Best WiFi Hacking Books 2017-Must Read If You Want To Hack Anyone's WiFi

The Best Books for Learning How to Hack Wi-Fi (2017)

So, you want to learn how to hack Wi-Fi, but there’s too many books out there. Which one is right for you? How can you make an informed decision? Well, you’re in luck because that’s exactly what we’re going to do here. Below is a collection of the best Wi-Fi hacking books there are.

Having personally read all of these (and a few others that I haven’t added here), you’ll find only the best of the best in this list. I’ve made sure to include something for everyone. If you’re a complete beginner, these books will help you take off from square one all the way to becoming an expert who can easily crack almost any Wi-Fi networks. If you’re already familiar with hacking, then these will bolster your knowledge of penetrating wireless networks.

So let’s get started.

1. Wireless Hacking for Beginners - step by step

This is a very well written book on wireless network hacking. Written from an ethical standpoint, it provides you a complete practical overview of hacking Wi-Fi and gets you practicing right off the bat, perfect for beginners. And it’s just 40 pages, you can read it right now and start hacking Wi-Fi networks within the next hour or so! Pick it up here.

2. The Beginner’s Guide to Hacking Wireless Networks

Another short book, this one goes a bit deeper into protocols and helps quickly fill the gaps in your knowledge so that you can be prepared for hacking stronger networks. It provides a concise introduction of the material and follows up with more detail as you go. Check it out here.

3. Introduction to Wireless Hacking with Kali Linux

As you become a more experienced hacker, you’ll have to start using Kali. And what better place to start learning Kali than by learning how to hack Wi-Fi. While other books in this list have some tools that can be run on windows as well, this book is focused on making you comfortable and efficient with Wi-Fi hacking using Kali Linux. Grab it from here.

4. Beginners Guide on How to Hack Wireless Network

This is the last beginner level book in this list. It is focused on penetration testing a wireless network and outlines the complete approach to hacking any Wi-Fi networks. Instead of hacking, it is more focused on security and that is something that you, aspiring hacker, should learn now. After all, your neighbor could also be reading these books. Get this one from here.

5. Hacking Wireless Networks - The ultimate hands-on guide

After reading the previous books, you should now have developed a solid plan of attack for hacking Wi-Fi networks. But you’ll soon realize that latest technologies and developments (e.g: WPA2) make for a major obstacle to any Wi-Fi hacker. So now we must mix in a bit of social engineering and some clever tactics to gain control of a wireless network. And this is exactly what this book teaches you. You can find it here.

6. Hacking Exposed Wireless

I’ve saved the best one for last. This is where it all comes together. At 500+ pages long, it is going to be quite a read, but rest assured that you’ll come out knowing everything there is to know about hacking wireless networks. The author is a master at simplifying the most complex techniques. But beginners should still go over the previous books first as this one gets quite technical. It focuses not only on Wi-Fi but all kinds of wireless networks such as Bluetooth, Z-wave and ZigBee. A must read for anyone who wishes to become the master of wireless hacking. Get it here.

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And there you have it. This is everything you need to learn Wi-Fi hacking. If you’re determined, you could finish the entire set in a couple of weeks. So, do you think you have what it takes? Go ahead and find out :)

P.S: I’ll routinely update this list to account for any new books or editions.

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5 Best Ruby Books Of 2017-Learn Ruby In 21 Days

This page features a collection of some of the best Ruby books for all learning levels.I will guide through the process of selecting the best Ruby book for you, based on my expertise with the language (programming in it since 2005), my extensive experience with mentoring young programmers, and having reviewed dozens of Ruby books over the years.Searching for the right programming book can be a challenge. I don’t like wasting time or money, so when I buy a programming book it’s typically the result of reading a large number of opinions and reviews to narrow down my selection and then reading parts of the books in a bookstore if possible. Of course, what I’m looking for in a book varies: sometimes I want to know what the best reference is; sometimes it’s looking for the best in depth insights into how and why a language works the way it does; and other times, I’m looking for a book with good hands-on tutorials so I can actually play with a language and learn. No matter which type of book I’m looking for, I expect it to have insights into the “best practices” of the language it’s written about. Typically, I look for the good tutorial book first, followed by the how and why and eventually progress to needing the ultimate reference. Knowing which of the goals I’m trying to satisfy helps me decide which book to choose.

