According to a new study by VPN evaluators, more than 25% of the 150 most popular free VPNs on the Google Play Store do not protect users’ privacy. In particular, up to 85% of these apps expose users to security vulnerabilities. The findings of this study have been published in a table, which presents each performance and behavior of a free VPN, including the permissions requested.
The biggest problem identified was DNS leakage, which means that during network traffic, such as the contents of webpages and messages that may be encrypted, VPNs allow DNS requests to pass through a device's reconfigured DNS servers. This would allow a network operator, such as an ISP, to track a user's online activity and potentially defeat the cause of the VPN itself.
In addition, 66% of the apps tested, which totaled 99, requested unnecessary permissions that were classified as dangerous. 25% of the apps requested location detection, while 38% requested access to personal information on the Android device and a smaller percentage wanted to use the device's cameras and microphone or send messages. Overall, 63% of the apps contained features that were suspected of exploiting personal data. It was also highlighted that 18% of the apps, when scanned, contained possible viruses or malware.
It should be noted that the risk table shows that permission questions do not indicate that an app is malicious, but they do not earn the user's trust either. On the contrary, it could be a sign of strange practices on the part of developers or the promotion of advertising that keeps these apps free.
Unfortunately, several of these applications were not able to be thoroughly tested for network security. Of these applications, 14% have now been blacklisted and 62% led users to block TCP ports, causing errors that prevented websites from loading. On the other hand, all the other applications that were thoroughly tested created encrypted VPN tunnels, but several of them allowed DNS leaks without any indication to the user and two of the applications leaked the real IP address of the tested device.
The top free VPN apps (install base) are HotSpotShield Free, SuperVPN, Hi VPN, HotSpotShield Basic, Psiphon Pro, Turbo VPN, VPN Master, Snap VPN, Hola and Speed VPN, which are used by 10 million to 50 million users. None of them had malware but there were some security issues, such as dangerous permissions, dangerous functions and DNS leakage. Finally, the researchers recommend that users be very careful when installing free VPN apps, as they can be particularly dangerous for leaking their personal data.
