Type: VPN style browser Addon/Extension
Name: ZenMate
Cost: Free
Encrypted: Yes
Website: https://zenmate.io
Support: https://zenmate.io/support
The Blurb
The Internet is a great place with many possibilities. Unfortunately it’s not the safe place any more that it used to be. Unpleasant surprises from hackers, spying internet service providers, restrictive governments, I.D. thieves, and viruses are often “just around the corner” and users are unprotected, without even knowing it. Thanks to ZenMate these worries are now a thing from the past! Your Internet connection is highly encrypted and redirected via the ZenMate cloud where our encryption- & acceleration software is installed. To deliver you maximum speed and utmost uptime we only rented servers from the most reliable and trustworthy hosting providers around the world. This great choice allows you to choose the location you need to get protection as well as a free, unrestricted and private Internet experience. We only use the fastest and most reliable servers that will never slow you down!
How it Works
ZenMate creates a tunnel similar to a virtual private network (VPN) between your device and our Internet gateway. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers, hackers, governments and ISP‘s from spying on your web browsing activities, downloads, credit card information or anything else you send over the network via your browser.
What Makes it Different?
In contrast to many other plugins ZenMate also fully encrypts all your browser traffic.
Other plugins just work like a proxy that change your IP but do not offer encryption. ZenMate is the first plugin to offer security and real privacy by encrypting everything you do in your browser so that hackers and sniffing spooks (such as ISPs and governments for example) don’t have a chance to get hold of you.
Available for Chrome
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zenmate-for-google-chrome
And Opera version 20+
https://addons.opera.com/en-gb/extensions/details/zenmate-for-operatm
Works in conjunction with other browser addons/extensions
AdBlock http://support.getadblock.com
Ghostery https://getsatisfaction.com/ghostery
HTTPS Everywhere https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Simple to use. As an example I tried it on the BBC Player web site. As I’m in Australia, the BBC player naturally blocked me. A couple of mouse clicks later and a page refresh and the BBC thought I was in Manchester in England and the video started playing without the slightest hesitation. For those already in the UK – or anywhere else in the world for that matter, I suggest you try it with Hulu.
The obvious flaw is that although you gain practically 100% browsing security, you still need to rely on others to maintain your privacy. It is nevertheless a handy tool – especially for Portable Web Browsers carried around on your personal Thumb Drive. So no more problems with school, work or parental firewalls. View anything, anywhere, anytime on the web without any restriction.
If encryption and privacy is your aim, then try ZenMate, but remember, like everything, do not rely on ZenMate alone. If however, all you need it for is to gain access to yet another media streaming site that you are blocked from, this could be [I]The Tool[/I] for you.
All I can say is that if you need it, give it a try. It’s totally free with unrestricted bandwidth – for the time being.