1. Beginning Ruby: From Novice to Professional (3rd Edition) by Peter Cooper

This is a great introduction to Ruby for beginner programmers. It lays down solid foundations for the language, while also nicely introducing the whole Ruby ecosystem. The author, Peter Cooper, is a well-known figure in the Ruby community, and in this book he clearly demonstrates his ability to teach and communicate with newcomers. This third edition was released recently and is comprehensive enough to act as a good, current reference book as well.

2.David Flanagan

(By: The Ruby Programming Language )

David Flanagan is a well-known author of several programming language books, which include his instructive best-selling works on JavaScript and Bibles. The book is a complete guide to version 1.8 and 1.9 of Ruby. It is an expert-illustrated edition, comprising of instructional overviews on mastering Ruby Framework. The book is specifically designed for beginners and intermediate Ruby programmers who wish to accomplish pivotal Ruby tricks and techniques to progress in the stream of Ruby programming quickly and uncompromisingly.

3. Practical Object-Oriented Design in Ruby: An Agile Primer

(By: Sandi Metz )

The author has compiled an ultimate edition for advanced Ruby learners, who may use it as a guide to their emergence as top level object-oriented language programmers. The text aims at easing the Ruby-execution-process for programmers who may initially be perplexed over so many unmanaged Ruby frameworks flooding the internet. Metz’s work serves as an ultimate guide to mastering original object-oriented mechanisms and designs, implementing pleasing and manageable codes with vivid illustrations and instructions quoted from a practical approach to Ruby programming.

4. The Ruby Way: Solutions and Techniques in Ruby Programming (3rd Edition) by Hal Fulton and André Arko

It looks like a cookbook, and within its pages you’ll find plenty of how-tos for several common tasks. It is, therefore, a valuable book if treated as a cookbook, but that’s not its main purpose. The Ruby Way is about learning how to deal with a variety of programming tasks in an idiomatic manner. This book is about learning to code the Ruby Way.

The first edition of this book is where David Heinemeier Hansson, creator of Rails, learned most of what he knows about meta-programming and Ruby. I personally consider The Ruby Way 3rd Edition to be a definite must-have, it’s chock-full of practical examples and advanced lessons.

5. Ruby under a Microscope: An Illustrated Guide to Ruby Internals

(By: Pat Shaughnessy )

The author has dedicated his book to Ruby programmers of all levels. It is important to understand the deepest and core syntax of a programming language in order to use it for easy coding and advanced application development. The book covers extended information on alternative Ruby implements like Rubinius and JRuby. As a reader proceeds with this book, he/she may be surprised to find the most interesting facts about Ruby that were previously unknown and the way these can utilized in making a super-easy approach to Ruby programming.

When I put together a list of books, I typically aim to highlight a strong book from each of these categories: the getting started tutorial, the deep knowledge book, and the in-depth technical reference. This tends to cover varying levels of programming knowledge and learning styles, which hopefully will give you a better idea of which of the books you will find most valuable.

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5 Best Python Books To Learn Programming in 2017

Reading books is the best way to gain exposure over a particular subject and get an in-depth understanding. In this world of technology, it is important to know and understand the different technical aspects in the computer system. One of the most essential things to learn is that of computer programming language.Python is a famous and most useful computer programming that is interactive and extensible in nature. Learning Python is important as it is a cross platform computer language that is used by giant corporations to do work in a quick and efficient manner.

