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There are multiple risk factors when you browse the internet: Unprotected Wi-Fi networks, websites that track your browsing habits, unsecured cloud services, et al. What you can do, however, is add a layer of protection with the help of a virtual private network (VPN). It provides you with a secure channel over a possibly unsecure connection, it protects your privacy, masks your location and, in some cases, even bypasses region-restrictions to certain content. Depending on your needs, you can use a VPN in three different waysDEDICATED SOFTWARE ProtonVPN | protonvpn.com ProtonVPN protects your internet connection by hiding your IP address, masking your actual location from the websites you visit and it even routes all web traffic through servers with 256-bit encryption to deter hacking attempts.

It does not log your activity or share your data with third parties or authorities. Its free plan lets you sign in from one computer only, but you get unlimited, ad-free browsing via secure servers in the US, Netherlands and Japan. It is also available as an app for Android and iOS for times when you need to get work done from your phone.

A paid subscription gives you access to anonymous servers in over 30 countries, support for up to 10 device connections and P2P file sharing at higher speeds.

OS: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

Windscribe | windscribe.com In addition to being a VPN, Windscribe also blocks ads and changes your web browsers identitydetails such as version, settings used, screen resolution, etcevery time it restarts. This makes it harder for web trackers to create a browser fingerprint.

Plus, you get an antisocial feature that disables embedded social media badges (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc) on a website, which may contain code to track your activities. While all these services are free, it comes with a 10GB bandwidth limit.

OS: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS | Browsers: Chrome, Firefox

WEB BROWSER VPNOpera | http://www.opera.comOpera is the only mainstream browser with a built-in VPN. When enabled from Settings > Privacy & Security, you get a dedicated button adjacent to the address bar. Data via the VPN is encrypted and routed through remote servers to disguise your IP address and location. However, you only get to choose the server location by region Americas, Europe and Asia.

Apart from the incognito mode and ad-blocker to protect user privacy, Opera provides crypto mining protection.

OS: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android

Epic Privacy Browser | http://www.epicbrowser.comThis browsers built-in VPN now needs to be installed from its extension store. Click the three dots in the top right corner, select More Tools > Extensions and install the Encrypted Proxy VPN Service.

Now, you can enable this by clicking the socket icon that sits beside the umbrella buttonon the right of the address barto enable EpicProxy. In this mode, all web traffic is encrypted through proxy servers to prevent tracking or hacking attempts.

Epic is built using Chromium, the same code base as the Chrome browser. And while it looks like the Google browser, it does not channel your searches to Googles servers or any of its services. Instead, Epic routes your queries through a proxy server to prevent your IP address and location from being disclosed or tracked. The umbrella icon gives you a quick view of your security status and control over ad block, proxy and encryption settings.

OS: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

BROWSER EXTENSIONIf you do not want to change your browser then consider installing an extension to add a VPN functionality for secure communication.

Read more from the original source:
Three secure ways to surf the internet - Gadgets Now