Kaspersky VPN Review

Kaspersky VPN’s privacy policy is very confusing, for several reasons.

Like most major tech companies, it has 20 different privacy policies for its VPN service, each one for a separate operating system and region. We read through them and found that they barely mentioned data processing.

Instead, you’re directed to the privacy policy of Pango, Hotspot Shield’s parent company.

This is because Kaspersky VPN was once a white-label version of Hotspot Shield, and so they shared a privacy policy.

Here’s where things get even more complicated: Kaspersky now uses PureVPN’s protocols and VPN servers, but still refers you to Hotspot Shield’s privacy policy.

Assuming this is still true, Kaspersky VPN logs a lot of information. Crucially, it logs your real IP address, the domain names you visit, timestamps, and VPN server location. Your real IP address is deleted every time you disconnect, but we would rather the VPN not collect it at all.

Combined with Kaspersky’s Russian jurisdiction, this excessive data collection is extremely concerning.

Russian Headquarters & Jurisdiction

Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection is owned by Kaspersky Lab, a company headquartered in Russia.

Russia is an extremely privacy-hostile jurisdiction for a VPN. It does not allow for a free and open internet, and may mandate VPN companies to log and share activity or connection data.

The company’s founder, Eugene Kaspersky, has also come under fire for alleged connections to the Russian government.

These associations have actually led to all Kaspersky products, including its VPN service, being banned in the US.

The contents of Kaspersky VPN’s privacy policy are therefore critical. Any data the VPN retains may be subject to surveillance from the Russian government. We recommend avoiding the VPN on these grounds if you’re at all concerned about your online privacy.

Given their shared server network, it’s not surprising to see Kaspersky VPN performs just as poorly as PureVPN for streaming.

The paid version does unblock some popular platforms, like HBO Max and BBC iPlayer, but it took us multiple attempts to do so. Our advice: disconnect and reconnect to the VPN at least three times before moving on, as it usually works within three attempts.

Kaspersky VPN unblocks HBO Max, but it takes some trial and error.

Despite this limited success, Kaspersky failed to access most platforms we test. It was always blocked by US Netflix, and every other Netflix region that we tried.

Its record in the US wasn’t always great either, with Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock all immediately detecting our VPN connection.

When we connected to Kaspersky servers in Europe and Asia, we couldn’t even get past the login screen for most platforms. Everything from free-to-air broadcasters like RTÉ and ZDF, and premium streaming services like RaiPlay and DAZN, were blocked.

Kaspersky’s Free VPN Doesn’t Unblock Streaming Services

We don’t recommend using the free tier for streaming. Disappointingly, we found out first-hand that it can’t unblock any streaming services.

This is largely due to the fact that the free plan doesn’t let you choose a server location — you’re always assigned a local server instead.

Even if you are able to unblock a streaming service, the VPN’s 200MB data cap will only last a couple of hours.

There are much better free alternatives for streaming, like Windscribe and PrivadoVPN, which both offer 10GB of data per month.

We experienced a 7% speed reduction when connecting to nearby servers. Although this isn’t as fast as the leading VPNs, it’s still an impressive result.

Kaspersky’s speeds are more than fast enough for data-intensive tasks, including online gaming, torrenting, and 4K streaming.

Connections were also very stable, and never dropped out during our tests. The international speeds above are exceptional. Not even top VPNs like ExpressVPN and Private Internet Access can match these results.

To demonstrate this more clearly, we’ve compared Kaspersky’s international speeds to the very best VPNs in the chart below:

Since Kaspersky’s free VPN doesn’t let you choose a server location, we were only able to test our short-distance download speed.

We recorded an average speed loss of 7% (the same as the paid version), which puts it above many other free VPNs.

Due to its switch to PureVPN’s infrastructure, Kaspersky VPN now only supports the WireGuard protocol with ChaCha20 encryption.

We see this as an improvement as WireGuard is trustworthy and open-source, whereas Hydra (the previous protocol) was closed-source and therefore unverifiable.

The Kaspersky app makes no mention of WireGuard, or any other protocols, but we confirmed it was in use by running our VPN connection through Wireshark:

Kaspersky VPN used WireGuard and ChaCha20 to conceal our browsing activity.

To take the next step, we’d like to see post-quantum cryptography added to its VPN encryption. This future-proofs against quantum computers that may be able to decrypt your data, even if you’re using a VPN.

