Edge’s VPN that Microsoft has been working on for nearly a year is now rolling out to the stable version of the web browser.
Microsoft is adding an extra layer of security to its web browser. The Redmond company has indeed started to deploy its VPN in the stable version of Edge. Officially unveiled just under a year ago and tested in Edge Canary, the Microsoft Edge secure network (that’s the name of the feature), would therefore be finally ready. Thanks to it, you will be able to encrypt your web browsing and thus protect your data from possible online threats. The feature should be particularly useful when surfing while connected to public and/or insecure Wi-Fi networks. At the time of writing, the VPN was not yet available in the stable version of Edge installed on our work machines.
Three levels of security and limited free use
Microsoft is not the official provider of this VPN. To integrate this service into its web browser, the American company actually relies on the Cloudflare solution. The option, configurable from the menu Settings > Privacy, Search & Serviceoffers three levels of protection: Select locations, Optimized And All locations.
If you opt for the former, the VPN will automatically activate only for a predefined list of websites that you have created yourself. Optimized mode meanwhile “automatically protects your traffic when using public Wi-Fi, unsecured networks or visiting a site without a valid certificate (HTTP)” Microsoft says in the settings. It is also this mode that the firm recommends using by default.
Finally, the third and final level of security, All Sites, allows the VPN to be used for all browsing traffic, including streaming audio and video content. A level of security to be used only in case of extreme necessity therefore, otherwise you risk consuming all of your data quota in record time.
Because the Microsoft VPN can only be used free of charge in these three protection levels within a certain limit. By default, Microsoft offers one gigabyte of traffic per month. You will also need to connect your Microsoft account in Edge to obtain this free data each month in the browser. You can check the amount of data remaining in your VPN option by clicking on the dedicated icon, represented by a shield, displayed at the top right of the browser window.
It will probably take a few more days for Microsoft to reveal the prices of its offer for those who wish to use this protection beyond the allocated free data quota.
Neowin
