In new mobile communications advisories, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has issued a stern warning to smartphone owners : avoid using personal VPN services. The document, aimed at iPhone and Android users, states that such services often don’t mitigate risks, but simply change the focus of threats.
According to CISA, personal VPNs transfer residual risks from the ISP to the VPN provider, often increasing the attack surface. The user effectively transfers trust to the VPN service, and many of these providers, according to the agency, have questionable security and privacy policies.
The warning is part of a broader campaign against commercial spyware and smartphone tracking tools. Intelligence agencies are recording a growing number of cases where attackers masquerade as legitimate VPN clients and use them as convenient Trojan conduits to access devices. These programs are capable of intercepting correspondence, browsing history, and credentials for banking and other sensitive services.
It’s important to note that these risks are exacerbated by the growing popularity of VPNs. Users are increasingly installing these apps to circumvent geoblocks, content restrictions, or in response to legislative initiatives such as age-verification laws on adult websites. Struck by a lack of trust and a desire to “quickly solve the privacy problem,” many download the first software they come across, which can prove ineffective or even harmful.
CISA’s wording appears to be an outright ban on personal VPNs, but the document itself specifically targets providers with a questionable reputation . The agency effectively warns that the problem arises in the absence of a transparent ownership structure , public commitments to data protection, and clear restrictions on the collection and storage of user data. In this case, a VPN becomes not a security tool, but an additional potential point of surveillance.
The original recommendations also outline the criteria that should be considered by anyone considering using a VPN. Key requirements include a rigorous and verified no-logs policy, the use of modern encryption protocols such as OpenVPN and WireGuard, DNS leak protection, and a “kill switch” mechanism that terminates the network connection if the VPN tunnel is interrupted.
Additional measures, such as multi-hop traffic routing and frequent encryption key changes, are also mentioned to minimize the impact of a potential compromise.
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