<p>If you want to keep your internet traffic secure when using public WiFi or have a desperate need to pretend you&#8217;re in a different country to access an online service you&#8217;ve probably tried a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service like <a href="https://strongvpn.com/aff/scripts/click.php?a_aid=offbeatmammal&amp;a_bid=48eef905"> StrongVPN</a>. As powerful as most of these services are they&#8217;re not exactly user friendly and for a casual user they can work out quite expensive.</p> <p></p> <p align="center" style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://tunnelbear.com/"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Image001" height="192" src="/images/2011/08/image001.png?w=277" width="277" />

</div> </span></a></p> <p>TunnelBear hopes to change that with an easy to install, easy to configure and, above all, easy to use app. It also starts at a pretty great price – Free!</p> <p></p> <p>Currently available for Windows and OSX (hopefully Linux and iOS to follow) it’s a simple install that delivers both the simple dashboard app and the network drivers needed for VPN support and then it’s a case of fire up the dashboard, decide if you want to appear as a UK or US user and hit the “on” button to switch your network connection over to using the VPN. You can change locations or de-activate the VPN just by tapping a button.</p> <p></p> <p>For free users you get a monthly allowance of 500MB which should be enough for simple casual needs (and they run promotions where you can bump that allowance up). If you need a bit more – in fact, unlimited bandwidth and double the level of encryption on your connection – then they have a “Giant” plan for US$4.99/mo – less than the price of a coffee at the Starbucks where you’d want to be running this.</p> <p></p> <p>Looking forward to seeing this for Linux so I can add it to my bootable USB Key solution.</p>