When it comes to VPNs, I’m picky. And why shouldn’t I be? You only need one, so it doesn’t much matter if there are only a handful I’d recommend. Pick the best of those, use it, and avoid the sketchy, mostly free ones that are fronts by scammers.
One of my favorites, Proton (which has a whole suite of privacy apps), just released a free database of online breaches to the public, called the Data Breach Observatory. If you’ve ever wondered what scammers are chatting about on the Dark Web, check it out for yourself.
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What they’ve found so far this year
“Unlike other studies and reports, many of which are based on self-disclosures from affected companies, the Data Breach Observatory gives companies and consumers previously unobtainable transparency by drawing data from the source, the criminals themselves,” wrote Proton in an October 30 press release.
You don’t have to pay to access the Data Breach Observatory. You don’t even have to subscribe to any of Proton’s free services. I’ve called Proton the best free VPN on the market, based upon me using it and my judgment of its company policies, and so I have a fair degree of trust in Proton as a company. That’s not something that’s easy or common for me to say.
“Investigating data breaches that took place in 2025, we’ve been able to pinpoint who hackers are targeting and what they’re looking for,” said Proton. Breaches so far in the year have tended to target small businesses in the retail sector most acutely.
You can check out a broad summary of the findings here. More than passwords (49 percent of breaches) and contact data, such as phone numbers and addresses (72 percent of breaches), about 90 percent of breaches detected by the Observatory involve names and email addresses.
If you want the entire list, you can fill out the form here. You don’t have to pay, but you do have to provide your name, industry, company name, and contact info. Why, I don’t know, but it’s not the most invasive thing I’ve seen.
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The post Gaze Into the Dark Web Through Proton’s New Data Breach Observatory appeared first on VICE.
