CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost’s speeds are fast enough for most online activity without issue.

The VPN is fast on local connections, but slower on long-distance connections. It sometimes also lacks speed stability.

We tested CyberGhost’s local speeds by connecting from our test London server to a nearby UK server.

Here are the results from our local speed tests:

This is a very good result, similar to rival VPNs like ExpressVPN and IPVanish.

Long-Distance Speed Tests

We also connected to international servers in Germany, US, Singapore, and Australia. Sadly, CyberGhost VPN’s long-distance speeds were much more inconsistent.

While CyberGhost still delivered reasonable results, it lags the current fastest VPNs we’ve reviewed.

As you can see above, we suffered a 74% speed loss connecting to a US server, which is much slower than other top-tier services like NordVPN and Private Internet Access.

Connecting to servers in Australia and Singapore wasn’t much better, either.

According to CyberGhost’s privacy policy, its VPN only logs anonymous connection data for statistical purposes.

This anonymous connection data is aggregated, anonymized, and cannot be traced back to you.

Many popular VPNs collect aggregated connection logs, and CyberGhost is no different. While the service is very private, read our Private Internet Access review if you’re after a 100% no-logs VPN.

In any case, CyberGhost VPN does not keep logs of user web activity. It won’t log your real IP address and the servers you used.

CyberGhost’s Transparency Reports

CyberGhost publishes an annual transparency report listing the number of legal requests and DMCA complaints it receives.

The company also commissioned an independent audit on its security practices in 2012. The security audit came back clean. We now want to see an updated audit for the VPN’s logging policy.

Details of CyberGhost’s independent audit.

CyberGhost is Based in Romania

Cyberghost is incorporated as CyberGhost S.A. in Bucharest, Romania.

It’s in the EU, which has aggressive data-retention and sharing agreements between nations. But, Romania is the only EU member state to have successfully said “no” to the data-sharing requirements.

Screenshot of the Constitutional Court of Romania’s (CCR) decision not to co-operate with EU data-sharing directives.

In any event, CyberGhost doesn’t collect any personal web logs therefore has no web data to hand over to authorities.

Crossrider Controversy

CyberGhost was released in 2011 as a free VPN by German tech entrepreneur Robert Knapp. In 2017, Crossrider Group acquired the VPN company.

Crossrider operated mobile ad platforms and a browser extension development platform. The latter allowed developers to create cross-browser add-ons and monetize them through ad injection techniques.

One of these techniques bundles a ‘Crossrider’ adware PUP (potentially unwanted program) with other software. Once installed, the PUP would serve unwanted advertisements via an internet user’s web browser(s).

Ad injection is not only intrusive but, if misused, potentially unsafe. Some developers may have in fact abused Crossriders’ capabilities for malicious purposes.

Below is a screenshot from a Malwarebytes report into Crossrider PUPs:

Screenshot taken from Malwarebytes’ investigation into Crossrider.

Kape’s Commitment to Privacy

Crossider shut its ad platforms in 2016, prior to acquiring CyberGhost. The company then re-branded to Kape Technologies in 2018.

Since 2017, the company has focused on global privacy and security activities. Following CyberGhost, Kape also acquired popular VPN services Private Internet Access and ZenMate.

Crossrider may have not always put user privacy first, but Kape has made a dedicated effort to do so. From our perspective, CyberGhost can be trusted.

There is no doubt that CyberGhost is a secure VPN. It protects your web traffic with 256-bit encryption.

Your information is never exposed thanks to a kill switch and leak protection.

Fast and Secure VPN Protocols

CyberGhost’s apps use WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2 protocols. For OpenVPN, you also have a choice between TCP and UDP connections.

Recently, the VPN service removed the insecure PPTP and L2TP protocols. More proof of the company’s ongoing commitment to security.

To protect your data, the VPN hashes web traffic using the SHA256 authentication. And, perfect forward secrecy is achieved via an ECDH-4096 key exchange.

Wide Range of Security Tools

In addition to built-in IP leak protection, there is an impressive range of advanced security features.

There’s a malicious URL filter to block malware, automated HTTPS redirection, an online tracking blocker, and split tunneling. All of these features are included in the standard CyberGhost subscription.

CyberGhost’s connection features.

The “force HTTPS” function redirects insecure URLs to HTTPS versions. Not many VPN services offer this feature.

Split tunneling is available on the Windows and Android apps. This lets you pick the applications to put through the VPN connection. It’s currently not available on CyberGhost’s macOS client.

CyberGhost’s mobile and Mac apps are secure, but they have less security features than the Windows client. We’ll cover these in detail later on in this review.

CyberGhost’s Private Browser

CyberGhost has also developed its own free Private Browser that runs off DuckDuckGo. It has a built-in proxy extension, an ad and malware blocker, and a one-click deletion of internet data.

IP and DNS Leak Tests

VPN security isn’t just about the strength of encryption available. We also tested CyberGhost’s apps for data leaks, tracking scripts, and intrusive permissions.

We used our VPN leak test tool to confirm all CyberGhost’s apps are free from IP, WebRTC and DNS leaks.

You can therefore trust the VPN service to keep you secure.

Android Permission Analysis

We also ran the VPN apps through the εxodus tool, which reports on the trackers and permissions present in Android apps.

The Android app contains mostly standard trackers used to monitor usability. This allows the company to quickly respond to serious bugs and crashes.

Lets put the above results into context. CyberGhost contains seven trackers while some of the worst VPNs have up to 28.

On the flip side, ExpressVPN and Astrill have two and zero, respectively.

Some of the Android permissions we found in CyberGhost’s Android app are a little concerning.

They have the ability to access your location via your GPS and network information. This permission is considered ‘dangerous’ or ‘special’ according to Google’s protection levels.

But this isn’t uncommon, and CyberGhost clarified to us that users are asked to grant access to this information only when using the Wi-Fi protection feature. If you refuse, it will still work.

Virus and Malware Checks

Finally, we ran the CyberGhost installer through a malware test to ensure it doesn’t contain viruses.

The software came back completely clean, as you can see from the screenshot below.

CyberGhost contains no malware

Typeform-Related Security Breach

There is a security “incident” worth highlighting.

In March 2019, CyberGhost suffered a security breach at the hands of cyber criminals.

The impact was minimal, with just 20 email addresses and 14 CyberGhost usernames exposed.

CyberGhost was very transparent about the incident, and reacted quickly to inform the affected users of the breach.

CyberGhost offers excellent customer service. With 24/7 live chat and email support, and detailed online resources, you’ll find solutions to most issues.

You can access live chat in the bottom-right corner of the CyberGhost website. Type in your problem and related support posts will pop up. If you still can’t resolve your issue, you can always chat with a live agent.

The live agents respond promptly and usually answer question in seconds:

The agents are well-informed and the online resources are available in English, French, German, and Romanian.