Python is one such famous and most useful computer programming language that continues to feature among the top languages. Python is a widely used high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming language in the late 1980s, and named after Monty Python, that’s used by thousands of people to do things from testing microchips at Intel, to powering Instagram, to building video games with the PyGame library. Its design philosophy emphasizes code readability, and its syntax allows programmers to express concepts in fewer lines of code than possible in languages such as C++ or Java.

1. Learning Python (5th Edition)

The writer of the book is Mark Lutz. The books gives a brief learning of basics of python programming. The book is made for the beginners to get an insight into the programming with python. The readers can gain a depth knowledge with this book. So this is an ideal book whether you are the beginner or a professional programmer developer.

2. Python Programming: An Introduction To Computer Science

This is the second edition of John Zelle’s Python Programming, updated for Python 3. It offers foundational concepts of computer science in a form that is clear and easy to understand. It is about theory and its practical application. It takes a fairly traditional approach, emphasizing problem solving, design, and programming as the core skills of computer science. It is ideal to be read by beginners and new python programmers, as it provides for a strong foundation on the subject. It also touches upon important subjects like Structure and Introduction of Computer programs.

3. Python for Data Analysis

The author of the book is Wes Mckinney.  The book is wholely concerned with the nuts and bolts of manipulating, processing, cleaning and crunching the data in Python. The book also inherits the modern introduction to the scientific computing in Python. The book provides a better knowledge of the tools.  It helps to understand and analyse the data in move easy and effective way.

4. Python Cookbook

The book covers all the crucial areas regarding Python language and introduces one towards the much-needed techniques that has a huge scope, including simple string concentration to that of recursive decent parsers writing. The book has chapters that cover extensively on the subject generators and iteration techniques. It also carries a practical approach on several fronts. Packed with efficient and necessary chapters, the book is a must read for those who want to become good at Python programming language.

5. Python Essential Reference

Written by David M. Beazley, this book is a comprehensive reference to the Python programming language. The focus of this latest edition is to add coverage of significant new features and new library modules added to the language over the past five years. It also includes the omitted sections of Python 2 and provides a detailed overview of the language and helps in gaining a practical knowledge over the subject. Clearly written with concise organization, the new features covered include new style classes, unification of types and classes, xmlrpclip, intertools, bz2 and optparse, making it the most up-to-date Python book on the market. This book is the one that programmers need to read first.

Python is one of the famous programming languages used by major organizations and corporations. It is readable and supports multiple programming facilities, provides an exceptional platform for any type of relevant tasks, and last but not the least, allows a better developmental knowledge when it comes to programming language and tools.

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How to use mSpy Software on an iPhone Without Jailbreak 2017

You’ve almost certainly come across a review or article saying it’s just not possible to install a spy app on an iPhone, iPad or iPod without first jailbreaking the device. This is true because of the way Apple designed their operating system. By forcing you to use iTunes to download any application they have given themselves full control over what softrware you’re allowed to use.

One way around this limitation is called “Jailbreaking”. Many users decide to jailbreak their iDevices to remove the many limitations that restrict us from getting the most out of our smart phone. Once your device is Jailbroken it will allow you to finally download third party apps you may have wanted to use, but that were not available through iTunes. These may include tracking apps. However, there are always some concerns with jailbreaking such as voiding your warranty, or finding the process too difficult or technical to do safely.

How to Track an Apple Device with No Jailbreak

Jailbreaking can be intimidating and straight out difficult for most people, while others don’t wish to void the device’s still ongoing warranty. This is especially true for parents who are simply looking for a better way to monitor their child’s activities online while on their mobile phone or iPad. Now, that is a possibility, all thanks to mSpy newest jailbreak free option. mSpy, who is already well known for their industry leading spy app decided to create an alternative for that does not require any jailbreaking whatsoever! We’ll go over everything together so you can be comfortable enough to start using the service today if you like what you hear.

Visit official WebSite of mSpy

How does It Work?

