CyberGhost VPN, one of the top VPNs on the market, has received an Independent Security Review badge on Google Play for its Android app, joining other top VPNs like ExpressVPN, Private Internet Access, and NordVPN.
The badge under CyberGhost VPN’s Android app in the official Android store means that it’s undergone the Mobile Application Security Assessment audit (a third-party review) and meets all industry-standard requirements to be considered a secure app.
The third-party review confirms that CyberGhostVPN’s Android app uses a quality code and secure encryption standard, deletes all relevant data when the session ends, uses trusted certificates, doesn’t require users to allow unnecessary permissions, doesn’t share data with third parties, and has security settings that protect sensitive data and user privacy.
To find the CyberGhost VPN badge in the Google Play store, you just have to search for the app and you’ll see a banner in the search results, highlighting that CyberGhost VPN has earned a security badge. Alternatively, you can tap on the app to open its Google Play page and go to the “Data safety” section.
CyberGhost will keep this badge on its Google Play store listing for an entire year. In order to maintain the badge, the app must pass another independent review next year as well.
Google introduced this badge earlier this year to battle cybercrime stemming from poorly-developed apps. The badge confirms to users that the app they’re looking to download and use meets the minimum security and privacy requirements and is safe to use on their Android devices.
“While certification to baseline security standards does not imply that a product is free of vulnerabilities, the badge associated with these validated apps helps users see at-a-glance that a developer has prioritized security and privacy practices and committed to user safety,” explained Nataliya Stanetsky of the Android Security and Privacy Team in a Google Security Blog post last month.