What are the dangers of using public WiFI?

We are living in a connected world where public WiFi networks are everywhere around us! it’s rare not to find free WiFi in coffee shops, restaurants, hotels, airports, malls, and nearly every business.

If you work or spend much time in coffee shops, you will notice that most people ask for the WiFi password the moment they sit in even before making their order. 

It’s well understood that everybody loves free internet but what are the dangers of free public WiFi networks? 

What are the risks of using Public WiFi? 

Whether the WiFi network is secured or unsecured, it’s not safe when any person can ask for the password because. Even worse, some Public WiFi networks leave their router exposed, letting any connected user gain admin access to the router, add some bad intentions and you could be under an attack. 

In this unsafe network environment, your network traffic can be monitored, packets sniffed, and you will probably notice an increased amount of suspicious pop-ups in your browser or redirections to phishing pages. 

Let us talk about some of the methods used in network attacks:

Evil Twin Attack

It’s a malicious WiFi network with a similar name to the Public WiFi, created by the attacker to lure unsuspected users to join it. When the victim connects to the malicious network, the attacker can have direct access to the victim’s computer.

So, make sure you double-check that network name before joining, you don’t know where you might end up.

Man-in-the-middle attacks

This is an interesting one, it’s when the attacker manages to put himself between you and the server you’re communicating with. So, instead of communicating directly with the server, the packets you send or receive from the server pass through the attacker who can alter these packets. 

This attack usually targets the communication between the victim and the DNS server, so when the victim types a web page address, the attacker intercepts the DNS server response before it reaches you, alters it, and you end up at the attacker’s server.

Since the attacker can monitor all the victim’s traffic, it’s possible to access every piece of information the victim is sending, such as credit card details, passwords, or important data.

Malware Distribution

Malware distribution or injection is when the attacker intercepts a web server response before it reaches the victim, manipulates it, inserts some hidden code in to run on the victim’s device.

How to Stay Safe While Using Public WiFi

It’s simple, use a VPN

It’s the best, easiest, and most convenient way to protect yourself online, whether you’re on a public WiFi or an unsecured network. When you connect to a VPN server, an encrypted tunnel is created for all your traffic. This will prevent any attacks because even if the attacker intercepts your data, it’s encrypted data, they won’t be able to see any of it which is enough to avoid the risks of public WiFi networks. 

If you don’t already have VPN, we recommend you to try bVPN, it’s one of the best VPNs in the market and it will ensure that your traffic is well encrypted without sacrificing the speed, plus you can use it on up to 6 devices at the same time.

bVPN lets you try before you buy, just download the app on your device, install it, and click “Connect”. No registration is required. 

bVPN is available on Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux.

The post How to Stay Safe While Using Public WiFi appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

T-Mobile’s announcement came after an anonymous hacker claimed to have sensitive personal information on more than 100 million people including 30 million unique SSNs that had never been sold to anyone before. 

The stolen data includes social security numbers, phone numbers, names, physical addresses, unique IMEI numbers, and driver’s licenses information, the seller said in an underground forum as reported by Motherboard.

T-Mobile said in a statement Monday afternoon, “We have determined that unauthorized access to some T-Mobile data occurred, however, we have not yet determined that there is any personal customer data involved,” 

“We have been working around the clock to investigate claims being made that T-Mobile data may have been illegally accessed,”

The company added, “We are confident that the entry point used to gain access has been closed, and we are continuing our deep technical review of the situation across our systems to identify the nature of any data that was illegally accessed,” the company said in a news release.

This is not the first time T-Mobile has been targeted in a data breach. In December 2020, phone numbers and call-related information of T-Mobile customers have been illegally accessed but no sensitive information such as names and Social Security numbers were included.

The post Data of 100 Million People Being Sold for 6 Bitcoins and T-Mobile Says it is investigating a data breach! appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

The CG model of Jensen in a CG replica of his kitchen

The Graphics Technology Conference (GTC) Keynote, which took place last April, was nearly 100% fake, and no one noticed! 

