Round up: The best free VPN services 2016

Protect your privacy online

The best free VPN tools

With the eyes of ISPs growing ever more suspicious and government monitoring fast becoming something tangible and terrifying, the 'private' part of Virtual Private Network has never been more important. But hiding your internet traffic inside an encrypted tunnel isn't the only reason you might want to run a VPN on your machine.

Perhaps you want your network traffic to appear to emanate from elsewhere in the world in order to use region-locked services (presuming, of course, you can do so legally). Maybe you're looking to seamlessly access your home network while on the road, or don't trust the security of public Wi-Fi access points. The VPN tag covers a lot of potential uses.

Bear in mind that using a VPN does come with certain disadvantages, primarily that you'll experience slower internet speed as your traffic is encrypted and routed through the servers of your chosen provider. Free options usually end up throttled compared to their paid-for siblings and might also serve up ads or, in some cases, track your browsing habits to sell on to third parties.

1. CyberGhost 5

The best VPN tool to keep your browsing activity private

CyberGhost is a VPN that truly has its users' ideals in mind: the company proudly declares that it doesn't track your activity, and publishes a transparency report to back up its claims.

You can even use its interface to restrict the amount of information you're passing on to the sites you visit, shutting down tracking cookies, malicious websites, and more. If you want your traffic private and protected, this is our number one choice.

It's also supremely easy to use, with a simple interface which allows you to select the location of your new IP address, and good visual indication of what's going on. That said, CyberGhost does run a reasonably limited number of servers, with selections mainly focused in Europe – at the time of writing, the free version offers no location option for Canada or any servers located in Asia.

You're also restricted to three hours per session, with a moderate delay and a few ads before you're able to connect – a small price to pay for privacy.

2. Tunnelbear

Tunneling made simple - but watch out for the data limit

Tunnelbear is, as its dev crows, 'really really simple' to use. It's probably the most friendly VPN you'll find, with straightforward apps available for for Windows, MacOS and mobile devices. It's also one of the most well-travelled, with a truly worldwide network of tunnels to connect to, routing your data everywhere from Hong Kong to Norway – only its Australia and India nodes are restricted in the free edition.

Much like CyberGhost, Tunnelbear promises high-end encryption and a complete absence of traffic logging. There's a pretty big kicker: the free version only offers 500MB of data transfer per month, so it's going to be reasonably useless if you're using it as a location-spoofing tool to watch geo-restricted video.

For those moments when you're doing light browsing in a coffee shop, though, Tunnelbear's simplicity – and mobile compatibility – may come in very handy as long as you can cope with its slightly twee collection of bear puns.

3. VPNBook

VNPBook is a simple, convenient way to protect your privacy

If you're a confident computer user or want to protect more than just a Windows device, VPNBook is a great option. It doesn't even require any specific software – you just plug the appropriate info into your machine's system settings and you're connected.

It uses your choice of point-to-point-tunneling (PPTP) or OpenVPN to encrypt your traffic and fire it out of one of six servers, three in Europe and three in North America.

Being rough-and-ready, though, VPNBook does have its issues. We can't vouch for the specific encryption used, for a start, and its open nature (and potential for abuse) means it uses a password which changes frequently.

If your ISP blocks PPTP connections, you'll need to use OpenVPN's client software – which pretty much nullifies the benefit of its compatibility with phones and games consoles. But for an ad-free, no-nonsense VPN connection it's a great choice.

4. OpenVPN Server

Setting up your own VPN server is an enterprise-level option

While the OpenVPN team produces a more user-friendly VPN option in the form of PrivateTunnel – which offers only limited data transfer in its free form – and many of the other options here use OpenVPN tech to get the job done, it's worth putting in the (considerable) effort to install an OpenVPN server on a home machine. You'll need to stump up some cash if you want to make use of more than the two client connections included with the server installation, but this is a proper VPN.

