Here are my recommended private and secure services. I’ve chosen services that are reasonably easy to use and don’t require deep technical knowledge.
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Three Essential Encrypted Cloud Services (Updated For 2020)
Bitwarden + Sync.Com + Protonmail This is is my recommended combination of cloud providers. These private clouds are secure enough for most use cases.
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A List Of Email Providers That Don’t Track You
I recommend a couple of privacy-friendly email providers that do not scan your email.
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The Best VPN Service Providers Of 2020
There are now over a hundred VPN providers located across the world. To create this list of the best VPN service providers, I test customer service, the reliability of their network, and commitment to privacy.
How To Install Free Ad-Blocking Using AdGuard DNS
AdGuard DNS is a free Domain Name System service provided the AdGuard company. You can use this DNS service to block advertising and trackers. It works like this: when a website sends a request to an ad network, the DNS sends back a “null” response. For example, when a web page looks up the domain name “ads.facebook.com” the DNS will …
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How To Run a VPN & Ad-Blocker On a Router
Why Run A VPN On Your Router? Using a VPN at the router level makes a lot of sense. It is a convenient way to make all your network connections private and encrypted. Every device that connects to your network will be able to access the VPN — there is no need to install a VPN application on each device. …
pCloud: A Cloud Provider That Offers Encrypted And Non-Encrypted Folders
pCloud is a secure cloud provider. The name is a bit unfortunate, but I’ve found their service to be reliable and well designed. pCloud is the first cloud storage provider to offer both encrypted and non-encrypted folders in the same account. The company explains why this makes sense: Although at first thought it is the most natural approach to just …
Tresorit: Cloud File Storage With End-To-End Encryption
Tresorit is a new encrypted cloud stroage provider, based in Switzerland. I’ve been testing their service for a few months, and it has performed well. Tresorit works in a familar Dropbox-type fashion. However, the difference is that Tresorit encrypts your files before they are uploaded to the cloud. This is what is called “end-to-end encryption”. It means your files are …
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The Best VPN For Skype In 2018
VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) allows you to communicate via voice, video chats and instant messages. The most popular VoIP service is Skype, which allows you call other Skype users for free, or make regular phone call at reduced rates. There are also free VoIP applications too like Linphone, Empathy, Ekiga, Google Talk and Redphone (Android only).
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Bitwarden: A Faster Alternative To Lastpass
Bitwarden is now my recommended password manager. This free, open source application is a replacement for properitary password managers like Lastpass and 1Password.
The Best VPNs For Pakistan
We recommend these VPN providers for those in Pakistan: Private Internet Access (server in Hong Kong, excellent support, good privacy policy, allows torrenting, inexpensive) VPN.AC uses TLS-authentication to mask OpenVPN handshake packets (thus hiding it from Deep Packet Inspection) You can read full reviews of these services in our article The Best VPNs. The Details: VPNs For Pakistan Last year, Pakistan …
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A Guide To Avoiding Ransomware (Part 1)
Ransomware is malicious software that allows a hacker to access an individual or company computer, encrypt your data resident on it and then demand some form of payment to decrypt it. This lets hackers hold your data hostage – and hence the term “ransom”. Victims can regain access to their files only by paying the ransom, or by restoring from a backup that was hopefully not on a network that was accessible to the compromised computer.
How To: Use Email Privately without Being Tracked
Virtually everyone needs an email account. Yet keeping emails private and secure is challenging because, by design, email identifies the sender. You also can’t protect emails from tracking with privacy tools like Tor or VPN. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to protect your email privacy. Here are our tips for secure email: If possible, use …
How to Use Encryption Effectively on Android Phones
Android phones and tablets have come with built-in encryption support for several years. Since the Android Lollipop release in 2014 encryption has even been turned on by default. But that doesn’t necessarily mean your Android personal data is secure. There are additional steps you should take to prevent access to your data in case your device is stolen. Here’s what …
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PrivaTegrity Promises Better, Faster Online Privacy than Tor
What if there were an online privacy solution that was much faster than Tor and, unlike VPNs, allowed no single third party to read encrypted information? That’s what David Chaum, an Internet security and privacy veteran, aims to implement through a new type of mixed network called PrivaTegrity. PrivaTegrity is designed to work somewhat like Tor in that it would …
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How To Get Better VPN Speeds and Performance
Using a VPN to increase your privacy or access blocked websites doesn’t have to come at the cost of a fast Internet connection. Here’s how to get the best speeds when using a VPN. It goes without saying that the best way to get good VPN speed is to pick a provider with solid service. But even with a great …
VPN Traffic Can Be Decrypted through Juniper Bug
Juniper Networks, a popular provider of network firewalls, has disclosed a bug in its software that could have allowed third parties to decrypt VPN traffic. The bug, which Juniper reported on Dec. 17, involves networking hardware devices running the company’s ScreenOS. These are the type of devices used in major datacenters or by ISPs to route and control network traffic. …
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Two Free Privacy-Focused Mobile Operating Systems
Making Android-based mobile devices more private and secure can be a challenge. Here’s a look at two custom-built versions of Android that aim to provide comprehensive out-of-the-box privacy and security, with little work on the part of the user. Privacy gaps on Android exist at several levels. There’s the operating system itself, which could have bugs that allow third parties …