First thing’s first, let’s get a quick overview of the service, how it actually works, and what the costs are. The first thing to know, is that you don’t need to install anything on your iPhone, iPad or iPod. mSpy without Jailbreak works with iCloud and because of this only has access to data that can be backed up to the iCloud account. To make this work you simply need to turn on the “icloud storage” and “backup” options on the device and then either sync the device up to your Apple ID account, or know the account information for the existing account. If the backup feature is already turned on then really all you need to do is have access to the account info. But you’re not required to install any apps on the device itself. This is why you are not required to jailbreak it first.

You access all the logs and saved information through any other computer or mobile device using mSpy’s online control panel program. You can install the software on any computer, smartphone or tablet and access the tracking data from anywhere as long as you’re online. Cost and packages come in many different options ranging from $48 for the lowest tier basic service all the way up to $237 for a full year of premium monitoring. You also get to use the software on as many devices as you want, making it the most cost effective solution on the market for parents that actually performs well.

What Can You Monitor mSpy without Jailbreak?

Although more limited than their jailbroken version, the list of features is still pretty impressive. This is made possible simply because iCloud allows you to backup all of the following items; Text Messages, iMessages, Call History, GPS Locations, Photos, Contacts, Notes, Safari Bookmarks, and Account Details.

• Call Logs: Saved call list including full numbers, names and time stamps.
• SMS Text Messages: Logs of full text messages sent and received on the iDevice.
• iMessages: Logs of full messages sent between iMessage users on target device.
• Pictures & Media:  View all photos and images, taken, saved or received on iDevice.
• Phone Book: View all saved contacts on device.
• GPS Location History: Unlike full spy app services, iCloud periodically backs-up GPS locations on a graphical map.
• Safari: Limited visibility over native Safari browser.
• Notes: Saved notes are also backed up and accessed through iCloud.
• Account Details: Full account details for each device.

The service will not be able to spy on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or any other third party apps, including but not limited to Chrome or other web browsers and such. The capabilities are limited to what iCloud can actually backup from the Apple iDevice.

Setup In 3 Easy Steps

• Activate iCloud Backup on All the Mobile Devices you Want to Track

If this has not already been done, ensure that iCloud backup is activated on all the Apple devices you wish to monitor. mSPy without jailbreak only requires iCloud to operate, without installing any apps, making it possible to work without jailbreak.

You must turn on iCloud when you first setup your mobile device or later on by going to your settings menu, selecting “iCloud”, and turning on all the features, in order to be able to access the tracked logs later.

• Sign-up and Install mSpy

Once you’ve picked and purchased your license you download the software to a computer, smartphone or tablet of your choice, from which you will login and access the online control panel. Keep in mind, you are not downloading this software on the mobile devices you wish to track, but on the computers or devices you want to login and access the saved data instead.

• Login to mSpy and add Devices

Once you have downloaded and installed the control panel software, you will be prompted to enter the Apple ID and password for the mobile device you wish to access. You can add multiple Apple IDs and manage them all together.

That’s it! As soon as you login, you are in operation and in full tracking mode. The online web panel allows you to track saved GPS locations and easily access all the logs, messages, and media saved from each account. The panel is really simple to use and lists all the sections on the left hand side column. At the top left, you can quickly switch from one Apple ID account to another, seamlessly allowing you to monitor many apple devices with ease.

Does it Work Well?

After testing the service for multiple weeks, I was able to determine that using iCloud backup is very effective and left complete logs without any missing data, calls or pictures. Everything I saved or did on the device was visible on the control panel. It is worth nothing that GPS location tracking is not live, and provides the last saved location on a visual map. That is one of the biggest downsides, other than the lack of advanced features like remote bugging on camera control. That does not mean that it does not work well; you can still very effectively draw a map of the user’s whereabouts with all the historically saved map points, but the main difference is that you don’t have a live location report to go by or geo-fencing capabilities with automatic alerts. This is because you have to wait for the actual backup to take place before the data is uploaded to mSpy.

