iTop is a company known for a wide variety of security products. Among them is iTop VPN, which comes in both free and paid versions. The service is far from popular and well-known, which makes this analysis even more interesting. Is iTop VPN safe and secure?
Today’s article should answer that question. Not long ago, we did a thorough review of iTop VPN, which we wholeheartedly recommend you check out. For today, we prepared a special security analysis of this provider that’ll talk about its security/privacy.
This means going through its security features, discussing its logging practices and company’s background, and finally, doing an IP/DNS leak test. If you’re hell-bent on getting this provider, this article is for you – you might be surprised by some of our findings.
Is iTop VPN Safe to Use? Security Features Examined
To start this security analysis, we first need to examine the security features within the app.
AES-256-bit Encryption
Encryption is the most important thing when talking about security. It differentiates VPNs from proxies and makes them superior. The good news is that the provider uses AES-256 encryption, which is also called bank-grade or military-grade encryption.
Needless to say, it’s the highest level of encryption one can get. This encryption is used on all devices by iTop VPN, which implies you’ll get rock-solid security no matter the platform you’re using. Is iTop VPN safe to use in this regard? So far, it is.
OpenVPN (No Other Protocols)
However, there’s one disappointment when talking about protocols. In its app, we found that the provider offers two protocols – TCP and UDP, both of which are types of OpenVPN connection protocols. TCP is more for bypassing firewall restrictions, while UDP is a bit faster but less stable.
Either way, it’s quite disappointing that iTopVPN isn’t offering another legit and reliable protocol like WireGuard, for example. It has, on the other side, something it calls double encryption and is deemed HTTPS. In other words, iTop VPN presents it as Double VPN.
Still, the lack of modern protocols like WireGuard or a proprietary protocol does take a toll on the app. Because of OpenVPN, connection times are longer and you don’t have that snappy experience from ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, or NordVPN.
Automatic Kill Switch
A very important feature in every VPN is a kill switch. iTop VPN is safe in this regard, as its automatic kill switch works really well. Best of all is that it’s present in both free and paid versions, so every user can safely prevent IP/DNS leaks that could occur.
The kill switch will shut down your internet connection to save you from leaking your IP. And in this app, it works as intended, reacting immediately upon connection loss. Luckily, iTop VPN was pretty stable so we had the chance to test the kill switch on one or two occasions.
Ad Blocker
Ad blocker is up next and it’s a neat security feature for premium users. We like the ability to whitelist certain sites where you don’t want to block ads – very handy for some TV channels. This ad blocker isn’t the most reliable compared to CyberGhost.
While CyberGhost can sometimes block YouTube ads, we found iTop VPN’s ad blocker not suitable for this purpose. Still, it can block trackers and malicious sites, which adds to the overall security and privacy.
Browser Privacy
Talking about privacy, we need to mention a very interesting feature called Browser Privacy. This functionality lets you clean your browser cache and data, which prevents online tracking. iTop VPN made this feature so that it detects all your browsers.
You can select all of them, click on OK, and let it do its job. Alternatively, there’s the Auto Clean option that’ll clean cache and cookies automatically without you having to do it. You can, from there, set the cleaning period, which depends on when you want the cleaning to be done.
It can be every day, every few hours, and so on. This surely makes iTop VPN a good provider for privacy and keeping your online whereabouts concealed.
IP/DNS Leak Protection
IP and DNS leak protection is here too. It can be enabled in Settings, where you can even protect your IPv6 address from leaking. In addition, iTop VPN is safe and secure in terms of allowing you to tweak additional DNS settings.
You can use its proprietary DNS or select from Google, Verizon, OpenDNS, and other providers. Also, there’s the option to use custom DNS if you want to avoid potential logging from this VPN or third-party services.
Security Reinforce
Last but not least, iTop VPN has a reliable feature called Security Reinforce. It will optimize your computer and eliminate potential vulnerabilities in merely a few seconds. The provider will recommend certain actions that you can apply by clicking on Protect.
This way, Security Reinforce keeps your computer safe and secure all the time. The premium version offers an upgraded version of this feature called Deep Reinforce. It allows for a few more settings and even stronger protection but it’s locked behind the paywall.
