A kill switch is a security feature that protects your privacy. It ensures that you don’t connect to the internet thinking you’re protected by a VPN when you aren’t.  When you use a virtual private network (VPN), your device connects to VPN server run by a VPN service such as Proton VPN. The connection between […]

Before WiFi, you had to connect your internet-capable device to a router via an Ethernet cable. The router then connected to a modem, which connected your device to the internet. Routers and modems are so often housed in the same device, that the term “router” usually refers to a combined router and modem.  These cables […]

These days, virtual private networks (VPNs) are most commonly associated with commercial consumer-facing VPN services, such as Proton VPN, that allow individuals to bypass censorship, access the internet privately, and “spoof” their geographic location.  However, VPNs were originally developed to let remote workers securely access corporate intranets as though they were physically connected to their […]

Tor Browser is a privacy-focused browser that lets you navigate the internet without anyone monitoring your activity or identifying you. It relies on the Tor anonymity network to route your internet traffic through multiple random servers before connecting to your desired website or service. You can download Tor Browser here. This article explains more about […]

Every device that connects to a network does so through a network interface controller (NIC). Devices that can connect to multiple networks will have a separate NIC for each connection they support. For example, a laptop that supports WiFi, Ethernet (wired), and Bluetooth connections would have three NICs (each with its own MAC address).    Every […]

The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is an open-source, decentralized anonymizing network built on similar principles to Tor. Unlike Tor, which was primarily designed to allow anonymous browsing of the regular internet (but can also be used as a dark web), I2P is primarily designed to browse the dark web (but can also be used to […]

An almost daily drumbeat of data breaches and online privacy violations has fueled public interest in VPN services such as Proton VPN. This article explains what VPNs are, what they do, and whether you need one. Its sister article, How does a VPN work?, provides a more detailed and technical overview of how a VPN […]

Internet cookies, often called website cookies, computer cookies, or just cookies, are small text files that websites store on your computer or device when you visit them. These files contain data that websites use to remember and track information about your browsing activity. In this article, we look at what cookies are and how they […]

Privacy advocates often refer to an “encrypted tunnel” or “VPN tunnel” that protects your data when you use a VPN. But what exactly is a VPN tunnel? The term “tunnel” is a metaphor. Apart from the fiber optic cables tying the internet together, your data isn’t really traveling through a tunnel. But VPNs do protect […]