With so many different VPNs on the market – all promising to keep you secure and anonymous – how can you find the best VPN service for your unique needs? Sorting through all the noise is increasingly difficult with all the new VPNs coming online and dozens of “best VPN” websites recommending dubious providers.
What is a VPN
A VPN – or Virtual Private Network – is the ultimate tool to maximize your online privacy and freedom. A good VPN service allows you to:
- Appear to be anywhere in the world by replacing your IP address and location with that of the VPN server.
- Restore your privacy by encrypting your internet traffic and thereby making it unreadable to third parties, such as your internet service provider, network admin, or surveillance agencies.
- Secure your devices from hackers, attacks, and the risks of public WiFi networks.
- Unblock restricted content no matter where you are located in the world.
Aside from security and privacy concerns, another major driver of VPN usage is online censorship in the form of content restrictions and blocked websites, as well as media streaming services such as Netflix & Kodi
From China to the UK and North America, more people than ever are using VPNs to have a safe, secure, private, and unrestricted online experience.
How a VPN works
A VPN works by creating an encrypted connection between your computer/device and a VPN server. Think of this encrypted connection as a protected “tunnel” through which you can access everything online, while appearing to be in the location of the server you are connected to. This gives you a high level online anonymity, provides you with added security, and allows you to access the entire internet without restrictions.
Without a VPN, everything you do online is traceable to your physical location and the device you are using via the device’s IP address. Every device that connects to the internet has a unique IP address – from your computer to your phone and tablet. By using a VPN, you will hide your true location and IP address, which will be replaced by the VPN server you are using.
Most VPN providers maintain servers all around the world. This gives you lots of connection possibilities and access to worldwide content.
After purchasing a VPN subscription and downloading the software for your device, you can instantly connect to any of these worldwide servers.
Now that you know how a VPN works lets check out the benefits.
What are the benefits of using a VPN service
- Surf the internet without revealing your real IP address and geo-location.
- Add an extra level of security by encrypting your internet connection.
- Prevent your internet service provider (ISP), third parties, network admins (at school or work), and governments from spying on your online activities (thanks to encryption).
- Unblock websites and access content that is restricted to certain geographic locations. (netflix and kodi)
- Torrent, P2P download, and stream media (such as Kodi) in safety.
- Bypass censorship by easily getting around regional restrictions.
- Save money on flights and other online purchases by changing your IP address (geographic location).
- Protect yourself from hackers anywhere you go – especially while using public WiFi connections in cafés, hotels, and airports.
- Protect your private data, such as bank passwords, credit cards, photos, and other personal information when online.
- Booting users offline and not revealing your IP Address / Geo Location.
Security Tips and Considerations
In today’s world almost everyone needs a VPN and is one of the most important tools to have when connecting to the internet. When hacking or sending a dos attack its critical to consider that connecting to a website or using an IP booter against someone/company, your IP address will be leaked and displayed on the server logs.
If they (CIA, Hackers, NSA, or any government intelligence company) traced back an attack to a website that you used online they can disclose your IP Address and thus will reveal your home location and possibly charge you for cyber crime.
The only way to protect and stay anonymous as possible when hacking is by using a VPN.
By choosing one of the VPN’s listed below, you can guarantee you are safe and secure on the internet.
Avoid Free VPN’s
Many people who are new to VPN services start out by looking for a free VPN in order to save money, rather than searching for the best VPN that will keep their data safe.
This is a bad idea. Free VPN services have become notorious for making money off their users in a variety of insidious ways.
The truth is that these free VPN services are actually cashing in on their user base – usually by collecting user data and then selling it to the highest bidder. When you route your traffic through a free VPN app on your device, the VPN can easily collect your online activity and sell this to third parties and advertising networks.
In short, free VPNs are both dangerous and invasive so its best to avoid them completely! Now lets check which VPN providers do hackers use.
Best VPN’s used by Hackers
Each VPN service in this guide was tested for IP address leaks, DNS leaks, connection issues, reliability, speed, and whether the features work correctly. The rankings of this list were based on a combination of all these factors.
Here is our list of best vpn’s for hackers.
