Technologies

Best VPN Deals: Get Top VPNs Starting at $2 a Month

Now is a great time to invest in a top VPN like ExpressVPN, Surfshark and NordVPN (especially at these prices).

Using a virtual private network, or VPN, is an excellent way to give your online privacy a boost. We’ve already rounded up some of the best VPNs on the market, and now we’ve short-listed some of the best VPN deals you can get right now.

There are many good reasons to use a virtual private network. For example, did you know your internet service provider amasses as much data as possible on your digital activity? A 2021 Federal Trade Commission report noted that the leading ISPs have gathered user data on topics as personal as race, sexual orientation and real-time location. They’ve combined it, cross-referenced it and shared it with third-party partners. Yikes.

Thankfully, a VPN can help protect you from such pervasive data-gathering practices. In addition to hiding your internet activity by providing a secure and private «tunnel» to your online destination, a VPN can also let you virtually move your location to a different city or country — a nice bonus if you’re looking to get around local censorship laws or try out different slates of streaming media offerings in different locales.

An important thing to keep in mind is that free VPN services aren’t worth the risk. For the most part, they’re playing that same game of scooping up and selling your data. The good news is there are some great VPN deals available right now, with prices starting at what amounts to less than $2 a month if you prepay for a year or two of service. We’ve tested a bunch of the market leaders and pulled together our recommendations for the best VPN deals below. Just keep a few things in mind:

Some of these offers have countdown clocks saying that the VPN deals are ending «today.» These are usually marketing tactics that have no relationship to the deal’s actual end date.
We will update sale prices when we notice a change, so be sure to check back often.
The VPN industry has undergone significant change in the past year, with all three of our top VPN choices announcing major changes in corporate ownership. In December, ExpressVPN announced that it had officially joined Kape Technologies, a company that already owns several other VPNs and has raised privacy concerns in the past. In February, NordVPN and Surfshark announced the two companies were merging, though they’ll continue to operate autonomously. We’ve since given ExpressVPN, NordVPN and Surfshark fresh reviews in light of these changes, and we continue to actively evaluate other VPN services as well. Our rankings are likewise subject to change as they reflect our latest findings.
Most of these offers below are for subscriptions of two years or more, which is a long time to tie yourself to a service that could change ownership (see above) or terms of service, or even have a security incident. While most services have a 30-day free cancellation policy at the start, be sure to check the terms of service before signing up for a long-term commitment.

VPN deals: Tested and recommended

The VPNs in this first group are also among our current top five best VPN picks. As such, we can broadly recommend them — albeit with the noted caveats. That said, the fast-changing ownership landscape in the VPN space may continue to shake things up, but we will continue to update this as we uncover more.

Additional VPN deals

We either haven’t fully tested the following VPNs, or have only tested them anecdotally. Thus we can only recommend them for casual use, such as bypassing geographic restrictions while streaming media.

More VPN recommendations

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Sept. 6

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Sept. 6.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is extra-long, as usual on Saturdays. And a couple of the clues were stumpers! Need answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: U.S. prez who served four terms
Answer: FDR

4A clue: Hurry, in Shakespearean English
Answer: HIE

7A clue: Only country to have a musical instrument (the harp) as its national emblem
Answer: IRELAND

9A clue: Big name in rum
Answer: BACARDI

10A clue: She holds the record for most #1 Billboard hits by a female rapper (5)
Answer: CARDIB

11A clue: Ancient time-tracking device
Answer: SUNDIAL

12A clue: Ctrl-___-Del
Answer: ALT

13A clue: Opposite of SSW
Answer: NNE

14A clue: Used to be
Answer: WAS

15A clue: Jupiter or Saturn, primarily
Answer: GAS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Small lie
Answer: FIB

2D clue: Whom Count von Count of «Sesame Street» is a parody of
Answer: DRACULA

3D clue: Takes back, as testimony
Answer: RECANTS

4D clue: 1920s U.S. president
Answer: HARDING

5D clue: Home to the W.N.B.A.’s Fever
Answer: INDIANA

6D clue: Weed gummies
Answer: EDIBLES

8D clue: Cooking grease
Answer: LARD

11D clue: Observed
Answer: SAW

Technologies

Researchers Discover 18 Popular VPNs Are Connected: Why This Matters

All are owned by 3 separate groups but CNET’s recommended VPNs are not on the list

Virtual private networks are popular ways to keep your online activity private and hide your physical location from your internet service provider and apps. But it’s obviously important to choose a safe and secure VPN.

Three university researchers have discovered that 18 of the most widely used VPNs have shared infrastructures with serious security flaws that could expose customers’ browsing activity and leave their systems vulnerable to corrupted data. These VPNs are among the top 100 most popular on the Google Play Store, comprising more than 700 million downloads.

Read more: Best VPN Service for 2025: Our Top Picks in a Tight Race

The peer-reviewed study by the Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium found that these VPNs, despite calling themselves independent businesses, are actually grouped into three separate families of companies.

None of CNET’s recommended VPNs — ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, Proton VPN and Mullvad — are on the list. (If you currently don’t have a VPN, here’s why you might want to start using one.)

According to the findings, these are the three groups that contain the 18 VPNs:

Family A: Turbo VPN, Turbo VPN Lite, VPN Monster, VPN Proxy Master, VPN Proxy Master Lite, Robot VPN, Snap VPN and SuperNet VPN
Family B: Global VPN, Inf VPN, Melon VPN, Super Z VPN, Touch VPN, VPN ProMaster, XY VPN and 3X VPN
Family C: X-VPN and Fast Potato VPN

Researchers determined that the VPNs in Family A are shared between three providers linked to Qihoo 360, a firm identified by the US Department of Defense as a Chinese military company. The VPNs in Family B use the same IP addresses from the same hosting company.

Know your VPN’s parent company

It’s a cautionary tale about why it’s important to know who’s behind the VPN you’re using, says CNET senior writer Attila Tomaschek.

«It’s also crucial to know what kinds of data the VPN provider is sharing with its parent company and affiliated entities,» Tomaschek said. «Some of these companies may even be compelled to log customer activity and share it with authorities, depending on the jurisdiction in which they operate.»

Despite the warnings, Tomaschek says it’s not so easy to figure out who controls your VPN. But he says there are measures that customers can take.

«Users can do a few things to help ensure the VPN they’re using is reputable,» Tomaschek says. «Check the privacy policy — specifically for terms like ‘logging,’ ‘data sharing’ or ‘data collection.’ A Google search of the provider can help determine whether the VPN has been involved in questionable activity. Read detailed, unbiased reviews from reputable sources. Be especially wary of signing on with a free VPN, even if it’s listed as a top choice in your app store.»

The PETS researchers examined the most downloaded VPNs on Android, looking for overlaps among business paperwork, web presence and codebase. After identifying code similarities, they were able to group the 18 VPNs into three groups. The study was initially spurred by VPN Pro’s own findings, «Who owns your VPN? 105 VPNs run by just 24 companies.»

CNET’s Tomaschek has advice for anyone who has been using one of these 18 VPNs.

«I’d recommend deleting it from your device immediately,» he said. «If you suspect that any sensitive personal data may have been compromised, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your credit report and look into services like dark web monitoring or identity theft protection.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Sept. 6, #348

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Sept. 6, No. 348.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition was a stumper. But if you play cards, the green group is a fun one for sure. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Racket time.

Green group hint: Ante up!

Blue group hint: NY signal-callers.

Purple group hint: Coach’s CV.