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mong other things, I’m a VPN reviewer
for PCMag, and that means I spend a lot
of time trying to explain to people that I
am not a paid shill or actively working against the
safety of others. Why? Because the culture around
VPNs and how some of these products are
marketed has become incredibly toxic./HWPH¿UVWVD\WKDWEURDGO\VSHDNLQJP\
interactions with VPN vendors have been
positive. I genuinely believe that most vendors in
the VPN space are making the best product they
can and are trying to do right by their customers.
<HW,¶YHVHHQÀDVKHVRIEDGEHKDYLRUELJDQG
small, across the entire industry.(Editors’ Note: IPVanish and StrongVPN are
owned by j2 Global, the parent company of
3&0DJ¶VSXEOLVKHU=L̆'DYLV:H¶OOWDONPRUH
DERXWWKLVEHORZ FIGHTING DIRTY
From my experience working with VPNs, I can
say with certainty there is a culture of sabotage
and paranoia among some vendors. Anonymous
dumps of damning information about one VPN
vendor get blamed on another VPN vendor. Tips
come in suggesting that corporate ownership is
WLHGWRWKH5XVVLDQPD¿DRUVRPHRWKHUFULPLQDOBackstabbing, Disinformation,
and Bad Journalism: The State
of the VPN Industry
COMMENTARY
PC Magazine Senior
Software Analyst Max
Eddy has also written
for publications such
as International Digital
Times, International
Science Times, and
The Mary Sue.