Set up its server properly, connect to it with the OpenVPN client software, and you'll not only encrypt your network traffic but gain access to your home network as if you were connected locally -- all your shares, files and machines at your fingertips.

Make no mistake, though: building your own OpenVPN server is enterprise-level stuff, certainly not for the faint-hearted given the amount of configuration required, and its absolute overkill for most purposes. But if you're in this for the 'network' side of VPN, look no further.

5. Hotspot Shield Free

A promising VPN tool, but the ads and toolbars are overbearing

It's been around for a while and has something of a mixed reputation: Hotspot Shield is a cracking VPN, but suffers some pretty heavy drawbacks that are required to contribute to its upkeep.

However, Hotspot Shield dev Anchorfree has recently made steps to improve its service to free users. While you'll have to put up with a decent number of ads and frequent pleading to upgrade to its Elite version, some of the more insidious aspects – browser toolbars, page-injected advertising – are on the outs.

While it's quick, easy to install and available in a neat Chrome extension version, we still struggle to recommend Hotspot Shield Free fully. There's a 750MB data cap per day, a single USA output locale, and access to many video streaming sites is hidden behind the paid Elite subscription.

You might also be interested in

• How to set up and maintain a VPN
• How to make your VPN more secure
• How to build a dedicated VPN router

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Microsoft's Skype Meetings is a free collaboration tool for small businesses

Microsoft has introduced Skype Meetings, a new online service designed to provide small businesses with a place to hold videoconferences and allow for effective collaboration, all for free.

Setting up a meeting with colleagues using the system is easy, with the organiser simply sending out a link to all participants which they click to join.

You get HD video, instant messaging, and screen sharing capabilities, so if you want to show other folks a presentation from your PC, for example, that's perfectly possible. There are also tools such as a virtual 'laser pointer' for highlighting things in presentations, and the meeting organiser has access to functions such as muting all other participants so they can be heard above the noise if necessary.

Three's the not-so-magic number

As Redmond notes in a blog post, currently this is all free to anyone in the US who has a business email address (hopefully we'll see the service in other countries soon). There are limits to its usefulness though, as meetings are restricted to a maximum of three people after two months of usage (for the first 60 days, you can hold online meetings for up to 10 people).

Microsoft is also using this freebie to push Office 365 business subscriptions, which include Skype for Business, offering such online meetings for up to 250 participants, and full integration with all Office apps among other benefits.

Still, this is definitely a smart freebie to have, although it would be nice if the limit of three participants that comes into play after the first two months was slightly less restrictive.

• Also check out: Office 365 gets a powerful new tool for planning your projects

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In Depth: HummingBad malware is infecting devices with fake ads - here's how you can protect yourself

10 million. That's how many Android devices have been infected globally by the HummingBad malware, according to cybersecurity firm Check Point.

If you haven't heard of HummingBad before, you're not alone. The malware was only discovered to be blighting Android devices in February of this year. Originating from China, HummingBad injects infected ads and installs fraudulent apps on users' devices. Check Point's security researchers found the malware created a persistent rootkit (an undetectable backdoor), which helped generate fraudulent ad revenue and plagued users with malicious apps.

A group of 25 cybercriminals by the name Yingmob is behind HummingBad, according to Check Point. Yingmob skirted detection by working alongside a legitimate Chinese analytics business, allowing the group to share the company's resources and technology. The analytics company has been complicit with Yingmob's malicious software in order to generate more clicks for its ad servers, reports Motherboard.

HummingBad's fake ads are particularly pernicious: they trick users into clicking on them by refusing to close, resulting in an unusually high 12.5% click-through rate. Smart Insights says US users only click on 0.10% of legitimate mobile ads overall, making HummingBad's rate incredibly high. Check Point estimates Yingmob is making approximately $300,000 (about £230,203, AU$402,420) per month from this fraudulent ad revenue.