It is not much cheaper than more complete spy app services available, including their basic service, but it presents two huge and unique advantages. The obvious one, is the “No JailBreak Required” that allows anyone, no matter how technically challenged, to monitor their iPhones, iPads and even iPods. The second is that you can use it on as many devices as you want. So, if you have lots of devices at home for the whole family, you can monitor them all without breaking the bank.

Minimum Requirements

The service is compatible with all iPhones, iPads, or iPod Touch devices running iOS 5.x or higher. That pretty much encompasses the vast majority of Apple devices out in the field right now. For all other devices, including jailbroken iDevices, we really must recommend you consider getting the full app as the difference in capabilities is staggering.

Having access to the mobile device and Apple ID account is required, in order to turn on iCloud backup and login remotely. *Remember It is only legal to use this service if you own the device you’re monitoring and make any user over 18 aware that they’re being monitored.

The monitoring software can be installed on any computer, tablet or smartphone, and requires an internet connection to operate. This is not limited to Mac computers, the software can be installed on Windows PCs or laptops, and even Android mobiles.

Should I Be Concerned About Hackers and iCloud Safety?

Lately, the internet has been plagued with unfortunate news of celebrities having their photos leaked from hacked iCloud accounts. Multiple waves of leaked photos targeting personal nude shots of dozens of celebrities came to be known as “the fapenning”, a distasteful name for a shameful act of privacy invasion that was quickly denounced across the internet. Here is what every parent needs to know about these events – in many cases the way the hackers accessed those accounts was by correctly guessing their security questions correctly, which for celebrities can often be common knowledge or are a short Google Search away. What should you take from this? Use STRONG security questions, random stuff, not things that can possibly be pulled from your social profiles like Facebook, Twitter or anything else. The classic security step of securing an account with your Mother’s maiden name does not always represent a satisfactory level of security anymore. Take the time to think of or make up unique questions for which only you will have the answer. If you’re afraid of forgetting, note it down somewhere safely stored away in an unrelated location.

Conclusion

mSpy is pretty much the answer to millions of parent’s prayers. With so many kids and teenagers sold on having iPhones and other Apple products, it has never been easier to now fully monitor online activity. It is impossible to keep your kids safe from predators, pornography, or sexting, without a little help from a digital nanny. This is what mSpy can offer you; a very simple and jailbreak free solution, that anyone can setup with minimal time and effort. The simplicity of turning on iCloud features, logging in, and having full operational access is as easy as it gets. Now all parents, no matter how little technical knowhow, can take advantage of these powerful and helpful tools. The service and features all work as described, and offers the perfect solution for the every day parent who does not want to go through the hassle, loss of warranty, and possible damaging process of jailbreaking their iPhone.

Visit official website of mspy

Edit: Since we’ve written this article a few other players have entered the world of jailbreak free monitoring. We’ve added a couple of alternatives to mSpy that you can use if you’d like to shop around. For all intents and purposes, using them is exactly the same as what we outlined for mSpy above.

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NordVPN review: Our favourite VPN for pretty much everything (and Netflix US)video playing

Using a virtual private network (or VPN) is the simplest way to protect yourself against network-based attacks, especially when you're traveling abroad. With NordVPN, you can ensure that your information isn't being intercepted and you're not being served bogus websites. The company has servers across the globe, including high-speed servers for video streaming and extra-secure servers for enhanced anonymity online. NordVPN wraps all that up in a snazzy Windows client, and it didn't interfere with Netflix viewing in testing. For all that, it's one of the best VPN services and a PCMag Editors' Choice winner.

What Is a VPN and Who Needs One?

Why do you need a VPN? Because when you switch one on, it creates an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server controlled by the VPN service. All your web traffic is routed through this tunnel, meaning that no one on the same network as you can sneak a peek at your data. It also prevents malicious network operators from intercepting your information, or using DNS poisoning techniques to trick you into visiting phishing pages. This technology can even guard against your ISP gathering data on your activities.

