{"id":8280,"date":"2017-02-18T17:43:27","date_gmt":"2017-02-18T22:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/?p=8280"},"modified":"2017-03-02T14:20:54","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T19:20:54","slug":"vpn-app-tracking-malware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/vpn-app-tracking-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Your VPN App Be Tracking You With Malware?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s always concerning how much of our information seems to be accessed, shared, and stored by different applications, websites, and companies at any given time. There are many applications we use daily that need our personal information in order to function. However, how many other apps are also accessing and storing our information when they don\u2019t need to \u2014 perhaps without our knowledge? It&#8217;s especially troubling that many VPN applications have been storing and stealing the very information they are supposed to protect. So what are we to do?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Be sure to run a full virus scan on your device after you download any news apps. This DFNDR feature scans your device for potential threats on both your device\u2019s storage and your SD card. If it finds anything, it will alert you and assist you in removing it so that your information is secure. That way, you\u2019ll catch any malicious apps immediately that may have installed spyware onto your device. Click the button below to run a full virus scan now:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><center><a href=\"psafe:\/\/launch\/antivirus_quick\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7530\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-7530\" src=\"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Security-Scan.png\" alt=\"Security Scan\" width=\"300\" height=\"78\" \/><\/a><\/center><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is also beneficial to always check the permissions that applications request before you install them. Whenever you want to download a new app, make sure to pay close attention to the permissions. Some permissions make sense but selfie apps, VPN apps, and camera apps don&#8217;t need to access your personal information under any circumstances. Therefore, if any of the permissions are unusual, don\u2019t download the app. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>VPN Apps and Tracking<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are people all over the world that have been attempting to secure and protect their information with the use of VPN apps, but many of these apps have been dishonest about their actual intentions. It was recently revealed that 38% of VPN apps on the Google Play Store contain malware \u2014 and that percentage doesn&#8217;t seem to be getting any smaller.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In addition to stealing your information, malware can also damage your device. Many apps might allow individuals and companies to access this information that they collect. In many cases, this can compromise your other personal accounts or even financial information as well. But at the very least, this information is used for targeted marketing purposes.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before you download a VPN app, make sure that it\u2019s from a reputable source. This is especially important if you\u2019re paying for a monthly service. If a VPN app has few downloads, appears suspicious, or has a lot of negative reviews (particularly related to security), don\u2019t download the app.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VPN applications are being used more and more in an attempt to hide and protect some of our information, but are they working properly?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.psafe.com\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}