Using a VPN on mobile is often mandatory, especially when you are accessing public Wi-Fi hotspots at airports, internet cafes, or other places like Hotels.
These public Wi-Fi hotspots have no security and are often vulnerable to hackers or other malicious individuals who can trick you into connecting to their computer giving them access to your information.
So if you have an Android phone, it’s a good idea to use a VPN–but the bad news is that a lot of Android VPN apps are not safe at all.
Recently, I found some information from a research team. This study was conducted by CSIRO’s Data 61, University of New South Wales, and UC Berkeley. Hundreds of apps contain malware, spyware, adware, and security leaks. The study that concluded 38% of Android VPN apps have malware while 67% feature third-party tracking. More than 8 out of 10 leaks IPv6 traffic.
The reason this happens is that users often download apps based on positive reviews or rankings in the Google Play Store’s search algorithm. However, out of the tested apps, even highly rated VPN apps showed signs of security breaches and malicious intent.
“While 37% of the analyzed VPN apps have more than 500K installs and 25% of them receive at least a 4-star rating, over 38% of them contain some malware presence according to VirusTotal,” the researchers wrote.
The malicious content of the VPN apps, as found by this study, concluded that the breakdown was as follows: Adware (43%), Trojan (29%), Malvertising (17%), Riskware (6%) and Spyware (5%).
Which Are Android VPN Apps Secure Then?
Most of the apps we see being downloaded a lot that contains malware are relatively unknown VPN providers.
Most people downloading and using these apps are unaware of how good, and secure VPNs work. In fact, I’ve barely tested any of the listed VPNs that do contain malware. They are all scams for the most part.
But even though there are a lot of other options for VPN apps on Android, they are not equal since most VPN providers have slow speeds and glitchy apps, even if they aren’t giving you malware or leaking a ton of your information.
The best app for an Android VPN would be TorGuard. You can see our full thoughts in this (TorGuard Review), but TorGuard is one of the most trusted VPNs on the internet, perfect for torrenting on Android, browsing, and keeping your information secure.
If you want to test out a free VPN, Windscribe is also a good option, even if the free version has some severe limitations and the paid version lacks the quality of servers and features that TorGuard has.
Private Internet Access is a good VPN provider with a good price point that you might have heard of before, and they have a decent Android app as well.
Lastly, I do want to mention IPVanish as another option since they have good mobile apps and great speeds.