Deepfakes are not something new and over the past few years, deepfakes improved and got a lot better. It became more difficult to tell the difference between the real thing and a fake one, and Nvidia with its GTC 2021, proved that it can be almost identical.

Well, the entire keynote was not a fake but during a section in the keynote, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and his famous kitchen were totally CG models. In the same kitchen last year, Huang pulled the RTX 3090 out of his oven during the Nvidia Ampere reveal.

The surprise or should we call it the shock took everyone in the industry because the keynote was in April with more than 2 million views on YouTube and no one from the industry or the press noticed a thing until Nvidia released a documentary on the making of The GTC keynote and revealed in a blog post.

“The computer-generated model of Jensen was brought into a computer-generated replica of his kitchen that was deconstructed to reveal the Omniverse,” Nvidia said.

Nvidia used its own Omniverse Platform to make the keynote, It is a powerful multi-GPU real-time simulation and collaboration platform for 3D production. Omniverse enables universal interoperability across different applications and 3D ecosystem vendors. It provides efficient real-time scene updates and is based on open-standards and protocols. The Omniverse Platform is designed to act as a hub, enabling new capabilities to be exposed as microservices to any connected clients and applications.

Indeed, this is exciting and great news for the CGI professionals and the industry as a whole but it comes with some serious and worrying concerns. It seems that nothing is real and at the same time, anything is possible!

The post In The Rise of Deepfakes! GTC Keynote was a CGI, Nvidia Reveals appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

PC, console, or mobile gamer? High ping can ruin your online gaming

Whether you’re a casual gamer or an e-sport professional, you have already experienced the nightmare of high ping, latency, and lag! Here, we’re going to talk about how to get a low ping, latency, and lag for better online gaming sessions but first what’s Ping, Latency, and Lag?

What are Ping, Latency, and Lag?

Ping is the way the network measures latency, a ping message is sent to measure the time it takes from your computer, console, or phone to the game server and back again to you. So, if your ping is 100ms this means it takes 100 milliseconds for your computer, console, or phone to respond to the game server, which is a bit high but within the acceptable range.

When you’re playing an online game, you’re connected to the game server, every action you make such as moving around, lotting stuff, or running for your in-game precious life is data sent to the game server and back to you. So, low ping means smoother gameplay because the data travels fast between you and the game server and this is called low latency.

Lag is another term for the delay and there are different kinds of Lag, such as Network Lag or Input Lag but that’s another subject for another time.

Network Lag is a delay in data exchanged between you and the game server. You have seen it before, it’s when you pull the trigger but the bullet takes a little bit of time before it’s shot and now you missed the shot and revealed your position! I can feel your frustration!

What Causes High Ping, Latency, and Lag?

Many factors can contribute to high ping and cause latency which will make your game laggy and ruin your online gaming session. It could be your home network, your ISP network, the game server location, or the network hardware between your computer, console, or phone, and the game server.

How to Reduce Latency and Get Rid of Lag?

Get wired “Ethernet” Connection
If you’re on a wireless connection “WiFi”, maybe it’s a good time to get wired “Ethernet”.

Close Background Application and Programs
Also, make sure that no other apps are running in the background, these apps could be eating your bandwidth. In some cases, your Antivirus or firewall can cause latency.

Select A Server Near Your Location
If all is good on your end, it could be the game server location. Servers located far from your actual location will definitely cause high latency, so choose a server near your region for lower ping. Usually, online games offer multiple servers located around the world for that reason.

Use A VPN

If all the above didn’t help lower your ping, then you may need to use a VPN.

Online gamers use VPN for many reasons, some online games are banned in certain countries and a VPN can help you reach the game server and also to lower your ping.

In simple terms, VPN creates a tunnel between you and the VPN server, so you’re accessing the internet through the VPN server. This can help you avoid any routing issues that probably exist in your ISP network.

We have tested lots of VPNs and found that bVPN is a very decent solution with unlimited bandwidth, zero-logging policy, and servers strategically located in more than 40 locations around the world, I’m sure you will find a server near your location. You can even get 30 Days Free Trial if you subscribe through Apple App Store.

