ProtonVPN Full Review 2021: Sharp-Witted Privacy

More About ProtonVPN

ProtonVPN is a Swiss cyber-security company with a headquarter in Switzerland, it launched ProtonMail in 2014 to provide a decent privacy level for internet users in general, especially people at-risk, including journalists and democracy activists. The app had noticeable popularity in no time, and now it is available for users worldwide. The email is safe and ensures that your data, emails, and account are unreachable for intruders and third parties. One more amazing fact about it is that their code is open source, making it available and free for everyone. 
 

ProtonMail came to the world of privacy with steady steps; it uses end-to-end encryption, which leaves nothing behind to third parties. Even ProtonMail can’t encrypt your emails; consequently, third parties can’t do that either. Maybe you will trust it more if we tell you that creating your email does not require personal information, and you can be linked to an anonymous email account. Being private and secure does not mean that you will have to deal with a primitive and old-designed interface; the interface is human-friendly with astonishing design and easy-to-use tools. 
 

ProtonVPN Goes Beyond Emails 

Three years later, the company launched ProtonVPN because emails are just one fish in a vast ocean. After one year of development and four months of testing, the team of ProtonMail has brought ProtonVPN to the public. Its ultimate purpose is to expand its services outside the box of emails and set free users from trackers, hackers, and stalkers. Online freedom also means zero limits to your online activity. Therefore, ProtonVPN puts down the walls that stand between you and your constrained online content.
 

Use ProtonMail For Free

ProtonVPN has a no-logs policy that leaves no data on their servers to be saved or stolen. It has a free VPN version with servers in the US, Netherlands, and Japan that connects to one device. Users need to upgrade to paid subscriptions for more devices, which offer more than 1,059 servers in 54 countries worldwide. You also can protect up to 10 devices at the same time.

Get to know its services better with the below features:

• Secure Core VPN

It protects your connection from the attacks that target the VPN server, it is a kind of attacks that classic VPNs can’t avoid, especially in countries with highly restrictive internet regulations, like China, Iran, Russia, or countries with broad surveillance power, like the USA and UK. Secure Core VPN passes your traffic through the Secure Core VPN first, then the Secure Core VPN passes user’s traffic in multiple servers, making it difficult to unveil both the real IP address and the locations of ProtonVPN users. 

• NetShield

It beefs up your device by blocking ads, trackers, and malware. How does it work exactly? 
The DNS server is responsible for all domain requests for every resource. When you enable NetShield on your device, the DNS server checks these domains and eliminate them if they match the databases of domains with ads, malware, or trackers. As a result, it speeds up your device and keeps it protected from cyber-attacks. 

• Invincible Encryption 

Your traffic is encrypted using AES-256 encryption, key change is done with 4096-bit RSA, and HMAC with SHA384 is used for message authentication. It is such a comfort to know that what you do online can’t be seen or reached by a third party. Another feature related to this one is forward secrecy; if you got lost on this, allow us to explain. 

ProtonVPN attentively picks encryption cipher suites to ensure that your encrypted traffic can’t be collected and decrypted by a third party. ProtonVPN changes the encryption key with each new connection, and the encryption key, as a result, is never used for more than one session.

ProtonVPN announced a new feature in 2020, Full-Desk Encryption; this encryption prevents attacks, especially those that can come from high-risk countries like Russia; such attacks could be hard to be done by individuals, but it is not as hard for governments. Similar attacks can be mentioned here, man-in-the-middle attacks (MITM), this kind of attack must not be taken easily because the attacker takes place in the connection between a user and the server, which puts the attacker directly in connection with the victimized user. As a result, the attacker can reach and use all messages, conversations, online activity, web browsing, and more.  

Full disk encryption secures server certificates and all other configurations and software stored on an exited server, so that even if the server is somehow reached, cyber-criminals would not be able to access any data stored on it.

No More MITM Attacks
 

• Strong Protocols

Some protocols cost less to operate, like PPTP and L2TP/IPSec, but ProtonVPN servers do no use any out of the list. Instead, it uses only protocols known to be secure like IKEv2/IPSec and OpenVPN, which ensures that your traffic goes through a secure tunnel.

• Security at the Hardware Level
 

ProtonVPN Secure Core servers are 1000 meters below the surface in a former Swiss army fallout shelter. Servers in Iceland also reside in a former military base. By doing so, ProtonVPN makes sure that not only your information is secured, but also the servers are secured at the hardware level.

• No-logs Policy

It is supported by the Swiss law, which does not obligate certain logging on specific users. According to the same laws, VPN providers are obligated not to save any connection logs under any circumstances. The good news is that the no-logs policy applies to all users, even for those who use the free version of ProtonVPN.

• Built-in Kill Switch 

When you lose connection to your VPN server, the kill switch feature stops your internet connection to prevent any leaks, finds another VPN server for you automatically, and re-establish a connection in no time with the Always-On-VPN feature. 

• Tor Over VPN 

You can route your traffic into the Tor anonymity network, which provides access to Onion websites and dark web sites with a single click.  

• High Speed 

All ProtonVPN servers have at minimum 1 Gbps bandwidth, and many of their servers also use 10 Gbps connections. 

Here are some additional features: 
 

It seems like ProtonVPN took into account all users with different technical proficiency. The interface is modern with easy to find and use tools. So that you can browse, communicate, and surf the web anonymously and with zero threats. One more amazing thing about ProtonVPN ease–of–use is that you can save connections with different settings, saving you the effort and time wasted on manually changing the options with each connection. 
 

A Single Click And You Are There

Most VPN providers offer live chat or email assistance. Unfortunately, ProtonVPN does not provide assistance via live chat, but their knowledge base is comprehensive, and you probably will find what you are looking for. Anyway, you can post your question, and they will respond within two days. Many users could find it behind-the-beat. However, you won’t wait for nothing; the response is comprehensive and most of the times carries what you need. 

Some VPNs offer subscriptions with different durations but with mostly the same features. ProtonVPN offers various options in terms of both duration and features. A free VPN version is also available, too.

We think it is important to know your needs before saying your last word. Whatever you choose, you will sacrifice nothing. 
 

What About Trying it For Free?

Last to Say About It 

Launching ProtonMail in 2014, was a turning point in the world of privacy, and the company has thrived since then with new technologies afterward. In 2017, ProtonVPN came to support their first accomplishment and ensures that individuals' privacy is under ProtonVPN protection. We can't agree more on how trustworthy their services are, especially with their restless efforts and work to make a difference, mentioning here the Full-Desk encryption that was added to the long list of features in 2020.

Online freedom has always been ProtonVPN ultimate goal, and so far  it seems they are doing well in making it come true.