than ever, it is value taking the time to find a VPN you trust.

But don’t take this as VPNs are a lost cause. How I said before, they They are a part of a good data security strategy. For the best level of security possible, you need more than just a VPN, even a reliable one.

Obviously we are big fans of encrypted password managers, but you can increase privacy with the right web browser me browser plugins, too. You can also enable DNS over HTTPS if your browser or device operating system then allow, how that It also helps to hide your web traffic from external observers. While no system is foolproof, a well considered mix of these strategies It can make recovering from data breaches much easier.

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