How HummingBad changes the malware game

HummingBad shows just how fast cybercriminals are adapting to a mobile-first world. Yingmob quickly achieved self-sufficiency, and showed that a small group of criminals could launch a widespread attack to create a large network of infected phones called "bots." These bots have the ability to generate targeted attacks against governments or businesses since infected phones are at the mercy of criminals.

Yingmob also doesn't discriminate. The group is responsible for the Yispecter, an iOS malware that targeted a porn player that installed fraudulent apps to gain revenue.

Since Yingmob works alongside a legitimate Chinese ad analytics company, the line between legitimate and fraudulent apps becomes blurred. Check Point estimates 85 million devices are running Yingmob's apps, but only about 10 million of them are malicious.

What makes HummingBad so scary is that it can run undetected. Rooted users won't be able to detect if malicious software is being installed as it can be performed remotely and silently. And if you're not rooted, HummingBad will repeatedly try to get you to install apps, though it's unclear whether uninstalling the apps will remove them completely.

How to protect yourself

The HummingBad malware is a global one, but has the biggest hold over China and India. The US has approximately 286,800 devices running malicious apps. The UK and Australia weren't listed as being substantially affected by HummingBad.

A majority of infected Android users are running the outdated KitKat version (4.4) of Android with the most current version, Marshmallow (6.0), making up only 1% of affected devices.

HummingBad is certainly worrisome, but there are steps you can take to prevent yourself from falling victim.

1. Don't root your Android device: HummingBad scans if your Android device has root access and will install infected apps silently without your knowledge, if you are in fact rooted. If you don't have root access to your phone, HummingBad will try to trick you into allowing it to install software by imitating a legitimate app. This installation process will, at the very least, give you a red flag that something's wrong.

2. Don't allow installation from "Unknown Sources": Some Android users will check the option to install software from "Unknown Sources" in the settings to install apps that aren't available in the Google Play Store. Amazon's Android app store requires this option to be enabled, but it poses a security vulnerability if users aren't closely monitoring what apps are being installed. It's best to leave the "Unknown Sources" option unchecked.

3. Update your phone to the latest software: If you've been dismissing that nagging notification to update your phone's software, don't. Android's software updates contain security fixes and improvements that will help you avoid falling victim to HummingBad. Check Point's data shows most affected devices are running outdated versions of Android.

4. Install an antivirus app: While antivirus apps can't stop all attacks, they can be an additional security layer, alerting you to apps that are asking for excessive permissions or blocking app installs.

HummingBad proves cybercriminals and their methods of attack are becoming more sophisticated. Phone makers and antivirus companies have an increasingly challenging task of securing our phones, but taking common-sense precautions like the ones listed above should help you avoid falling victim.

• Best Android apps 2016: download these apps now

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Round up: The best free anti-spyware and anti-malware software 2016

The best anti-spyware and anti-malware software

The best free protection for your PC

Using an internet-connected PC without anti-spyware and anti-malware protection is rather like walking through the bad bit of town covered in bling, waving big wads of notes around and shouting "I am very bad at fighting!" Luckily you don't need to have big wads of notes to ensure that you don't get ripped off through your router or mugged via modem: as we'll discover in our feature, there are plenty of seriously good PC protection apps that you can get for absolutely nothing.

As with any free software, pay close attention to the installers: some apps really want you to install bundled software, and they often do so by making installer screens really misleading in the hope that you'll just merrily click okay to everything. Given that the whole point of these apps is to remove unwanted software from your system, trying to stuff unwanted apps into your PC is a bit off. For more information, see our guide to avoiding potentially unwanted programs (PUPs).

Have we missed an anti-spyware program that's saved your system? Let us know in the comments below.

1. BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition

Discreet protection from malware, spyware and online security threats

BitDefender is the strong, silent type. It doesn't even ask questions when you install it. What it does instead is use a range of tactics to identify bad things. It has B-Have, which looks for apps behaving badly; link scanning to identify cons; proactive virus scanning that can detect threats nobody has encountered before; and boot scanning every time you start your PC.

