Information security experts have warned users of personal computers, smartphones and intranets in organizations, against the unintended use of free software for virtual private networks (VPN), which is used as a means of securing communications, and the exchange of data and information between two or more parties during a certain period, It has been found that these programs suffer from four vulnerabilities that lead to mistrust, including the adoption of unacceptable privacy policies that endanger their users' data, since many of them do not comply with the standards of safety and protection, which made them classified as unsafe, in addition to many of them contain Harmful and malicious programs, as well as some of them included advertising programs annoying, and viruses, as well as many of them follow the method of «bandwidth selling user» and trading in it, what may be presented by legal accountability.

Experts and analysts explained the famous software downloads site Download.com, the restoration institution

Privacy cdn-resprivacy.pressidium.com, which works in the field of research and testing of privacy tools, it is like choosing between sacrificing money paid in professional paid software, or sacrificing data, personal security and security of devices, which are the real price, or the actual price of free software.

Risks

Technology experts pointed out that recent analyzes showed that 86% of free VPN programs operate with unacceptable privacy policies, 77% are classified as unsafe, and 38% contain spyware, adware, and viruses.

The experts monitored a disturbing escalation in the risks and problems posed by those currently deployed programs, identifying their risks as follows:

Low security level

According to two independent surveys conducted by Download.com in 2018 and 2019, about 86% of free VPN apps running on Android and iOS operate under unacceptable privacy policies. They range from a simple lack of transparency on the one hand, and to explicitly share user data with third parties on the other. Experts said that this disadvantage is found in 80% of the applications classified as the best applications «VPN» on the App Store «Apple» last June, while 64% of those applications have no known identity responsible for development, while 17 Only% have customer support. Based on these results, 77% of these programs were classified as unsafe, and 90% of those programs classified as unsafe were considered by VBN to be a threat.

Source of malware

Analyzes also showed that 38% of free VPNs are a source of malware, according to a study published by Privacy Restoration, which shows that the programs included in that percentage are among the programs that are known to be highly popular and downloaded millions of times. , While some of them have to do with ransomware. The study linked the figures to Kaspersky Information Security that mobile malware increased 54 percent year-on-year.

Source for advertising programs

Analyzes also revealed that many free VPNs serve as a source of annoying aggressive advertising programs, which make the user - whether for a computer or a smartphone - surprised by the emergence of quite a few annoying pop-ups that move quickly from one site to another, And reach dangerous areas. Experts have found that some VPN programs sneak through gaps in browser media playback features to display ads, grow code that tracks ads, and violate privacy.

Sell ​​bandwidth

The fourth risk point for VBN software, according to the analysis, is that it resells users' bandwidth to third parties while they are running virtual networks, especially those who use them to access subscription-driven services such as Hulu or Netflix, when they travel to countries that ban those services. The sale of bandwidth while operating VBN networks could put the user in a legal dilemma, as was the case with Hola Ovir Velinsky, which shows that some of its programs sold bandwidth to users in 2015 for third parties.

Virtual Private Networks

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs): Networks that are established at the heart or within existing networks, whether open information network such as the Internet, or a closed internal communication and information network of a company or facility, to provide secure private communication channels, between two or more parties, to allow those Parties shall communicate and conduct transactions, exchange of data, information and voice conversations, and shall remain in force as long as communication is maintained. Once the communication process is finished, it disappears from the network as if it were not, so it is sometimes called the “ghost network” that appears and disappears quickly, without having a sustainable physical reality.