The Media Trust Expands Digital Trust and Safety Solutions with Microsoft Owned and Operated Publishers

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

The Media Trust today announced its technology and team helping strengthen trust and safety across Microsoft’s advertising ecosystem.

Through this collaboration, The Media Trust will provide critical global threat detection and real-time mitigation solutions to enhance Microsoft’s ability to protect users of its owned and operated publishers from malware, redirects, cloaked ads, and other malicious activities that can undermine user experience and disrupt digital revenue. This collaboration will enhance Microsoft’s ability to deliver a secure, high-quality advertising environment for consumers and partners worldwide.

The Media Trust will utilize its proprietary AI detection, global infrastructure, and malware team visibility across other partner inventory to identify and eliminate threats at the source, ensuring protection without unnecessarily disrupting legitimate advertiser revenue. TMT’s global infrastructure, advanced emulation technology, and expert malware analysis teams provide the scale and precision needed to meet the complex challenges of modern ad ecosystems.

This collaboration reflects The Media Trust’s continued leadership in digital trust, helping global brands, platforms, and agencies safeguard their users and revenue through a cleaner, more transparent advertising ecosystem.

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The AI Reality Check: Why Curated Security Data Wins in 2026

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

DataBee this week published a round of predictions and recommendations from data experts. In 2025, enterprises sprinted toward AI, but DataBee predicts that in 2026 these same enterprises will discover that the real differentiator isn’t the model; it’s actually the quality, normalization, and lineage of the data fueling the model. 

he AI Reality Check: Why Curated Security Data Wins in 2026

In 2025, enterprises sprinted toward AI. In 2026, they’ll discover that the real differentiator isn’t the model—it’s the quality, normalization, and lineage of the data fueling it. Expect a rollback of AI hype as organizations confront fragmented security tooling, manual reporting, and point-in-time compliance. The leaders who win will shift to continuous controls compliance anchored in curated, clean datasets—then layer agentic AI on top as a “data expertise assistant” to scale decisions, not to shortcut rigor.

These predictions and recommendations come from Tyler Alfriend and Stephanie Whitnable, two of DataBee’s top data experts and practitioners. Drawing on their extensive experience in data engineering and analytics for compliance and cybersecurity, they share what organizations must do to turn AI hype into measurable business outcomes in 2026.

1) From Point-in-Time to Continuous Controls Compliance

Compliance is moving beyond 12-month lookbacks and sample-based testing into full-population monitoring at the data source. This shift makes compliance auditable, repeatable, and defensible—and it’s the only way to support real-time executive reporting and board-level confidence.

“The big intersection point is taking full populations from the data source to perform compliance tests—moving away from point-in-time and sample-based reporting.” — Tyler Alfriend

What to watch: Teams will sunset manual “number-hunting” in spreadsheets and instead, funnel direct, automated feeds from systems of record into compliance analytics.

2) Agentic AI Becomes the Data Expertise Assistant

As compliance gets data-centric, skill gaps surface: policy experts don’t always speak in SQL. In 2026, agentic AI steps in—not to replace domain expertise, but to amplify it. Think of it as a side-by-side assistant that translates policy into queries, navigates complex schemas, and surfaces exceptions—while the human retains judgment, context, and accountability.

“Agentic AI could be the ‘data expertise assistant’ that lets compliance pros operate in a new data-centric world without losing their core skill set.” — Tyler Alfriend

Leadership angle: Executives won’t start their day with dashboards; they’ll start with AI-generated briefings: “What’s in tolerance? Where should I focus?” Visuals still matter—but they become working dashboards for teams to validate, triage, and remediate with embedded automation.

3) Dashboards Don’t Die; They Get Practical

Rather than executive vanity metrics, 2026 rewards operational dashboards connected to automated workflows (tickets, playbooks, remediation actions). AI summarizes; dashboards execute. The cycle becomes: AI briefing → working dashboard → auto-generated remediation → continuous evidence trail.

“Dashboards stay, but as working spaces linked to automation, so teams can verify gaps and trigger remediation actions.” — Stephanie Whitnable

4) The Rise of Curated, Normalized Domain Datasets

AI won’t learn your unique policies or tool quirks out of the box. The key to unlocking AI’s potential is curated, clean domain datasets that abstract local nuance and enable AI to answer many questions—not just the one a single report was designed for. In 2026, data programs invert: build deep datasets first, then let AI generate the metrics and views on demand.