Simply put, VPNs make connecting to the internet safer. When you connect through a VPN, the service changes your IP address, prevents anyone from eavesdropping on your online activity, and makes it harder for online advertisers to track you. It's especially useful for using the internet while traveling, or performing important activities—like online banking—while connected to public Wi-Fi networks. There are also political activists and journalists who rely on VPN services to get around government censorship and communicate with the outside world.

You can also use them to watch streaming content in other countries by changing your IP address. For example, if you jump to a VPN server in Canada, you may find you're able to watch MLB games for free. It's worth noting that services like Netflix are working to fight VPN trickery, so a VPN that works for IP spoofing a given service one day may be blocked the next.

Pricing and Features

NordVPN supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. I have also reviewed the NordVPN iPhone app and the NordVPN Android app. The NordVPN mobile clients both allow you to purchase full subscriptions through their respective app stores. You can also configure some routers to connect via NordVPN as well, and doing so supplies coverage for all the devices on your network.

NordVPN offers three pricing tiers: $11.95 per month, $42.00 every six months, or $69.00 annually. The company accepts credit cards, of course, but also Bitcoin, PayPal, Paysera, or Webmoney. NordVPN does offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, but it applies only if the NordVPN service doesn't work. Not liking the service does not entitle you to a refund. There is also a three-day free trial, but activating the trial is more than a little convoluted. The company has offered the free trial for years, but still hasn't made it easy to access.

The more technically inclined will appreciate that while NordVPN still supports PPTP and L2TP protocols for legacy devices, it has mostly moved over to newer, superior options. NordVPN representatives tell me that all servers now support IKEv2, so you can manually configure your Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux to connect using this protocol. Phase 1 keys are generated for AES-256-GCM for encryption and SHA2-384 hashing. The company is also able to implement perfect forward secrecy with 3072-bit Diffie Hellmann keys. Currently, the macOS and iOS clients support IKEv2 by default, and the Android client will soon follow suit. The company also supports OpenVPN and uses it by default in the Windows client. I prefer OpenVPN in general, for its security and for being open-source.

That's a lot of security alphabet soup, but the big takeaway is that NordVPN is using the best and latest technology and isn't afraid to talk about it. That's something I really appreciate, especially when it comes to companies that stake their reputation on security.

You can use up to six devices simultaneously on NordVPN, though there are some limitations concerning connecting devices to the same server.

NordVPN lets you select one of the company's 733 VPN servers located in 58 countries. That's a solid selection, but Private Internet Access has over 3,000 servers available the world over. NordVPN operates under Panama's jurisdiction, where there are no laws requiring data retention. The company doesn't collect log data, so it has no information it can actually hand over in response to a subpoena. The client does let you view some local log information, however. The client also includes a Kill Switch that shuts off access to the internet for specific applications, should your computer be disconnected from the VPN.

NordVPN's best feature, however, is the variety of specialized servers it offers. These include a double-encryption option (which effectively routes your traffic through a second VPN server), easy access to the TOR anonymization network through VPN, P2P and BitTorrenting on specific servers, anti-DDOS servers, and servers intended to be ultra-fast for optimum video streaming. I like these options since they help users solve specific problems. I also appreciate that the NordVPN client makes it easy to find these servers.

NordVPN also includes the Domain Name System Leak feature to ensure that your operating system uses the VPN service to look up the actual machine address of the site you are trying to visit, and not a default DNS server (typically belonging to your ISP). If the OS uses the default servers, someone watching could learn what sites you were visiting, or try to intercept your traffic between those two sites. NordVPN runs its own DNS servers so that, when you are connected, all the lookups are handled by anonymous DNS servers. You also have the option to configure the software to use the DNS server of your choice.

One of the perks of using a VPN is that your actual IP address is hidden from the outside world. But some may require a specific IP address, which NordVPN can provide. For a $70.00 fee, you can secure a dedicated IP address on a NordVPN server in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, or the United States. That wide selection of US and western European IP addresses means that you're unlikely to be blacklisted when using your new static IP. Other services, such as TorGuard VPN $9.99 at TorGuard, also offer static IP addresses and other add-ons.