The post How to Get Low Ping to Improve Your Online Gaming appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

How VPN Services Can Change Your Online Business

Virtual Private Network (VPN) software is not only useful for people looking to enter Geo-blocks and access sites from their devices securely. The VPN software is much more than that as it offers valuable benefits to online businesses in plenty of sectors, such as financial firms, SEO companies, travel agencies, digital marketing agencies, and more. VPN can give you a competitive edge for your online business and might be an essential factor to your organization’s success.

Before we dig into how VPN benefits your business, it’s important to know what exactly is a VPN, especially when you are wondering whether to add it to your business or not. VPN is a software that allows you to maintain a secure and private connection to another remote network. Developed initially by Microsoft in the 90s, VPN technology is now conveniently available in the market.

Now, as the perks go far beyond this, we are going to explain how VPN services can change your online business. Here the top five ways how VPN services can take your business to the next level.

Top 5 Ways How VPN Services Can Change Your Online Business

1. Provide Remote Access

Remote staff or remote jobs are no longer a new term as more and more businesses are increasingly shifting towards it. Especially when you are dealing in an online business, you may have workers in different parts of the globe to connect with potential customers.

You can expect increased productivity and efficiency for your online business as your workers are doing the tasks conveniently at their own pace. In previous times, workers were required to work overtime hours, but now with a VPN service, you need an internet connection and a computer. You can finish the job in time while delivering quality results with online protection.

VPN service is crucial especially when employees are working on-the-go accessing public WiFis. With the tool, businesses won’t risk their data to the public networks. Aside from the importance of VPN services for business, it’s also important to have the best backup software solutions in 2020 to protect your online data.

2. Manage and Optimize SEO Rankings

If you are operating an agency, optimizing your content management process with the ability to monitor and find international keywords is essential. Being an online business, how are you supposed to do it if the web in your country differs from the web in another country? Well, it’s simple – via a VPN service.

The top VPN service providers empower your online business to maintain a connection with a remote server, including international businesses. You can feasibly change your online location and connect it with multiple international servers. Moreover, you may browse servers as if you are in another country. This feature helps you to check your ads in key markets and monitor keyword performance in another country. In short, a VPN service allows you to advertise internationally to your greatest potential.

3. Go Past IP Banning

As an online company, along with traditional marketing efforts, your business requires advanced guerrilla marketing techniques through social sites and popular forums. Many social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, or Snapchat recognize your IP address – your unique online identifier. If you post too many times in a day or share posts plenty of times, they will access your IP address while blocking your access.

The good part is that when you have a reliable VPN software, you can easily avoid this. Whenever you connect with a VPN server, you may change your online location along with your IP address. You may browse through multiple IP addresses and eradicate monitoring and tracking. You can post as much content as you want on your social sites without any hassles.

4. Utilize Geo-Targeting

Geo-targeting is a widely used term in today’s market. It is a known tactic used by websites to deliver a variety of content to multiple users based on geographic location. Personalizing your site to respond this way along with native language, native currency and visuals is a strong marketing tactic and may enhance your conversion rates tremendously.

The best VPN app allows you to connect with a VPN server for you to change your perceived geographic location online while ensuring 100% anonymity. You can monitor how your competitors are managing Geo-targeting as well as how effective your Geo-targeting efforts are. The VPN software will enable you to make robust, targeted efforts while driving business revenues in any geographic location.

5. Bypass Online Price Discrimination

When you are dealing in an online business, the ability to pass through online price discrimination can provide real benefits to your business. Online price discrimination is a term where service providers such as rental cars, airlines, clinics, and software services charge a different amount based on geographic region.

With a VPN service, you can change your IP address and match it with the country with a lower cost of services. This method can save your business hundreds and thousands of dollars. You can get all the local services for your business at the lower rates with the best possible deals.

VPN Service – A Valuable Addition to Your Business

According to research by Forbes, around 400 million people around the globe use a VPN network. The advantages of a VPN network can provide to your online business are tremendous such as increased security, protected network and much more.