“It’s about building deep datasets around a domain—strip out nuance so AI can thrive.” — Tyler Alfriend

“The first word that comes to mind when I think about ‘AI-ready data’ is clean; normalized, clean data is required for the data sets feeding AI to answer lots of questions.” — Stephanie Whitnable

5) A Unified Security Data Fabric Moves from Idea to Imperative

Security teams live with more tools per capita than any other business unit, which obscures data clarity and creates inconsistent language across consoles. 2026 is the breaking point: the AI wave exposes data fragmentation and accelerates adoption of a security data fabric—a unifying layer that normalizes, enriches, and governs controls evidence across tools, then feeds it to AI and compliance analytics.

“Cybersecurity has way more tools per capita… and paradoxically less awareness of data problems. A security data fabric is the solution behind AI.” — Tyler Alfriend

6) The Great AI Reality Check

Enterprises expecting “push-button AI” will be disappointed. The constraint is data cleanliness and context, not model horsepower. Expect a rollback of hype as home-grown initiatives collide with messy datasets. The best outcome? A refocus on fixing data at the source and investing in people who can bridge business context with analytics and AI.

“It’s not going to work as perfectly as expected. Clean data still hasn’t had its spotlight.” — Stephanie Whitnable

“Don’t treat AI as an easy button. Build a good data environment, and AI can finally do what it’s hyped to do.” — Tyler Alfriend

2026 Playbook: Five Actions to Operationalize These Predictions

  1. Embed source-level data into compliance
    Replace sample-based checks with full-population, automated monitoring at the data source.
  2. Stand up curated domain datasets
    Normalize controls, events, assets, identities, and policies into clean, governed tables that AI can interrogate broadly.
  3. Deploy agentic AI for briefings; keep dashboards for work
    Give leaders morning summaries from AI, then route teams to dashboards with embedded remediation workflows.
  4. Invest in people and upskilling
    Pair business context owners with analytics upskilling and AI tools.
  5. Adopt a security data fabric
    Reduce “tool-silo sprawl.” Unify telemetry, controls evidence, and policy mappings in one fabric.

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Xero introduces enterprise-grade analytics to empower small businesses to make smarter, faster decisions

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

Xero today announced the global launch of its new AI-powered analytics capabilities, setting a new standard for small business intelligence. Millions of business owners now have the ability to access leading analytics, insights, and reporting, and get instant answers to their financial questions directly within Xero.

Following its 2024 acquisition of Syft, a leading AI-powered reporting and insights platform, Xero has rapidly integrated the company’s powerful analytics features to put enterprise-grade intelligence into the hands of small businesses. In less than one year since closing the deal, analytics embedded within Xero have been made available to millions of customers worldwide.

Built for the business owner–not highly specialized data analysts–Xero’s analytics platform gives small businesses sophisticated yet easy-to-navigate insights tools, including:

  • Dashboards: customizable views of performance across revenue, expenses, and KPIs
  • Visualisations: graphs and tables to track profitability, cash flow, balance sheet health
  • Cash flow manager: projections up to 180 days, with the ability to scenario plan “what if” outcomes
  • AI insights: AI-generated suggestions and summaries provide a clear explanation of financial data
  • Business health scorecards: create custom scorecards that track key performance metrics alongside external data—like website traffic—for a consolidated view of business health

This milestone is part of Xero’s broader AI and insights strategy, which includes the recent unveiling of JAX, Xero’s AI financial superagent. Together, these innovations realize Xero’s vision to bring enterprise-grade intelligence to small businesses, delivered with the trust, accuracy, and human oversight that define the Xero brand. With 4.6 million subscribers today, Xero continues to successfully balance growth and profitability, recording a 20% increase in first-half revenue to NZD $1.2 billion (to the half year ended 30 September 2025), while delivering an above Rule of 40 outcome.

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VVS Discord Stealer Using Pyarmor for Obfuscation and Detection Evasion

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

VS Stealer, a Python-based information-stealing malware, is targeting Discord users to steal their data, including exfiltrating sensitive information like credentials and tokens stored in their accounts.