Hands On With NordVPN

For this review, I used a Lenovo ThinkPad T460s $1,019.95 at Amazon laptop running the latest version of Windows 10. Some VPN services prefer to just use the VPN client software built into the operating system instead of creating a stand-alone application. NordVPN offers both options. I performed all of my tests with the NordVPN Windows client.

NordVPN has always offered an above average user experience with its apps, and it has only gotten better. The current Windows client looks nearly identical to the NordVPN mobile apps, with a monochrome blue map as its focus. It's a bit whimsical, with submarines and ships on the cartoon seas, but it's an easy way to select the server you want. A search bar at the top of the screen makes short work of finding a server if your geography skills are lacking, or you can view the servers as a list. This last option places the specialized servers at the top, and it

provides useful analytics about the load on any given server.

Top center in the screen is the Quick Connect slider, which is perfect for when you just need VPN protection from the fastest server available. Tap it, or select Quick Connect from the System Tray, and you'll be online in no time. That's a great option for people unfamiliar with VPN services, as is the Settings option that forces NordVPN to launch and connect on startup.

I had no trouble using NordVPN to connect to both nearby and far-flung VPN servers. Best of all, I found that I could still watch Netflix while connected to a US VPN server. That's important, because we shouldn't have to sacrifice security just because we also want to watch something fun.

Using security tools of any kind can sometimes feel scary, since you must trust that the company will place your privacy and protection ahead of its own monetary gain. In the past, some VPN companies have injected advertisements into your web traffic, for example. NordVPN told me, plainly, that it does not interfere with customers' web traffic in any way.

Speed and Performance

Using a VPN adds physical distance and other limiting factors to your otherwise normal internet connection. The result is, usually, a slower experience with increased latency. To measure this effect, I perform two tests using the Ookla speedtest tool. (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.)

First, I establish a baseline average result without the VPN in use. Then, I do the same thing with the VPN active, and compare the results to find a percent change. This first test uses a nearby VPN server, and I perform a second test looking at the performance between Ookla's test server in Anchorage, Alaska, and a VPN server in Australia. This is an extreme example, using two points as far apart as I can manage. Keep in mind that networks are fickle things and can change depending on where and when you connect, so your mileage may vary.

In the domestic VPN tests, I found that NordVPN increased latency by 8 percent. This is an extremely good score, but the best goes to Hide My Ass VPN $9.99 at Hide My Ass VPN, which increased latency by only 5.6 percent. Using NordVPN also reduced download speeds by 4 percent, and upload speeds by 5.4 percent—also good scores. Editors' Choice winner PureVPN, the fastest VPN I've tested, actually improved download speeds by an astounding 346.4 percent. PureVPN also edges out NordVPN in the upload test, but just barely. PureVPN reduced upload speeds by a mere 4.9 percent.

In the international VPN tests, NordVPN increased latency by 268.5 percent. Hotspot Shield comes out on top in this test, increasing latency by 155.4 percent. With NordVPN, download speeds were reduced by 74.7 percent, and upload speeds curtailed by 56.1 percent. PureVPN again has the best scores for downloads. It actually improved download speed by an incredible 403.8 percent in this test. For uploads, Hotspot Shield eked out a close victory, improving upload speeds by 1.4 percent.

Highly Recommended VPN

One reason for NordVPN's success is that its coders seem to understand that network security is probably not foremost on the mind of the average person. It presents a simple face, yet doesn't skimp on a powerful core service. The addition of Kill Switch is welcome, as are the specialized servers for video streaming, Tor-Over-VPN, and double encryption. The recent updates to the Windows client make an already approachable service downright friendly. Taken together it's more than enough to justify its comparatively high monthly cost. It's a smart choice, and it remains a PCMag Editors' Choice, along with KeepSolid VPN Unlimited Private Internet Access, and the fastest VPN I've tested, PureVPN.

Visit official website

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