Does iTop VPN Store Logs? Analysis of Its Privacy Policy & Jurisdiction
Is iTop VPN safe and secure after everything we said? So far, the provider showed that it’s legit by offering quality security features that work well. But let’s talk more about its logging practices and jurisdiction.
Where Is the Company Based?
iTop VPN is pretty secretive about its jurisdiction and background. However, our team did a bit of digging – a lot of digging, to be precise- and found out that it’s based in Hong Kong. Is this an alarming sign? Well, it is, unfortunately.
People think Hong Kong is a separate Chinese region and in practice, it truly is. But do you really think a powerful tech giant like China can’t get its hands on Hong Kong and participate in the creation of laws and legislation? If you answered with YES, you’re naive.
China is known for its global espionage and apps that collect tons of data. Let’s not be cynical – even the US that showers China with critiques related to these practices does the same, which is why we don’t prefer VPNs based in the United States.
Either way, VPNs from Hong Kong surely aren’t going to respect your privacy like VPNs from Panama, the British Virgin Islands, or Seychelles. It’s indeed possible that iTop VPN works with the Chinese authorities and hands out user-related information.
But this is a speculation and we can’t back up our claims. Time will tell if we’re right.
Is iTop VPN Safe in Terms of Logging Practices?
At least its privacy policy sounds… okay. iTop VPN is secure in terms of not storing logs related to your browsing history, native IP address, DNS requests, traffic metadata, and other information. This means it can’t identify you, and thus, violate your privacy.
Logging some information is normal if you want a VPN to function properly. Of course, in this case, we’re talking about service data, email addresses, usernames, technical information, and other similar data. iTop VPN stores this information, which is benign.
Now, the problem lies in Browser Privacy, a feature we mentioned earlier. Features like this are very intrusive, so to say, especially since this one can clean your browser data. This means it HAS access to this data, which in return means it can possibly collect your browsing history.
As said, we’re not sure if this is the case, as iTop VPN never stated it clearly. Overall, we can say this is a no-logging policy but because of the jurisdiction, we would be very careful. You can, on the other hand, try ExpressVPN – a VPN from the British Virgin Islands.
It has 3 security audits on its no-logs policy and in 2024, it’s absolutely the best possible provider for ensuring online security and anonymity.
Third-Party Audits
Is iTop VPN legit when talking about third-party audits and certifications? Sadly, no. It has no audits, which is yet another problem. Until it receives an audit from a certified company, we have no reason to fully trust the company, as we do with ExpressVPN, CyberGhost, or NordVPN.
IP & DNS Leak Tests: Let’s See if There’re Any Leaks
The final test in our iTop VPN security analysis is the DNS/IP leak test. With all the security features in place, it’s not strange that the provider shows no signs of leaks.
First of all, we’ll show you our native IP/DNS leak test results.
At the time of testing, we resided in Belgrade and used a local network to go online. We’ve concealed our IP and DNS addresses to preserve our privacy but the location can be seen. Now, we used iTop VPN and connected to the server in Germany.
As you can see, our Belgrade IP is hidden and our DNS address is now in Germany. In fact, for some reason, our IP was in France, despite using the German server. But hey, at least our original whereabouts were hidden, so that’s something.
On another site called browserleaks, we got… well, almost the same results. This time, our IP location was in Germany – the same as our DNS addresses. This implies the provider has no leaks and we can confirm that because we tested almost all of its server locations.
So, Is iTop VPN Safe to Use?
Our security analysis is near its end, so it’s time to answer the lingering question finally – is iTop VPN safe and secure as it claims to be? The answer is NO. To be clear, it has more than decent security features and it displays no IP/DNS leaks, so it’s on a good path.
However, this is ruined by its Hong Kong jurisdiction which isn’t exactly screaming privacy and trustworthiness. We’d much rather use a VPN in a jurisdiction like Panama, the British Virgin Islands, Romania, Bulgaria, or even Switzerland.
Hong Kong is still a big part of China and chances are it’s not as privacy-friendly as many say and believe. That, combined with the lack of third-party audits, makes it hard to fully trust iTop VPN and take everything it says for granted.
Instead, we recommend ExpressVPN – our favorite service. It has a cheap annual plan with a 49% discount and 3 free months, giving you an unconditional 30-day money-back guarantee. And if you’re after a free service, consider Atlas VPN, which is way safer and more secure than iTop VPN.
