Do you want to access Netflix and other video streaming services from anywhere in the world? Do you want an easy streaming solution that doesn’t require updating your SmartDNS IP address every time you change networks? Are you sick of seeing ‘Netflix Proxy Error’ or ‘Blocked’ messages while using a VPN service? NordVPN’s SmartPlayTM is […]
What is a NAT Firewall? (And which VPN services include one?)
An NAT Firewall is a valuable security tool, and a must-have feature when shopping for a new VPN service. But what is NAT, and how does it affect your online security? In this article, you’ll learn: What a NAT firewall does and why you should want one How an NAT firewall works Which VPN providers […]
What to do if your VPN is Blocked
Is your VPN being blocked by your ISP, university, work, or airplane firewall? Encryption and circumvention tools like Virtual Private Networks are being used around the world to unblock content and websites, but what about networks that actually block VPN traffic? Fortunately, there are several techniques/tools you can use to unblock your VPN service and […]
Strong Password Guide: Yours are too weak, here’s the fix…
An 8 letter password can be guessed in seconds by password-cracking software. Learn how to create truly strong passwords, remember them, and maximize your account security with 2FA
Perfect Forward Secrecy for VPNs (and https)
Perfect Forward Secrecy (or just ‘Forward Secrecy’) is a valuable privacy feature that can make your VPN sessions much more secure, and help prevent the decryption of your web history. Wikipedia defines Forward Secrecy as: “…a property of secure communication protocols in which compromise of long-term keys does not compromise past session keys.” What that […]
How VPN Encryption Works
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs for short) use a technique called ‘Encryption’ to make your transmitted data completely unreadable by any person that intercepts it. While the math behind encryption is incredibly complicated, actually using and benefiting from encryption is incredibly simple, thanks to the wide availability and compatibility of VPN software. In this article, you’ll […]
VPN Protocol Comparison: PPTP vs OpenVPN vs L2TP vs SSTP
Most VPN services give you the choice of multiple VPN protocols, but which protocol is the best choice? Each protocol does have it’s own advantages (and drawbacks) so the one you choose will likely depend on a few factors, including: Your intended use for the VPN Whether you’re willing to trade security for speed What […]
Shared vs. Dedicated VPN IP Address
In comparing VPN providers, you may have come across the terms Shared or Dedicated IP address. This article will show teach you: the differences between the the advantages/disadvantages of each and which VPN services offer Shared vs. Dedicated IPs. By and large, most VPN services offer primarily Shared (Dynamic) IP addresses, which tend to offer […]
What is a VPN Kill-Switch?
A Kill-Switch is an extra security feature offered by many VPN providers. It is designed to prevent data from being transmitted insecurely in the event of an accidental VPN disconnect. The prevents both snooping (the intercepting of unencrypted data packets) and IP leaks (data would ordinarily originate from your true IP address after the VPN […]