Unit 42 has more details here: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/vvs-stealer/

Martin Jartelius, AI Product Director at Outpost24, provided the following comments:

“This is in line with the “malware as a service” elements we have seen over the years. The scope is relatively slim, and the Windows-based persistence mechanisms, such as copying itself to the Start Menu autostart locations, are very noisy and not indicative of a highly sophisticated actor. That said, the analysis is still interesting, as it shows an actor making malware commercially available while using commercially available security tools themselves. While everything the malware does is mainstream, and the techniques used are somewhat dated, it once again offers a glimpse into an established and growing criminal ecosystem.”

The Unit 42 report makes for interesting reading as it gives a lot of detail as to how a campaign like this works. It’s worth your time to have a look.

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An analysis on hack against major Spanish electricity and gas provider Endesa

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

Outpost24’s Threat Intelligence Research Team has released a detailed analysis on the recent cyberattack on Endesa, one of Spain’s largest electricity and gas providers. 

From publicly available evidence from underground forums, leaked dataset listings, and the threat actor’s own statements, the threat intel team examines the likely initial access vector, the probably origin of the data, and the broader security implications therein. 

Some key findings include: 

  1. Several indicators suggest the activity is attributable to a lone, Spanish-speaking individual rather than a coordinated group.
  2. The threat actor’s own statements, specifically “I also do cracking as a service” and “Don’t blame me for my work; blame your employees for not doing theirs,” strongly suggest that initial access was obtained through compromised credentials. 
  3. The actor’s minimal presence across forums and messaging platforms, combined with a lack of established reputation, suggests limited credibility among potential buyers. 
  4. Analysis of file names, object types, and export characteristics indicates the data originated from a CRM environment consistent with Salesforce.

For full details, the analysis can be read here: https://outpost24.com/blog/endesa-data-breach/

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Windows exploit catches the attention of the CISA

Posted in Commentary with tags , on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

The CISA has added a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows, tracked as CVE-2026-20805 (CVSS Score of 8.7), to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Released this week in the Microsoft Patch Tuesday security update, this CVE is a Windows Desktop Window Manager flaw that lets attackers leak small pieces of memory information that can help attackers bypass security protection and is being actively exploited in the wild.

Here’s some insights from Adrian Culley, Senior Sales Engineer for SafeBreach and OWASP contributor:

“This is a ‘detected in the wild’ zero day attack. There is no publicly disclosed code or PoC, yet. CVE-2026-20805 is an information disclosure vulnerability affecting Desktop Window Manager. It was assigned a CVSSv3 score of 5.5 and was rated as important. Successful exploitation allows an authenticated attacker to access sensitive data. According to Microsoft, this vulnerability was exploited in the wild as a zero-day. Since exploitation requires local access and privileges, remote exploitation is not feasible, reducing the attack surface.”

This link from Microsoft has more details on this, along with the list of applicable patches from Microsoft depending on which Microsoft OS you’re running. It’s worth a read as this is one that you want to make sure that you’re defended against. Even if it’s not remotely exploitable.

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Keepit strengthens global channel leadership with consolidated, partner-first team

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

 Keepit today announced a strengthened, consolidated global channel organization designed to accelerate growth through partners and reinforce its ambition to become the most partner-friendly organization in the world.

The expanded channel team is led globally by Jan Ursi, Global Vice President of Channels, and anchored by three regional leaders covering Southern Europe, Northern Europe, and the Americas. Together, the team brings deep channel experience, regional expertise, and a unified strategy built around one principle: partners come first.

Keepit operates a 100 percent channel-led go-to-market model, with all sales delivered through value-added resellers, managed service providers, GSIs and strategic alliances. Since launching the Keepit Partner Network and pivoting to a partner-only sales motion, the company has focused on creating a consistent global framework for enablement, joint marketing and collaborative sales execution — while giving regional teams the freedom to adapt to local market needs.

Ursi leads global channel strategy, messaging, and coordination across regions, aligning partner recruitment, enablement, and pipeline initiatives under a single narrative. His approach positions the channel as the default route to market, not an alternative, and prioritizes long-term collaboration over short-term gains.

Southern Europe and DACH: Building an ecosystem of fans

Southern Europe and DACH— including France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as Germany, Austria and Switzerland— is led by Cyril VanAgt, Regional Vice President of Channel, EMEA South. Based in Paris, VanAgt brings decades of channel leadership experience from Nutanix and NetApp.

