A quick Internet search will bring up a slew of Egyptian-based cyber-attacks that have caused financial, emotional, and mental hardship. The cost of cybercrime on Egyptians is often measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
But when a single computer breach on a small business, or on a family with women and children is successful, it can have a much greater impact. Not only do many victims in Egypt suffer financial repercussions, they may also experience Internet stalking, reputation damage, social media trolling or doxxing. Cyber-attacks may also include phishing, malware, or denial of service attacks.
Make no mistake, many cybercrimes tend “to be much more serious and covers things such as cyber-stalking and harassment, child predation, extortion, blackmail, stock market manipulation, complex corporate espionage, and planning or carrying out terrorist activities”.
Just in case you’re not familiar with some of these terms, here are some brief definitions:
- Cyber-stalking or Internet Stalking – The use of the Internet or other electronic access gained illegally to stalk or harass an individual, group, or organisation. The motives range from intimidation to mental destruction to controlling the victim.
- Doxxing- A reputation attack that can be serious when someone gets their hands on the victim’s personal images, incriminating messages, or secret activities. The goal is to systematically use the stolen information to bring the victim down personally or to destroy their business.
- Social Media Trolling – When someone posts inflammatory messages in an online community using stolen personal information, to provoke readers into antagonistic behaviour against the victim.
Many of these computer invasions and subsequent targeting are common all over the world, but right now they are extremely prevalent and ongoing in Egypt also. For families, consumers, and business owners that want to drastically decrease their chances of a cybercrime or computer breach, a virtual private network is the best solution.
For Internet privacy, secure browsing, and to stop cybercriminals in their tracks, try Surfshark for 30 days.
Stop criminals with a VPN
The best defence against cyber-attacks in Egypt is to use a virtual private network (VPN) at home or work. A VPN is one of the most secure ways to browse the internet, whilst preventing cyber criminals infiltrating personal and business computer systems.
Normally, all of your Internet activities will pass through a public network or Internet service provider (ISP). Everything you do is seen by the ISP, and if you read the fine print, these same services will hand over your browsing history to other third parties such as advertisers or government officials.
But when you connect to a VPN, you are given an IP address that is encrypted and hidden. Without the IP address of your computer, criminals cannot hack their way into your system. Not only is your computer address hidden, your personal location is also hidden. Location trackers have become a nuisance in Egypt, with government and private companies knowing every place you have physically visited.
How to choose a VPN Provider
Don’t be fooled, as all virtual private networks are not created equally. When choosing a VPN service, consider those that offer a free trial before you make a long-term commitment. A free trial is a win-win situation for both you and the VPN provider, as this way, you get to see all the benefits the VPN has to offer and become familiar with all the features.
Do you want to access information in only one country, or worldwide? Some providers offer both a local VPN connection and a global connection for access to international servers.
Some countries, however, have strict censorship on Internet usage. You may want to choose a VPN that can bypass censorship in Egypt. According to the Atlantic Council, a recently published article, entitled Egypt leads the pack in Internet censorship across the Middle East, offers a glimpse into how governments can limit the Internet freedoms of its citizens:
“Internet censorship around the world, including in the Middle East, is not a new phenomenon. Freedom of expression facilitated by the Internet can pose a threat to authoritarian leaders around the world who seek to maintain strict control over both the content their citizens consume and the content they post.
A clear pattern of authoritarian use of the Internet to limit citizens’ freedoms can be viewed across the Middle East. Yet most recently, it is in Egypt in particular that this practice appears to be most egregious.”
In these cases, the location of the VPN server may be important. Here are five questions to ask when choosing a VPN provider include:
- Does the VPN have a strict no-log practice, meaning they are not keeping a log of your Internet searches or tracking your browsing history?
- Does the service provider offer secure communications protocols to make sure data is successfully transmitted between multiple entities, including home computers, private servers, and worldwide networks?
- Can you also connect to the VPN from your home network or while travelling by way of the cloud?
- Will the VPN provider have enough capacity to support its users, even during high demand periods?
- Beware – a lifetime of free VPN service is a sign of a fake VPN that is looking to steal your data as it passes through their network!
Best Premium VPN to Try for Egypt
No matter what your concerns are when looking for the best premium VPN to try for Egypt, one thing remains clear. There is a fear that someone has gained access to your personal information and photos.
This loss in consumer confidence can cause emotional distress due to the fear of the financial results and ruin that can come from a cyber-attack. Mentally, these same people may have to go through the lengthy process of reviewing and monitoring all their credit cards, medical records, bank accounts, passwords, and personal information for years.
Once you become a victim to an online scam or a data breach, you are at the mercy of these criminals and can only hope they won’t drain your accounts before you get a handle on your computer security. For these reasons, we want to familiarise you with one of the best premium VPN services to try for Egypt.
Surfshark is not only an award-winning VPN service provider, it offers you the most secure VPN that encrypts your online data. As you freely browse the internet, you stay protected from cyber-attacks and private from government overwatch.
Surf the Web ad and track free
Online advertising can be a nuisance. And, these most online ads feature cookies that allow companies to follow your online presence to analyse your buying behaviour, so they can retarget you for more sales advertising. In reality, they are secretly building a profile of your online habits, so they can send you emails, messages, and pop-up ads. This type of tracking is eliminated as you surf the web in a clean environment.
This same type of VPN technology will block phishing, which is when criminals get their hands on your sensitive financial information, including usernames, passwords and credit card numbers as they disguise their evil deeds as a trustworthy business.
Secured Data and IP Address
Best of all, Surfshark is simple to use with a hassle-free interface – and don’t forget, they offer a 30-day money back free trial! This VPN is safe and offers multiple high-end security features such as DNS and IPv6 Leak Protection. These are longstanding Internet security flaws that could possibly allow some of your transmitted data to leak out and be exposed to criminals.
With this type of security protection, you could be online and located in Egypt, but since your DNS requests, IP address, or IPv6 address are not leaking, your actual location is secure from hackers. This IP masking prevents IPv6-enabled websites from requesting your real IP address.
Watch US Netflix on unlimited devices
Premium VPN service providers will allow an unlimited number of devices to connect to the private server. This includes Android or iOS devices, Fire TV, or different browsers like Mozilla or Chrome. If you are in Egypt, you will not have access to the US version of Netflix. But with a virtual private network like Surfshark, you can get access to 15 Netflix libraries to stream on an unlimited number of devices.
256-bit Data Encryption
Another feature you should expect from the best premium VPN to try for Egypt, is data that is encrypted at 256 bits. You cannot get a higher level of data encryption than this! It would take so long for a criminal to crack 256-bit encryption, because it is so strong and so complex, and needs access to a specific algorithm or a private key to unscramble the text.
The encrypted data is secure as long as the private key is secure. And this is why you choose a reputable VPN with secure and private data encryption.
Kill Switch Safety
As another level of protection, consider a VPN that has a reliable kill switch to protect your privacy. In case of an unexpected connection fault, your VPN connection is hanging in limbo. Instead, you are immediately disconnected from the Internet as a way to protect your privacy.
Once the VPN connection is restored, you can continue on the Internet as before, without your IP address accidentally being exposed, or the security of your sensitive information being compromised.
No matter what the political circumstances may be in Egypt, a virtual private network gives you and your family Internet freedom while also providing a safety net against cybercriminals. Your IP address is completely concealed. It looks as if you are located in another country. VPNs are legal in Egypt and they are widely used by businesses to protect their data.