Ad-free, nag-free and hassle-free, it's a great product that runs quickly and silently while you get on with something more interesting.

Its comprehensive suite of tools to protect your PC makes BitDefender our top pick. Read on to discover nine more of the best free anti-spyware and anti-malware programs.

2. Panda Free Anti-Virus 2016

Cloud-based security that takes the pressure off your PC

We're big fans of Panda's security products, and Panda Free Anti-Virus 2016 is smarter than ever before. It's cloud-based, with all the heavy lifting happening on Panda's servers - so the load on your PC is lessened considerably.

As ever there are paid products that offer more features - Wi-Fi scanning, password management, encryption, parental controls and so on - but Panda offers excellent real-time protection and is ridiculously simple to use.

3. AVG Anti-Virus Free 2016

A simple interface and effective scanning with remote activation

If you prefer software that keeps quiet, AVG Anti-Virus Free 2016 might not be the app for you: it's quite vocal with its notifications, and irks us from time to time with irrelevant pop-ups telling us we've done something fantastic.

As a security app, though, it's very good. The dashboard is user-friendly, there's protection not just from downloadable threats, but from dodgy links too, and you can use your mobile to scan your PC remotely, which is pretty clever.

The paid-for Pro model has more security options - it has more robust download protection, offers data encryption includes a firewall - but the free version offers decent protection for most PC users.

4. Ad-Aware Free Anti-Virus+

All the anti-malware essentials, but lacks phishing protection

Like many security software firms, Lavasoft offers its Ad-Aware Free Anti-Virus+ software in a free version in the hope you'll upgrade to its paid-for products - so it doesn't have some of the more advanced features you'd pay money for, such as phishing protection, parental controls and a digital file shredder.

What it does have, however, more than covers the essentials: it scans downloads, checks for spyware, offers safe browsing via a list of known malicious websites and has a game mode so security notifications don't interrupt your frag-fests. Not bad for no money.

5. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware

An excellent tool, but the free edition lacks real-time protection

You can use MalwareBytes Anti-Malware free for as long as you like, but there's an important caveat: real-time protection, the fast 'hyper scan' mode and malicious website blocking features all expire after 14 days - and that means you're missing out on some of the program's best features.

MalwareBytes has a deserved reputation for destroying malware that other programs miss, and its chameleon technology - which once again expires after a fortnight in the free version - means it's less susceptible to attacks that deliberately target security software. Think of the free version as a short-term savior or a test drive; the Premium version costs £19.95 (about US$29.15, AU$38.32) per year.

6. SpyBot Search and Destroy

A security stalwart that's ideal for diagnosing existing infections

SpyBot Search and Destroy is a veteran of the malware wars, dating back to the first adware in 2000, and while it doesn't scan for viruses - that's in the Home version, which is $13.99 (about £9.58, AU$18.39) - the free version does a decent job of finding and fixing adware, malware and spyware.

It's more of a system repair tool than a system protection tool, however, and you need to be careful where you get it from: there are fake versions in circulation which are designed to cause damage, not fix it.

7. Avast Free Anti-Virus 2016

A comprehensive package with built-in password management

Avast is another old-timer, and has been protecting Windows since PCs were made of wood. Avast Free Anti-Virus 2016 is the lightest, fastest version the company has ever shipped (the bad old days of security software slowing your PC to a crawl are thankfully long gone) and it supplements the anti-malware protection with a nifty password manager and home network monitoring, which can identify weak points in your Wi-Fi.

As with most free products, not all the goodies are available for nothing, so for example if you want anti-phishing protection or spam filtering you'll need the paid-for version, but the free edition is still a very comprehensive security package.

8. Emsisoft Emergency Kit

A lifesaver if your PC is already infected, but not a preventative tool

Most security software tries to stop malware and spyware getting onto your system. Emsisoft Emergency Kit doesn't: it's the 911 call of security software, the app you use when your PC's been poked by something unpleasant.