The focus in Southern Europe is rapid ecosystem growth through local activation. This includes region-specific partner campaigns, PR-driven launches, and a structured Partner Academy program combining sales, technical, and marketing tracks. The academy model, already piloted in Paris, is being templated for rollout across the region.

The focus in DACH is to build on the region’s success by expanding the Keepit channel team to better support our top VAR and MSP partners across the Enterprise and Commercial segments, and to execute a strong distribution strategy to develop a run-rate business for the mid-sized and SMB segment in the region.

Northern Europe: Scaling repeatable success

Northern Europe — covering the UK and Ireland, the Nordics, Central Eastern Europe, and the Benelux — is led by Alex Walsh, Regional Vice President of Channel, EMEA North. Walsh brings more than 12 years of enterprise SaaS and channel experience, including senior leadership roles at Veeam and AppSense.

In the region, the focus is on expanding tier-one value-added reseller, managed service provider and distributor relationships, supported by a data-led strategy, consistent enablement cycles, and strong engagement with regional channel media.

Americas: Momentum through continuity

In the Americas, the channel organization is led by Jill Miracle, Director Channels Americas. Her focus is maintaining momentum with strategic focus partners while reinforcing Keepit’s long-term commitment to a partner-only model.

This includes synchronized enablement through Keepit’s global Partner Academy tracks, ensuring American partners have timely access to marketing assets, product updates, and certifications.

Global focus built around practical execution

With a unified global strategy and strong regional leadership, Keepit’s channel organization is designed to scale with partners — and grow together.

Keepit’s channel focus is built around practical execution: predictable partner economics, consistent enablement, and a vendor-independent SaaS backup and recovery platform that partners can take to customers across industries. The consolidated structure is designed to make it easier for partners to engage with Keepit, build pipeline, and scale delivery with a repeatable model.

With Ursi leading global strategy and regional leaders driving local execution, Keepit plans to increase partner recruitment, expand certifications, and deepen joint marketing across priority markets in 2026 — with one goal in mind: help partners grow profitable, durable SaaS data protection practices.

To become a Keepit partner, contact partner@keepit.com or visit keepit.com/partners.

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Samsung Canada Introduces the Galaxy A17 5G

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

Samsung Canada has officially added Galaxy A17 5G to the latest Galaxy A series smartphone lineup. Designed for users who want a reliable and accessible device without sacrificing self-expression, Galaxy A17 5G delivers the core features people rely on. It brings together powerful performance, intuitive AI tools, a vibrant display, and a versatile camera system in a refined design. From staying connected and capturing moments to creating and sharing social content, it supports how people use their phones every day.

Awesome AI for Awesome Living

With the introduction of Galaxy A17 5G to the Galaxy A series lineup, Samsung expands its Awesome Intelligence to more users, bringing a range of AI-powered features designed to make mobile experiences more accessible, creative and productive. Features like Circle to Search and Gemini help simplify everyday tasks so you can spend more time on what matters.

See something you like? Just Circle to Search on Galaxy A17 5G to instantly learn more about what’s on your screen, from sneakers you spot online to décor inspiration or travel ideas, without leaving the app.

Galaxy A17 5G also helps you keep up with life using Gemini and Seamless Action Across Apps. Planning a get-together, organizing a trip, or finding the perfect gift? With a single voice command, AI can search for ideas, add events to your calendar and send messages, making everyday planning faster and easier.

Memories Made Picture Perfect

Capture every angle in stunning clarity with Galaxy A17 5G’s versatile triple-camera system. From group photos and street shots to close-ups and everyday details, the Galaxy A17 5G makes it easy to create content worth sharing.

The 50MP main camera, supported by a 5MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro lens, lets you capture wide scenes and close-up moments with equal clarity. With Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), photos and videos stay smoother and sharper, even when you’re on the move.

Your Content, Super Smooth

Stream your favourite movies, scroll social feeds or video chat with friends on Galaxy A17 5G’s crystal-clear 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display. Designed to pull you in with bright, vivid details, the screen brings your content to life for everything from watching shows to browsing recipes and staying connected.

With its thin and lightweight design, the Galaxy A17 5G is comfortable to hold and easy to carry, making it perfect for everyday entertainment wherever life takes you.