1. ExpressVPN
In an overcrowded VPN market, ExpressVPN continues to stand out from the rest and remains the top recommendation. It is based in the British Virgin Islands and offers secure, user-friendly apps for all devices.
ExpressVPN is also among the best VPN services for privacy and security. Their no logs policies have been verified through real-world tests with a server seizure in Turkey (all customer data remained secure). ExpressVPN’s apps utilize strong AES 256-bit encryption and the highest standards for leak protection – the “Network Lock” kill switch feature.
ExpressVPN is also one of the best VPNs for streaming. Whether you are using a VPN for Kodi or need the best VPN for Netflix, ExpressVPN offers great apps for streaming devices and high-capacity bandwidth for HD videos and downloads.
Their customer service is also top-notch, with 24/7 live chat support and a 30 day money-back guarantee with all subscription plans. Regardless of whether you need a VPN for privacy, security, streaming, or just browsing the web, ExpressVPN remains the best all-around VPN
Features
- Excellent speeds throughout the server network
- User-friendly and reliable VPN apps (support for all devices)
- Strong encryption, great security features, and no leaks
- Located in a privacy-friendly jurisdiction (BVI)
- Proven no logs VPN provider
- Large, secure server network, servers running in RAM-disk mode
- Works with Netflix, great for streaming
- Browser extensions with HTTPS Everywhere
- Split tunneling feature
- Great Android and iOS apps
- Dedicated VPN router app (for unlimited connections)
- Great customer support (24/7 live chat + 30 day money-back guarantee)
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2. NordVPN
NordVPN is a great choice for privacy-focused users. Aside from the Panama jurisdiction and no-logs policies, NordVPN also provides advanced privacy and security features. These include double-hop VPN servers, Tor-over-VPN servers, leak protection settings, and an ad-blocking feature called CyberSec.
Features
- User-friendly and reliable apps
- 30 day money-back guarantee
- Double-hop VPN servers; Tor-over-VPN servers
- 24/7 live chat support
- No logs + great privacy jurisdiction
- Works with Netflix and other streaming services
- Great for IP Booters
- CyberSec ad-blocking feature
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3. IP Vanish
Security and privacy tests were perfect. We did not find any IP address or DNS leaks with any of the IPVanish apps I tested on Windows, Mac OS, and Android. Everything worked perfectly, with data being secured via the OpenVPN protocol using AES 256-bit encryption.
IPVanish has also lowered their prices while also increasing simultaneous connections allowed per account up to ten. Each subscription comes with a 7 day money-back guarantee. Lastly, IPVanish is one of the few VPNs in the world that owns every server in their network,
Features
- Excellent speeds and reliability
- Large selection of apps for different devices
- Great privacy features, encryption, and leak protection settings
- Works with Netflix and other streaming services
- Great for IP Booters
- 24/7 chat and email support + telephone support (based in US)
- 10 connections allowed
- Entirely self-owned server network, including secure DNS (no third parties)
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4. VPN.ac
VPN.ac is a security-focused provider that is based in Romania. It was created by a team of network security professionals with an emphasis on security, strong encryption, and high-quality applications.
Features
- Dedicated bare-metal servers with self-hosted encrypted DNS
- Excellent speeds with plenty of available bandwidth
- Multi-hop (double VPN) server configurations (18)
- Works with Netflix and other streaming services
- Obfuscation features with many different encryption options
- Secure proxy browser extensions
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How to connect/Install my VPN
Once you have chosen your desired VPN from the above list and you created an account/signed up, you will need to download their software in the downloads section.
Run the exe file to install the VPN on your computer. After the installation, open up the VPN and connect to your preferred server location.
Now it will show “connected” and you will receive a new IP address from the chosen server location you connected.
Conclusion
All 4 VPN’s are recommended and will do the job perfectly, but the top honours will have to go to Express and NordVPN for their amazing features and military grade encryption.
Whenever you are attempting hacking or browsing the dark web, your number one priority should be to double check if your VPN is running.
If you are not fully convinced that these are the most secure VPN’s or not sure that you need it. Test it yourself by following our complete VPN testing guide, or view the 8 amazing things you can do with a VPN!