It's designed to be portable, an app you carry around with you on a USB stick, and its system requirements are tiny: just 200MB of RAM, so it'll run quite happily on any PC with 1GB or more system memory. With 2 million malware signatures, Emisoft Emergency Kit can restore almost any infected PC to rude health.

9. HijackThis

For experts only - get detailed reports on a misbehaving PC

Originally developed by Trend Micro and now available via SourceForge, HijackThis isn't an app for the faint of heart or tech-phobic: it generates an exceptionally detailed report on your system, enabling you to spot potential problems and malicious software.

It's very fast and very thorough, but it's about malware methods rather than specific products. It tells you what's going on and it's your job to interpret it and take action. In the wrong hands, that power could be disastrous. This is one for experienced users only.

10. SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition

An outdated interface belies a solid manual malware scanner

Not just anti-spyware - SUPER anti-spyware. Does it live up to the name? Yes and no. SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition lacks real-time protection and scheduled scanning, so it's a tool you need to remember to run manually, and the interface appears to have been designed in the dark by maniacs.

The core product is a solid one though, with lots of scanning options, registry repair, behavioural scanning and daily threat updates. It's not super, but it's pretty good.

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Firefox to get massive privacy boost with Tor integration

The browser world is a fiercely fought arena, and Firefox is about to make a move in order to become more competitive with rivals like Chrome, planning to draft across some of the privacy settings seen in the Tor browser.

The Tor browser is actually based on the same code as Firefox (Firefox ESR, which stands for Extended Support Release), and bounces communications through numerous encrypted nodes on the net, meaning the user can't be traced, and generally maintaining privacy (and security) to high levels.

According to Ghacks, Mozilla is planning to integrate some of these privacy-preserving tricks into Firefox, with several basic features already in version 50 of the browser (which is in preview).

More in the pipeline

These will eventually emerge with the full release version of Firefox 50, with plans to incorporate further measures in the future. All in all, the result will be a much tighter browser when it comes to avoiding online snooping of one sort or another.

Ghacks notes that these features won't run by default in Firefox, observing that the Tor-specific settings aren't really appropriate for the mainstream audience of Mozilla's browser. Rather, those seeking greater privacy protection will have to turn the options on manually.

As well as bolstering privacy, Firefox is also aiming to run more smoothly, with the recent unveiling of another fresh incoming feature by the name of Electrolysis. This effectively splits Firefox into a UI process and content process, meaning that if a web page crashes or is eating up CPU resources, because it's running separately, the browser itself will remain fully responsive.

• Also check out our best Firefox security add-ons of 2016

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Nearly half of all Steam gamers are running Windows 10

Windows 10 continues to be very popular with gamers using Steam, with the latest figures showing a further acceleration in adoption.

Last month, the total number of Windows 10 gamers (including both 32-bit and 64-bit versions) finally surpassed Windows 7 on Steam, and in Valve's new figures for June, Microsoft's most recent OS now accounts for a total of 44.46% of the user base.

That represents an increase of 3.41% in the last month, a far greater rise than was witnessed in May, where Windows 10 share increased by 1.54%. This was expected though, as the deadline for Microsoft's freebie upgrade looms, encouraging fence-sitters to finally make the move.

Windows 10 steams ahead

Indeed, we can possibly expect an even bigger boost this month, given that the deadline for Redmond's free offer expires on July 29. If we do see a larger increase over the course of July, Windows 10 could be within touching distance of snaring half of all Steam users.

As for Windows 7, that now stands on 36.97%, and is falling well behind Windows 10. It shed just over 2% of its users in the last month. Windows 8 and 8.1 gamers now amount to 12% of Steam users.

As for the overall OS picture, Windows users account for 95.5% of gamers on Valve's service, with the number of OS X gamers staying exactly the same at 3.6%, and Linux gamers grabbing a thin 0.8% market share, which represented a slight drop of 0.04% for June.

• Also check out our in-depth guide to Steam Machines

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