A Virtual private network (VPN) is used by people at corporate companies, while browsing through a public Wi-Fi network, at home for enhanced security, etc. The usage of VPN is getting increased day-by-day and it is not just happening just like that. There should be a stronger reason for a larger crowd of people to choose this service. When we analyze and consider the statistical information from these VPN users, it is clear that they expect complete security from online threats and only the most secure VPN can offer such protection. Here we have carefully picked and enlisted top most secure VPN services for you to select as per your requirement.
5 Best Most Secure VPN Services
1. NordVPN
- Double encryption for added security
- Automatic kill switch
- A variety of platform support
- Six simultaneous connections
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 3-Day free trial
2. ExpressVPN
- Unlimited Bandwidth with Ultra Speed
- Provides all VPN protocols OpenVPN (TCP, UDP), L2TP-IPsec, SSTP, and PPTP
- Dedicated VPN Apps for Android & iOS
- High-End Security with OpenVPN 256-bits
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 3 simultaneous connections
3. Surfshark
- AES 256-Bit Network Encryption
- Chrome Extension Available
- Kill-Switch functionality
- A variety of platform support
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- Unlimited simultaneous connections
4. CyberGhost
- Uses AES 256 Encryption
- Supports OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, and PPTP
- DNS & IP Leak Protection
- Uses 2048 Key & MD5 Authentication
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- Up to 7 Simultaneous Connections
5. Private Internet Access
- Offers all Protocols PPTP, OpenVPN and L2TP/IPSec including SOCKS5 Proxy
- IPv6 Leak Protection & DNS Leak Protection
- Kill-Switch functionality
- Encrypted Wi-Fi Protection
- Zero log keeping policy of internet activities
- 10 simultaneous connections
How to Select the Most Secure VPN?
Though there exist a lot of VPN service providers in the communication arena, certain VPNs guard against hacking and other kinds of digital attacks. There are a few important parameters which determine the best secure VPN with its inbuilt features.
Level of Encryption
The Encryption used by a VPN provider has more importance for a secure data access. It is the technique on how to carry out the communication between the two ends of the VPN tunnel. As we all know a VPN sends data through a separate tunnel, and the security depends on both vulnerability of the transmitted data and the tunnel through which it passes.
VPN Protocols
It is actually the step-by-step procedure that explains the encryption process. We can even consider the VPN protocol as the basis of the network’s security because, without a clear communication instruction, it cannot be carried out in a hassle-free manner. Some of the most widely used VPN protocols are Point-to-Point Tunnelling Protocol (PPTP), Layer-Two Tunnelling Protocol (L2TP/IPSec), OpenVPN, Secure Socket Tunnelling Protocol (SSTP), and Internet Key Exchange (IKE/IKEv2). Though all of them provide a promising access for a secure VPN access OpenVPN is recommended. This protocol is an open source code and supports every device except the Blackberry and the Windows. So, for these devices, we can go for L2TP/IPSec which is the next best to OpenVPN. OpenVPN works well even with the generic versions of Apple’s iOS but we need either IKE or IKEv2 for the custom iOS apps.
Encryption Cipher
The key with which the data is being encrypted is known as the Cipher of the encryption process. The length of the key determines the quality of the encryption. OpenVPN default cipher is the BlowFish-128 bit. Another good cipher that can be deployed easily is the AES-128 bit. However, it cannot withstand Brute Force attacks and people used the military grade AES-256 bit cipher. This Advanced Encryption Standard is very hard to decipher and is offering the highest possible security for a VPN network.
Handshake
Handshaking is the process of confirming the original sender and the actual receiver, before extending the communication. The exchange of digital certificates is helpful to carry out the process, and this exchange is carried out with either the Transport Layer Security (TLS) or the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates. The RSA handshaking algorithm (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) has been in use for more than two decades but later people used the Diffie-Hellman handshaking protocol.
Even today most commercial VPN providers use RSA-2048 because of its security features. We can also use RSA-3072 o RSA-4096 for an enhanced security by comprising on the speed of VPN connections. Apart from these, the Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) is preferred for the OpenVPN protocol. Both DH and ECDH allow Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) to be used along with it. PFS derives a unique key for every OpenVPN session and it is impossible for the hacker to use the captured key again. This, PFS offers the most secure VPN connection along with the OpenVPN protocol.
SHA Hash Authentication
To authenticate the OpenVPN connections and to provide the most secure VPN services, we can use the hash functionality, the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA). SHA-1 was primarily used but it can be easily broken and hence people used SHA-2. Then they moved to HMAC SHA-2 (Hash Message Authentication Code) as SHA-2 is vulnerable to collision attacks. OpenVPN does not support the SHA-3, however, HMAC SHA-2 is known for providing the best secure VPN ever.
Owned or Rented VPN Server?
The VPN providers to operate in as many countries possible, either they use their own server or they get rented or virtual servers from third parties. Setting up of their own server in every country is really costlier and therefore to reduce the initial cost they go for third parties. We may even have a question that our data will be encrypted and why should we bother about the usage or own or rented servers? But the problem is that these third party servers keep metadata logs and the duration of such logs varies from one party to the other. Even though they keep it for a lesser time period, they may not use proper security measures and this would affect our data security. It is it is recommended to choose the secure VPN which has its own servers at least in the countries we need data access.
WebRTC leaks
This is the problem of letting others know our IP address with no restrictions. Actually, it is a fault that arises in the web browser. But it can be fixed by a VPN service provider either by fixing it in their VPN Client (an App through which we access our VPN account) or on their server. Anyhow, even if they do not fix it as it is not their actual issue, at least they should instruct the users on how to fix it by using an appropriate browser to ensure security.
DNS leaks and IPv6 leaks
These leaks allow the internet regulatory bodies of countries that block request from other countries, it means we cannot access the websites of other countries or streaming services when we are on an overseas travel. But the most secure VPN providers always fix this issue at their VPN client itself.
Advantages of using the Most Secure VPN
Only the VPN providers which use strong technical support regarding security can offer us awesome connections. The following are the advantages of using such a VPN network.
- No Data loss or Data theft
- Can carry out transaction even with public Wi-Fis.
- Wraps the session details inside a tunnel which is also encrypted.
- Evade-Geo restrictions.
- Faster and secure access together.
Conclusion- 5 Most Secure VPN Services
No other technology can provide us such a secure access as a VPN can offer us. Besides security with its top-notch encryptions, VPNs we have mentioned are considered being gaining customer satisfaction with their additional features such as privacy and anonymity.