Reliable Performance Designed to Last

Supercharge Your Day: Never slow down with a phone that charges fast. Power through your day with a reliable 5,000mAh battery and Super Fast Charging, so you can focus more on what you’re doing and less on your battery percentage. As you head out for the night, commute through the day or move between plans, the Galaxy A17 5G supports quick recharging to help keep you connected.

Need More Storage?: Store more and worry less with generous internal storage and up to 2TB of expandable storage. The Galaxy A17 5G gives you all the space you need for photos, videos, apps and memories, and then some. Keep your favourite moments, social content and important files easily accessible whenever you need them, without the need to constantly delete photos, videos or apps to make room.

Awesome Perks, Built In

Your Galaxy Comes with a Digital Wallet: Pay with a tap and store compatible cards and memberships in one place with Samsung Wallet. Say goodbye to bulky pockets and enjoy secure, convenient and everyday payments right from your phone, with added peace of mind thanks to Samsung Knox protection.

The Best of TV. All for Free. All on Your Phone: Galaxy A17 5G comes with Samsung TV Plus8, giving you access to live TV channels and thousands of movies and shows on demand, all at zero cost. Enjoy awesome entertainment anytime, anywhere, right on your phone.

Availability

Galaxy A17 5G is now available in Canada in Black, with an MSRP of $269.99, through Samsung.com/ca and select carrier and retail partners.

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EnGenius Unveils Cloud-Managed Wi-Fi 7 Enterprise AP with 24/7 AirGuard™ Security

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

EnGenius Technologies today announces the expansion of its EnGenius Cloud-managed security portfolio with advanced Wi-Fi 7 access points featuring EnGenius AirGuard™, now integrated into its flagship ECW536S Wi-Fi 7 series for enhanced protection in security-sensitive environments such as financial institutions, healthcare, and enterprises.

Continuous Wireless Threat Protection with AirGuard™

As enterprise environments embrace remote access and proliferating Bluetooth/IoT endpoints, attack surfaces have expanded dramatically. EnGenius addresses this challenge with AirGuard™, an intelligent wireless intrusion detection and prevention system (WIDS/WIPS) built into its APs. AirGuard™ delivers 24/7 threat detection—identifying and neutralizing threats such as evil twins, rogue APs, man‑in‑the‑middle attacks, RF jammers, and flood attempts—by leveraging dedicated scanning radios. This always‑on security protection operates without compromising wireless performance. Professional-grade RF spectrum analysis visualizes SSID legitimacy and ensures optimal channel utilization, while zero-wait DFS facilitates seamless, non‑disruptive channel shifts when radar is detected. Additionally, BLE scanning capabilities detect nearby Bluetooth devices.

Key Features:

  • Wireless intrusion detection system (WIDS) – for threat detection
  • Wireless intrusion protection system (WIPS) – for attack remediation
  • 24/7 Wireless Threat Monitoring – Continuously scans for malicious activity using dedicated security radios without affecting Wi-Fi performance.
  • Comprehensive Threat Detection – Identifies rogue APs, evil twins, flood attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and RF jammers.
  • Dedicated Security Radios – Ensure uninterrupted client connectivity while maintaining constant threat surveillance.
  • Cloud-Managed Protection – Real-time monitoring and alerts through EnGenius Cloud for immediate response.
  • Proactive Defense – Neutralizes threats before they compromise sensitive enterprise networks.
  • Ideal for High-Security Environments – Perfect for finance, healthcare, government, and distributed enterprise networks.

The ECW536S, powered by the Qualcomm® Networking Pro 1220 platform, cloud‑managed Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be) 4×4×4 access point for enterprises. With ultra-fast aggregate speeds of up to 18.8 Gbps, it delivers exceptional performance across all bands—2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz—expanding capacity for bandwidth-demanding applications and dense environments.

Key Benefits

  • High Speeds & Capacity – Deliver blazing Wi-Fi 7 performance with throughput up to 11,600 Mbps (6 GHz), 5,800 Mbps (5 GHz), and 1,440 Mbps (2.4 GHz) to power bandwidth-intensive and data-heavy applications.
  • Advanced Optimization – Featuring 4x4x4 MU-MIMO, OFDMA, and a 10 GbE PoE++ uplink, the ECW536S ensures efficient channel use, ultra-low latency, and rock-solid connectivity in the most demanding high-density environments.
  • Future-Ready Connectivity – Fully supports the latest Wi-Fi standards while remaining backward-compatible, making it easy to integrate into existing networks and prepare for tomorrow’s wireless technologies.
  • Simplified Cloud Management – Centralized through EnGenius Cloud for zero-touch provisioning, streamlined configuration, and automated firmware updates, reducing deployment time and operating costs.