We have listed down all the perks as well as how VPN services can change your online business. The importance of a VPN service is increasingly being recognized. With the many options available, it can be difficult for businesses to choose one.

To make sure you select the right VPN service for your business, determine your specific requirements. This can help you narrow down your list of VPN services to choose from based on which ones meet your needs best.

The post How VPN Services Can Change Your Online Business appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

This order follows a ban issued by a Moscow court on Friday April 13th 2018 on Telegram messenger, due to app’s developers’ repeated refusal to give up encryption keys to the authorities that would let them gain access to messages being sent through it.

First launched in 2013, Telegram has gained the trust of 200 million monthly active users due to many reasons. Most importantly, it is more privacy focused than WhatsApp. Although both applications use end-to-end encryption, Telegram, unlike WhatsApp, does not share users’ data with Facebook. Telegram can be accessed via desktop browsers as well as smartphones and it’s available in 14 languages.

In Russia, in particular, there are many channels which deliver current events, analysis and dirt on politicians and officials anonymously.

Process of Blocking

Many local ISPs commenced blocking Telegram by blocking more than 15 million IPs used by the messaging service which resulted in taking down many of the world’s top used websites and internet services such as Amazon, Google, Viber, Twitch and Spotify as well as major malfunctions in online banking and retail services across the country.

 In parallel procedures, Russia’s telecommunications regulator has urged top app stores; iTunes and Google Play to take down Telegram, requested that APK Mirror also quit serving Telegram (which would be the primary alternate for Android users, in case Google caves and removes Telegram from its app store), and even demanded VPN providers to halt Telegram messages.

Using VPN to Unblock Telegram in Russia

“Despite the ban, we haven’t seen a significant drop in user engagement so far, since Russians tend to bypass the ban with VPNs and proxies,” Pavel Durov, the app’s founder and CEO wrote on Telegram. “We also have been relying on third-party cloud services to remain partly available for our users there.”

But as mentioned above and as we discussed before, VPNs have been facing restrictions in Russia. So, is it guaranteed for VPN users to be able to unblock Telegram in Russia? It seems that what is needed here is a VPN provider that implements some unorthodox technologies to maintain its users’ privacy in countries like Russia.

b.VPN’s SMOKE Tunnel

SMOKE tunnel was primarily developed by b.VPN as an anti-detection technology in order to avoid the Great Firewall of China which is known for its fierce DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) allowing it to identify VPN connection and disrupt it.

For the past two years, b.VPN has become one of the most stable, top used VPN providers by netizens in China. Read more on the subject here

https://www.bvpn.technology/en/smoketunnel/

And one of SMOKE tunnel’s major advantages is that it is embedded in b.VPN’s OpenVPN clients for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS meaning that it can be used to unblock Telegram on any device.

Getting a b.VPN account will allow you up to 6 simultaneous connections, unlimited access to express speed servers in over 30 geographic locations and unlimited bandwidth.

Free full featured trial is available as well as money back guarantee. Wide variety of payment methods are accepted such as credit cards, PayPal, Webmoney, Mint and Bitcoin.

24/ 7 technical support is reachable via live chat widget on the website and the website is translated into many languages; Russian included.

To sum up

We are very aware of the war against internet freedom not only in Russia but in many other countries. Telegram is not the first and certainly won’t be the last and using VPN is becoming more vital than ever.

The post Russia Bans Telegram and Accidently Takes Down Other Websites appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

When you sit down at your Mac, there are always few applications that you frequently use and start up whenever you boot your computer. Such items could be applications or documents that you would prefer if they automatically started up upon rebooting your Mac, like: Apple Mail, Safari or even messages. Instead of having to start those login items manually every time you turn on your Mac, you can set your Mac to start them for you automatically. In this guide, we will show you how you can set apps to launch automatically upon startup.

