Best VPNs for Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer security and privacy concerns

Internet Explorer’s latest version, 11, was replaced by Microsoft Edge in 2015 and since then, Microsoft has stopped paying attention to this browser. In fact, as of 2019, Microsoft no longer sees Internet Explorer 11 as a browser, but a tool to reach older websites which have compatibility issues with modern browsers. Because of this, it’s no surprise that IE is entirely outdated and only gets a security update once a month.

As you probably know, outdated software is the holy grail for hackers as well as a highway for cyberattacks, and you can see the proof of that by reading news about Internet Explorer. In December of 2018, Microsoft had to issue an emergency update for Internet Explorer to fix a flaw which was already under active exploitation. This flaw implied that if the cyberattack was successful, the attacker would gain the same privileges as the currently logged-in user, as well as being able to create user accounts with full admin rights. Only five months later, in April of 2019, a zero-day vulnerability related to another bug was revealed. With this bug, hackers could steal files from Windows PCs through MHT files processed by the browser. This was something that Microsoft decided not to fix right away, and waited until the next update to do so.

Basically, using Internet Explorer currently is dangerous, and your privacy is always at risk.

VPN for Internet Explorer browser

Although Internet Explorer has become obsolete now and we strongly recommend using a more modern browser, you might be obliged to use it for several reasons such as website compatibility issues.

Keeping in mind the concerns stated above, as well as the amount of information Microsoft takes from you and shares with its other services, using a VPN with Internet Explorer is essential.

Even though Internet Explorer does not offer browser extensions, it’s still possible to change the configurations to work with some VPN providers. However, it’s so user-unfriendly that we advise you to download the Windows app and just install the VPN on your computer. Nonetheless, if you still want to add the VPN directly to the browser, here’s how you do it.

First, you need to open Internet Explorer, click ‘Settings’ and then ‘Internet Options’ which will open IE’s configuration panel. While in the configurations, you need to go to the connections tab and click on ‘Lan settings’ which will open a new window. In the Lan configurations, you need to check the ‘Use a proxy server for your LAN’ setting, and write the server’s address and the port for the VPN you want to use. Last, but not least, make sure to leave the bypass proxy server for local addresses unchecked, click ‘Ok’ in all the opened windows, and you’re done!

Recommended VPNs for Internet Explorer

Although it’s possible to add a VPN directly to Internet Explorer, finding a VPN provider servers’ addresses can be a headache. Moreover, since Internet Explorer is basically dead, VPN services do not take IE into account when creating their guides. Therefore, we advise you to download the desktop application and use the VPN from there since it will be easier and less time-consuming.