Things perhaps become even more critical if you are business operating in China, which has security standards which require the usage of VPNs to connect to offices remotely, and reduce the chances of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands. Criminal hackers can also take advantage of people not using VPNs to spy upon those using insecure Wi-Fi hotspots, and launch man-in-the-middle attacks. Of course, this is one of the concerns – that authoritarian regimes might use the lack of availability of VPN technology to more easily monitor and censor what people are accessing on the internet, and snoop upon private communications.īut they’re not the only group which can exploit weak online security. where government control access to internet.”Ĭertainly VPN software has been unpopular with the Chinese regime, which views their usage as a tool by which citizens might attempt to skirt around the infamous “Great firewall of China”, used to censor websites and content deemed inappropriate. Other VPN apps, such as Star VPN, also revealed that it had been similarly thrown out of the Chinese iOS App Store, and warned that the move set a “very dangerous precedent which can lead to same moves in countries like UAE etc.

In the email, Apple explained that the ExpressVPN app was being removed from the China App Store “because it contains content that is illegal in China.”Īnd it doesn’t seem that ExpressVPN was being specifically targeted. In a blog post, ExpressVPN describes how it received a notification from Apple that its iOS app was being removed from the China App Store.

Ok, so hopefully we’re all up to speed and understand the importance of running a VPN.īut depending on where you are in the world, things may not be so easy.įor instance, this weekend it has come to light that Apple has bowed to pressure from the regime in Beijing, and removed some VPN apps from the Chinese version of its iOS App Store. Regular readers of We Live Security will know that we have long been proponents of internet users protecting their privacy by installing a VPN on their computers, tablets, and smartphones.ĭon’t know what a VPN is? Watch this video from ESET.

Apple has bowed to pressure from the regime in Beijing, and removed some VPN apps from the Chinese version of its iOS App Store.

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