How to Add Startup Items on Mac (Method #1)

Follow the steps below in order to successfully set your preferred programs to be launched automatically upon startup:

1- Log into your Mac device. If you have more than one account, then log into the account you want to set startup items on.

2- Head over to your “Dock” or “Apple Menu”, and then click on “System Preferences”.

3- From “System Preferences” go to the “System” section, and then click on “Accounts” or “User & Groups”.

4- In the accounts list, select the username you want.

5- Next, choose the “Login Items” tab.

6- In the “Login Items” window, click on the “+” sign.

7- Once you have clicked on the “+” sign, you will see the standard “Finder” browsing sheet open. Browse until you find the item you want. Click once to select it, and then hit the “Add” button.

All done! The item(s) you have chosen will be added to the startup list and will be automatically launched next time you turn on your Mac. Good job!

How to Add Startup Items on Mac (Method #2)

Drag and Drop is another method to set items to startup automatically on Mac. Follow the steps below in order to successfully set your preferred programs to be launched automatically upon startup:

1- Log into your Mac device. If you have more than one account, then log into the account you want to set startup items on.

2- Head over to your “Dock” or “Apple Menu”, and then click on “System Preferences”.

3- From “System Preferences” go to the “System” section, and then click on “Accounts” or “User & Groups”.

4- In the accounts list, select the username you want.

5- Next, choose the “Login Items” tab.

6- In the “Login Items” window, click on the “+” sign.

7- Now, click on the item you want, and then hold it.

8- Next, drag the item while holding it, and then drop it into the list of startup items.

9- Close the “System Preferences” menu when you are finished.

All done! The item(s) you have chosen will be added to the startup list and will be automatically launched next time you turn on your Mac. Good job!

The post Launch Apps Automatically on Mac (Complete Guide) appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

Last Monday, Apple has sealed the deal and acquired Shazam for$400 million. Shazam is an extremely popular application that helps its users identify songs, commercials, movies and TV shows through short audio clips. Apple’s spokesperson made an official statement to The Verge expressing the company’s excitement over this deal:

“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple […] Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users. We have exciting plans in store, and we look forward to combining with Shazam upon approval of today’s agreement.”

The feelings is obviously mutual between the two companies according to Shazam’s official statement to The Verge as well:

“We are excited to announce that Shazam has entered into an agreement to become part of Apple […] Shazam is one of the highest rated apps in the world and loved by hundreds of millions of users and we can’t imagine a better home for Shazam to enable us to continue innovating and delivering magic for our users.”

So why is this deal one of the biggest and successful deals this year? The acquisition of Shazam will improve Apple’s sound and music recognition technologies. Not only that, but it will also save Apple money spent on commissions to Shazam when it sends Apple users to iTunes store to buy media content. This is not all, if Apple ever decides to shut down Shazam, it will negatively impact other music streaming businesses, such as: Spotify and Google Play Music which Shazam helped by directing more than 1 million clicks per day.

If you think about it, the real benefit to Apple from this deal is Shazam’s newly implemented augmented reality tech. Based on visual recognition tech, the augmented reality platform was launched by Shazam to allow users scan ads, books, posters, magazines and any physical object that could then be turned into 360 degrees videos or 3D animations. This is a kickstart for Apple if they consider launching a similar technology to Google lens.

The post Apple’s Acquisition of Shazam Is A Knockout to Spotify appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

File Safe is a built-in feature in the latest version of the smart phones operated by Android. The feature acts as a virtual safe or vault for all your important and confidential files on your Android phone. A lot of Android users today are not aware of the built-in File Safe feature and usually refer to downloading third party applications for this purpose. In this tutorial we will show you how to enable/disable and use the File Safe feature on your Android smart phone.

