TunnelBear is a public

VPN service A virtual private network (VPN) service provides a proxy server to help users bypass Internet censorship such as geoblocking and users who want to protect their communications against data profiling or MitM attacks on hostile networks. A wide va ...

based in Toronto, Canada. It was created by Daniel Kaldor and Ryan Dochuk in 2011. In March 2018, TunnelBear was acquired by McAfee.

History

Early History

Tunnelbear was founded in 2011 by Ryan Dochuk and Daniel Kaldor, and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

2018 McAfee acquisition

In 2018, TunnelBear was acquired by cybersecurity company McAfee and subsequently fell under U.S. jurisdiction. McAfee intended to combine its own VPN service with TunnelBear's technologies. At the time of the acquisition, TunnelBear was set to continue using its own brand for products.

Anti-censorship efforts

During the

2014 Venezuelan Protests In 2014, a series of protests, political demonstrations, and civil insurrection began in Venezuela due to the country's high levels of urban violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of basic goods attributed to economic policies such as strict ...

, TunnelBear offered free service to users connecting from Venezuela. In response to government censorship in countries like Venezuela—including Iran, Turkey and Uganda—TunnelBear has offered free or unlimited data to users within such countries.

Features

A freeware TunnelBear client is available on

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

, Windows, macOS and iOS. It also has

browser extension A browser extension is a small software module for customizing a web browser. Browsers typically allow a variety of extensions, including user interface modifications, cookie management, ad blocking, and the custom scripting and styling of web p ...

s for

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS ...

and Opera. Alternatively, Linux distros can be configured to use TunnelBear. Like other public VPN services, TunnelBear has the ability to bypass content blocking in most countries. All TunnelBear clients use

AES-256 The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known by its original name Rijndael (), is a specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2001. AES is a variant ...

encryption with the exception of the client for iOS 8 and earlier, which uses AES-128. When connected, the user's actual IP address will not be visible to the websites visited. Instead, the websites and/or computers would be able to see the spoofed IP address provided by the service. TunnelBear was among the first consumer VPNs to conduct and publicly release the results of an independent security audit. They record when their users connect to the service and publish annual reports on the number of times law enforcement has requested user information.

Reception

Scott Gilbertson of Wired praised TunnelBear's “cute bear animations”, saying that they make the service more approachable, and described the provider as having security features comparable to the competition and an easy-to-understand privacy policy. The provider has faced criticism from

WireCutter Diagonal pliers (also known as wire cutters, diagonal cutting pliers, diagonal cutters, side cutters, dikes or Nippy cutters) are pliers intended for the cutting of wire (they are generally not used to grab or turn anything). The plane define ...

for comparatively slower speeds and dropped video calls in their tests of the service, but WireCutter stated that TunnelBear excels in “usability, trust, and transparency”. Rae Hodge at

CNET ''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...

criticised the service for its limited server locations and the inability for users to pick an individual server within a location. Hodge also raised concerns that Tunnelbear's records could be subpoenaed because they are a Canadian business owned by an American company.

References

External links

* Android (operating system) software Google Chrome extensions IOS software MacOS software Virtual private network services Windows software McAfee 2018 mergers and acquisitions Nonfree Firefox WebExtensions {{Computer-security-stub