Alongside its encryption, we also tested the VPN’s kill switch. This is an important security feature that prevents your real IP address from leaking should your internet connection suddenly drop, or you switch VPN servers.

Kaspersky VPN’s faulty kill switch leaked our real IP address on macOS.

Our results were mixed: the kill switch doesn’t leak your IP when the internet disconnects, but it does leak your real IP when you change server location without turning off the VPN beforehand.

We’ve seen other VPNs with the same fault, but they usually add a notification in-app to warn users that their IP address might be leaked if they don’t switch off the VPN.

Geolocation Leaks Detected

We ran Kaspersky VPN through our IP, WebRTC, and DNS leak test. The VPN service sadly failed to hide our HTML5 geolocation data. This means websites like Netflix will be able to identify your real location, even when you’re connected to a VPN server.

We detected geolocation leaks with Kaspersky VPN.

If you’re using a VPN for unblocking services and websites, this suggests Kaspersky won’t be as reliable as other VPNs that don’t leak geolocation data. Some VPNs also offer browser extensions to fix geolocation leaks, but Kaspersky VPN hasn’t done this.

Although Kaspersky VPN uses PureVPN’s technologies, it has its own server network.

Its coverage is world class, with Europe, Asia, and the Americas especially well-accommodated.

In fact, it’s possible to connect to an IP address in a majority of European countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Norway, and even European overseas territories, like Aruba.

Given Kaspersky’s close Russian ties, it’s not surprising there are servers available in Russia. This is a rarity following Russia’s laws surrounding VPNs.

Kaspersky also provides city-level choice in 7 countries: Australia, Canada, China, Italy, Russia, the UK, and the US.

This means you can connect to servers in a specific city, allowing you to bypass more regional geo-blocks. While Kaspersky provides more options than most, it pales in comparison to ExpressVPN’s total of 15.

Free VPN Doesn’t Let You Choose Your Server Location

Unlike its paid version, the free version of Kaspersky doesn’t let you choose a server location at all. In our tests, we found the VPN automatically connects you to your nearest server, so it’s useless for unblocking streaming services from other countries.

This isn’t unusual for a free VPN. Most come with significant drawbacks, like smaller server networks and strict data caps of around 10GB per month.

Kaspersky VPN couldn’t be easier to use. To install the VPN, simply sign up to the service and install the app from My Kaspersky.

After subscribing, we had an issue linking our device to the paid subscription, but once we got in touch with customer support via email, this was sorted quickly and efficiently.

Here’s a more detailed look at the interface of each Kaspersky VPN app:

Unsurprisingly, Kaspersky VPN recorded a near-perfect average bitrate. You’re unlikely to notice a difference in your download times, even while connected to the VPN.

Despite this, we’re still not comfortable recommending Kaspersky for torrenting. The confusion over whether it still operates Hotspot Shield’s privacy policy and its ties to the Russian government, make it a poor choice for torrenters.

Kaspersky VPN worked with every torrent client we tested.

The free version isn’t even worth discussing, due to its substantially slower bitrate and restrictive data cap. You’d likely use up your data for the month in a single download.

A better, and much safer, option is Private Internet Access. It uses a proven no-logs policy and ranks as our number one choice for torrenting.

Kaspersky VPN doesn’t offer apps for any streaming devices, including Apple TV, Fire TV, or Android TV.

Given it also lacks a Smart DNS solution and router support, it’s impossible to use Kaspersky on the aforementioned devices and any platforms that don’t support VPN apps (like game consoles).

Previously, Kaspersky VPN did support manual installation on some router models, but this was removed following the switch to PureVPN’s software.

While Kaspersky VPN has never been feature-rich, it used to offer multi-hop (Double VPN) servers and an ad-blocker tool.

The former was particularly impressive, as Kaspersky VPN was one of the few services that let you manually select your entry and exit point.

The removal of both features is another disappointing step back, caused by the switch from Hotspot Shield to PureVPN’s architecture.

The VPN still includes split tunneling, a feature that lets you customize which apps enter the VPN tunnel.

This can be useful if you have location-sensitive apps that you don’t want to interfere with, like your banking app or video game launcher.

Kaspersky VPN’s split tunneling feels bespoke, and not just a bolted-on feature.

Kaspersky VPN’s split tunneling is really easy to use: just tick a box and select the apps from a drop-down menu.