The IT Nerd

As millions of consumers prepare their budgets, credit cards and digital wallets for Black Friday and Cyber Week, the common wisdom is clear: use a VPN to protect your financial data. But in a study conducted by PureVPN, researchers with Ontario Tech University and CQR Cybersecurity found that relying on a standalone VPN, or juggling it alongside separate password managers and ad blockers, creates a false sense of security that cyber thieves are ready and able to exploit. PureVPN also announced a Black Friday and Cyber Week pricing discount of 88 percent at $1.49/month for unified, attack-thwarting online shopping and communications.

According to the study “The Cost of Fragmentation: Measuring Time, Spend and Risk in Personal Cybersecurity Tool Stacks,” the use of separate security tools for VPNs, password management, and ad blocking creates a dangerous security gap. The data shows that 38% of modern cyberattacks now exploit stolen credentials and exposed connections, specifically by taking advantage of the data exposed by non-integrated tools.

The Hidden Risk of the Security Gap

Shoppers often assume they are safe if they have a password manager and a VPN installed. However, when these tools don’t communicate and integrate with one another, risks emerge. A typical example of this is when a consumer auto-fills credit card details or passwords on mobile devices while their separate VPN is disconnected, a common occurrence due to “alert fatigue,” and those credentials can travel over the exposed network.

Alert Fatigue: The Enemy of Safe Shopping

The rush of online Black Friday deals and the contention for in-store “door opener” specials are chaotic. Adding a barrage of security notifications can make this chaos worse – and for many, overwhelming. And that’s when a shopper turns to risky behaviors like turning off their VPN. The study found that the average consumer manages 3.4 distinct security apps, and spends up to 27 hours a year maintaining them, leading to a cycle of “alert chaos”:

• 44% of users receive overlapping alerts from different apps.
• 38% of those who receive overlapping alerts admit to ignoring these alerts entirely due to the volume.
• 29–34% leave essential tools disabled or miss paid features, turning fragmented apps into “open doors” for attackers.

Safer Shopping Solution: Integrated and Easy Protection, Not Competing Apps

For a safer holiday shopping season, PureVPN is offering discounts on its new Unified Security Suite, which was specifically designed to close security gaps for mobile and online shoppers – especially those who aren’t IT hobbyists. Combining a VPN, Password Manager, Dark Web Monitoring, and Tracker Blocking into a single app, the suite ensures that critical actions are protected automatically.

Key PureVPN Unified Security Suite protections for Black Friday shoppers include:

• Secured Autofill: The integrated VPN and Password Manager ensure that all time credentials or credit card numbers are autofilled as they travel through an encrypted tunnel.
• Real-Time Anti-Tracking: The built-in Tracker & Ad Blocker stops advertisers and malicious scripts from building profiles based on shopping habits.
• Real Savings: By replacing redundant subscription apps, users can stop wasting the costs of overlapping, non-integrated apps, which can cost as much as $850 annually, according to the study’s research findings.

PureVPN’s Black Friday and Holiday Season Pricing – Now 88% Off.

PureVPN has launched a $1.49/month Black Friday offer on its Unified Security Suite app to help protect privacy in response to the last year of rising cybercrime, offering consumers the best value-to-feature ratio among VPN providers.

Availability

The new unified PureVPN app is now available on Android and iOS. This Black Friday, shoppers can secure their digital footprint not just with a VPN, but with a complete, integrated defensive perimeter. With the Unified Security Suite now live on both platforms, PureVPN is redefining personal protection: one app, zero complexity, complete peace of mind.

To learn more, visit: https://www.purevpn.com/order

Statista reports that the number of connected IoT (Internet of Things) devices is forecasted to hit 75.44 billion by 2025. The figure paints a clear picture of the growing presence of IoT devices in every household.

However, convenience isn’t the only thing that these connected devices bring to a user’s life. In fact, IoT has made users’ devices more exposed to security breaches. SonicWall informs in its 2019’s Cyber Threats Report that IoT attacks have grown over 70 billion between 2017 and 2018.

IoT & Cyber Threats

There’s certainly no shortage of IoT related attacks in today’s cybersecurity landscape. Every year a new variant of malware is reported to be involved in the attacks.

The proliferation of IoT devices has also given cybercriminals multiple entry points unlike before. Whether it is healthcare technology, a smart car, smart appliance, or a baby monitor, not a single device is safe against cyberattacks like Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS).

Amongst the many past cyber incidents, Dyn DDoS was the biggest attack ever recorded in internet history. The DDoS attack used the Mirai botnet, and it took down a significant portion of the Internet, paralyzing even top web services like Twitter, CNN and more.

Similarly, in 2017, Homeland security, as well as FDA, issued notification against 465,000 pacemakers that were found to have serious security vulnerabilities.

Action Plan

Cyber threats have increased by 67% in the last few years, and if things go as they are, attacks will inflate even more in the future. However, there are certain security measures which users can take to protect the integrity of their data.

• First and foremost, users should keep the firmware of their IoT devices updated. Device manufacturers release security fixes now and then. These fixes patch the existing vulnerabilities in the device.

• Secondary and tertiary networks should be created on the router, dedicated to the IoT devices.

• Users should employ end-to-end encryption with a VPN like PureVPN to secure all the internet traffic transmitted through the IoT network.

• UPnP feature should be disabled since it gives easy access to any device to the network.

• A firewall must be installed to disallow any malicious traffic from entering into the IoT network.

The Internet plays an important role in everyone’s life. Not only is it an endless source of information on a wide variety of topics, but also offers plenty of opportunities for entertainment – from movies and TV shows to games, books, social media, and whatnot.

However, users often find barriers in accessing everything the Internet has to offer with geo-restrictions and censorship becoming so commonplace. This is one of the main reasons why millions turn to VPN services, so that they can enjoy the open Internet.

How Does a VPN Help?

A Virtual Private Network protects users’ online freedom by putting them in full control of their virtual location, courtesy of an anonymous IP address. In this way, they can get past digital roadblocks to access the websites, services, and content of their choice.

Furthermore, it employs top-of-the-line encryption on all Internet traffic and communications – this not only conceals a users’ online identity, but also keeps personal data safe from ISPs, governments, and other entities that pose a threat to their online privacy, security, and freedom.

Gift 30 Days of Internet Freedom with PureVPN

PureVPN, one of the most reliable names in the VPN industry, has recently launched its Buy One Gift One(B1G1) deal which will allow premium users of the service to send their loved ones a monthly account for free.

This gives them the opportunity to avoid sharing something as personal as a VPN account and help friends, family, colleagues, or acquaintances experience true Internet freedom by inviting them to avail the gift.

Doing so is simple, and requires PureVPN users to log into their Member’s Area:

1. Once there, they need to look for the “Send Invite Now” button.
2. Fill out the necessary information, which includes the invitee’s name and email address.
3. And, finally, send the invitation.

For more information about PureVPN’s Buy One Gift One (B1G1) deal, check out this guide.