How to Enable File Safe

1- From the main screen tap to open “Settings”

2- Scroll down in the “Settings” page and tap on “Security & privacy”

3- Under “Privacy” tap on “File safe”

4- At the bottom of the screen, tap on “Enable”

5- Choose which location of files you want to secure; “Internal storage” or “SD card”

6- Enter a password you wish to set for your File Safe and re-enter it to confirm it

7- Tap on “Done”

8- You will be asked to set 2 security questions and answers. You can tap on the questions to open the drop-down menu and select a security question and then enter the secret answers

7- Tap on “Done”

8- If your phone has the “Fingerprint Recognition” capability, you will be asked if you want to associate your fingerprint to quickly access the safe. If you want to associate, tap on “Associate” but if you don’t, tap on “Cancel”

At this point you have successfully enabled the File Safe feature. Now we will show you how to add files or use the feature.

How to Use or Add Files to the File Safe

1- Repeat steps “1” through “3” from the previous section

2- If you associated your fingerprint in step “8” from the previous section, you will be asked to enter your fingerprint to access the safe or you can tap on “Use Password” at the bottom of the screen, enter the password you have set for it and tap on “Done”

3- Choose which type of files you want to add to the File Safe; either “Images”, “Audio”, “Videos”, or “Files” and tap on “Add”

4- Browse through your files, tap to check the checkbox next to the files you want to hide in the File Safe, and tap on “Add” at the bottom of the screen

How to Remove Files from the File Safe

1- Repeat the first 2 steps from the previous section

2- Tap on the type of files you want to remove

3- From the files, tap to check the checkbox next to the file you want to remove and tap on “Remove”

4- You will be asked if you want to move the file to the “Default Location” that the file was saved in before you added it to File Safe or move it to a “Custom Location”. Tap to choose one of these options

How to Disable File Safe

1- Repeat the first step from the previous section

2- From the bottom of the screen tap on “Settings”

3- At the bottom of the screen tap on “Destroy Safe”

4- Verify your identity either by your fingerprint or by password

5- A message will pop-up telling you that the File Safe and all the files in it will be deleted. You can either go back and remove them, or tap to check the checkbox labeled “Move these files to another location” or leave them to be deleted and tap on “Confirm”. If you chose to move the files to a different location you will be asked if you want to move them to their “Default Location” or “Custom Location”. Choose the option you want.

At this point your File Safe has  been completely disabled.

The post How to Enable/Disable and Use File Safe on Android appeared first on VPNanswers.com.

Are you tired of having a lot of applications cluttered on your iPhone home screen? This is very confusing particularly if you have a ton of apps installed, such as: videos, games, etc. The easiest and most efficient way to organise your apps is by creating folders and grouping them into those folders. In this way, you will save time and frustration. In this tutorial, we will show you exactly how to group apps and create folders on iPhone. Scroll down for more details.

Grouping Apps & Creating Folders on iPhone

In order to create a folder, you will need to group at least 2 applications together. Here is how you can do so:

1- Tap gently on of the apps until all the apps on your screen start to shake.

2- Now, drag the app onto another app until they merge.

3- Take your finger of your screen. A folder will now be created.

4- Now you have the option to edit the name of your folder (e.g: Games, Music, Movies, etc.). You can type in a name using your on-screen keyboard.

5- After adding, grouping and editing the folder names of all the apps you want, press on the “Home” button in order to save your changes.

6- If you want to “edit” a folder that you have already created, lightly tap on the desired folder and hold it until it starts to move.

7- Next, tap one more time. The folder will now open displaying its contents on your screen.

8- Tap on the existing text to edit its name.

9- If you want to add more apps into it, you can simply drag the apps and drop them into the folder.

10- Press the “Home” button to save your changes.

That’s it! You have successfully grouped and created folders on iPhone. Well done!

Removing/Deleting Apps from Folders

You have created folders, but you have decided to remove a certain app or more than one app. Follow the steps below:

1- Tap and hold the folder you want to delete an app or more from.

2- Once the apps as well as the folder start shaking, remove your finger.

3- Tap the folder again (the one you want to remove the app/apps from).

4- Drag the desired app out of the selected folder and drop it onto your Homescreen.

5- Press on the “Home” button to save your changes.

That’s it! You have successfully removed an app from an existing folder. Good job!

The post Easiest Way to Create Folders and Group Apps on iPhone appeared first on VPNanswers.com.