VPN is a great technology, but its legitimacy has been affected by numerous fake services in the market. The tool actually protects its users. However, you must stay aware of VPN vulnerabilities and regularly check its performance.
Note: If you don’t want to do the regular checkups, invest in a reliable and secure VPN service like NordVPN. It offers robust encryption, DNS/IP leak protection, and multiple other features.
VPN is a buzzword among the netizens of the present era. But is the hype worth it? Does VPN actually protect? Hopefully, you will get answers to all your questions in this article.
Some important factors let us decide the worth of a VPN. Most aspects are not an issue with VPN technology, but they make specific VPNs less preferable. Let’s discuss those factors below in detail.
Why are you using a VPN?
VPN usage greatly defines the efficiency of a VPN. In some aspects, VPN could be more competent than other operations. For instance, you can get strong protection when;
- You are using public Wi-Fi and want to prevent data loss. A VPN ensures your data is encrypted, and no one can snoop on it.
- You want to hide your browsing history and data from your ISP.
- You need to unblock geo-restricted content by changing your IP address and location, such as unblocking the US Netflix library from a country other than the US.
For many, understanding how a VPN works is necessary to interlink these tasks and improve the VPN’s functioning. However, the VPN service you select has a significant impact, and the efficiency level of these specific tasks could vary considerably.
VPN Vulnerabilities
Vulnerabilities could affect the VPN’s functioning as they could in other technologies. Here are some vulnerabilities that can compromise the VPN’s performance. These vulnerabilities are initiated due to the VPN’s lack of services or a cyber attack.
Updates
Many VPN providers have been using the same version for years, which could be a dangerous sign. Like most people, you might get annoyed by the update notifications, but you must be wary if you are not getting one.
Data breaches
VPN data breaches indicate data logging, so user data gets exposed.
Malware
As an individual, you may not find malware in any VPN software, but numerous surveys and reports indicate the malware in unreputable VPN providers.
Encryption level
Encryption is an essential yet obvious thing you can easily discover in a VPN you select. Although the preferred encryption level is AES-256 bit, there should be at least 128 bits.
VPN Performance
This is the crucial part of a VPN service that is most relevant to your question, “Do VPNs work or not?“
Fortunately, the answer remains unchanged for those who get disappointing results.
Curious to know how?
The following tests provide a complete report about your VPN performance and efficiency.
- DNS Leak Test
- IP leak Test
- Torrent IP test
- Encryption Test
Many tools are available for all these tests, but you need to find a legitimate one when everybody is into a business. Here is a video showing how some tools mislead users to sell their services or those they are affiliated with.
However, let us move to the VPN details mentioned above.
DNS leak and DNS leak test
Due to the DNS resolving process, your ISP knows all your activities through the DNS resolver/server. Therefore, many people use a VPN, which delivers all the DNS requests to an anonymous VPN DNS server instead of an ISP DNS server.
The DNS leak phenomenon occurs only when there is a VPN connection. When a VPN is connected, but due to certain limitations, the DNS request gets towards ISP DNS instead of VPN DNS; it is called a DNS leak.
Usually, you cannot judge DNS leaks without any tool. So, here I am referring to the DNS leak tool from VPNInsights, which isn’t affiliated with any VPN.
To test DNS leak;
- Connect your VPN and Open the DNS leak test page, i.e., dnsleaktest.com
- Click the “Execute Test” button and wait for a few
- The site will display results for you.
If the displayed list contains accurate information such as hostname, IP address, or location, your VPN leaks DNS.
IP leak test
You must be aware of IP leaks; if not, you can see detailed information here.
IP leak is also associated with a VPN connection, and the VPN with an IP leak is useless. Also, such VPNs could be a real threat to your privacy.
To test an IP leak, follow these steps;
- Go to the IP leak test page and check your real-time IP address without a VPN
- Now, connect your VPN and click the “Run” button.
- At the center, your VPN IP will be displayed.
If the VPN IP differs from your actual IP address, then your VPN is not leaking. However, a VPN with an IP leak cannot protect you and your privacy.
Torrent IP test
A torrent IP leak occurs when you are torrenting and your torrent client’s IP address leaks. Your actual IP address is exposed as a result.
Checking torrent IP leaks is simple. All you need to do is;
- Go to the Torrent IP Test page (make sure your VPN is connected).
- Now click “Load torrent file” and wait for a few seconds.
- Click the “Magnet link.”
- Open the link in your torrent client, such as uTorrent or qBitTorrent, and wait for the downloading process to begin.
- As soon as the downloading starts, you can come back and check the right side for the Torrent IP address.
If both the VPN IP and Torrent IP are the same, your VPN is working perfectly. But if your real IP is displayed, your VPN is not protecting you.
Encryption test
The encryption test is a similar legitimacy test for your VPN, and it is pretty lengthy and complicated. However, this test could complete the answer to your question about VPN credibility.
Instead of discussing the whole process again, we are providing you a link to the article “How to check if your VPN traffic is encrypted.” Here, you can find the simplest way to check VPN encryption.
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