“VPNs on iOS are a scam”is the title of a long and frequently updated article by Michael Horowitz, a blogger specializing in computer security. According to him, VPN apps for iPhone “broken” and it doesn’t work as it should, leaving user data unprotected.
“They seem to work well at first. The iOS device gets a new public IP address and new DNS servers. The data is sent to the VPN server. But over time, a detailed inspection of the data leaving the device on iOS shows leaks in the VPN tunnel.”explains the expert. “The data leaves the iOS device outside the VPN tunnel. It’s not a classic DNS leak, it’s a data leak. I’ve confirmed this using various VPN types and software from several VPN providers. The latest iOS version I tested is 15.6”says.
Data leakage with VPNs on iOS
Normally, when a VPN is enabled, it closes all unsecured connections and passes data through a secure tunnel. According to the researcher, iOS does not allow all these connections to be closed, which means that some traffic continues to be processed, usually for the first few minutes after enabling the VPN. In the case of push notifications, it is even possible that the data is not protected by the VPN for hours.
But Apple is aware of this crucial issue that puts its customers at risk. As early as March 2020, such data leaks were documented by ProtonVPN on iOS 13. The Cupertino company did not react at the time, basing its communications on the security of its system.
It looks like Apple is now offering a feature to developers to fix the problem, but it’s disabled by default.
Source : Michael Horowitz
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