Unified Security and Performance for Sensitive Environments

With phishing responsible for up to 90% of enterprise data breaches, often initiated through rogue devices, securing wireless infrastructure is paramount. EnGenius now offers an all-in-one, cloud‑managed solution—combining high‑performance Wi‑Fi 7 connectivity with continuous, intelligent security monitoring—eliminating the need for disparate point solutions and reducing costly vulnerabilities.

Availability

The ECW536S will be available from EnGenius authorized resellers and distribution partners by the end of January, with an MSRP of $749. For additional product specifications and purchasing information, visit: ECW536S

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Guest Post – Hidden Dangers in Free Cybersecurity Tools: How to Safeguard Your Data in 2026

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 15, 2026 by itnerd

A recent alarming event, where a VPN proxy extension that was supposed to protect users spied on them instead and sold data to brokerage firms, was a reminder to be careful about whom users trust with their data in 2026. However, according to cybersecurity experts, free cybersecurity tools are a better solution than no tools at all, as long as users remain vigilant.

In December, it was discovered that a VPN proxy browser extension – a tool designed to let users hide their IP address and browse the internet anonymously – secretly collected data from at least six million consumers.

Every query entered by users through the extension into ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, and other chatbots was transmitted to advertising and data brokerage companies.

This case was just one of many examples of free cybersecurity tools caught silently profiting from users’ private data. According to experts at Planet VPN, a company that provides a free virtual private network, “free” doesn’t necessarily mean malicious: there are already numerous free and legitimate tools used by cybersecurity specialists.

These include Wireshark, a network traffic analyzer trusted by millions of IT professionals and cybersecurity experts; Nmap, a tool used for network security and auditing; and password managers, including one provided by Apple.

​According to Konstantin Levinzon, co-founder of Planet VPN, both paid and unpaid cybersecurity services carry risks. Users should identify them and weigh in on whether the service is trustworthy based on legitimate data and independent reviews.

“Considering the fact that a number of free cybersecurity service providers have tried to profit from their users, consumers are right to be suspicious and should treat free cybersecurity tools with caution,” he says. “However, we believe that as cyberincidents increase every year, basic cybersecurity has to remain free, and there are far more important factors to consider than just the free vs paid debate.”

What does the tool’s update history say?

According to Levinzon, a trustworthy cybersecurity tool regularly releases updates that patch vulnerabilities, improve features, and enhance security protocols.

​If a user notices a lack of updates or a history of irregular updates, this could indicate negligence or intentional failure to address security flaws that might put users’ data at risk, Levinzon says.

Reputable websites often display information about their updates on official websites or documentation; this information can also be found on App Store, Google Play, or repositories like GitHub.

Evaluate reputation and transparency

Trustworthy free cybersecurity vendors often have a clear track record across various platforms. According to Levinzon, third-party reviews, industry certifications, and user feedback, such as cybersecurity forums, reviews, and ratings on Google Play, can provide reliable information about the product.

Transparency in how a company handles data storage, encryption, and vulnerability reports is a sign of a trustworthy provider. According to Levinzon, this is especially true in the VPN industry, where many companies do not disclose such information.

“A reliable VPN provider, be it free or paid, should not share, store, or collect data like browsing history, IP addresses, and ensure that your online activity remains private. Users should also make sure that their provider is based outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes alliances, which include countries like the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, as these agreements permit surveillance and data sharing among member states,” he says.

Check for loopholes in the privacy policy

According to Levinzon, many users skim over the privacy policy, even though these documents often reveal how a service truly operates. Vague or contradictory language about data usage, retention, and third-party sharing is also a red flag.

“It is natural for free cybersecurity service providers to display ads in order to generate revenue for infrastructure and service quality improvements. However, they should explicitly state that only non-personalized, aggregated data is shared with ad platforms-and only with the user’s explicit consent,” Levinzon concludes.

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