I'm a very low-trust person when it comes to networks. If it is at all avoidable I wont connect to a public Wi-Fi network. And even though most of the conferences and conventions I attend use passwords to secure access to their networks, I still don't trust them. For me, a VPN is now one of the first things i install on my computers, tablets and smartphones. Over the last few weeks, I've been trialling three different VPN solutions on my iPhone 7 Plus; Wangle, NordVPN and Norton WiFi Privacy. Here's what I've found.

Despite increased awareness of cybercrime and potential ramifications of online attacks, Australians continue to have a cavalier attitude towards online security, according to survey of over 1000 local consumers. This attitude carries over into the workplace and can put businesses at risk.

What's surprising is that those who have suffered a cyberattack in the past often continue to engage in unsafe online practices such as sharing passwords. Here are the full details of the survey.

Virtual private networks (VPNs) have existed for years, both as a legitimate tool for business users to make secure connections to their corporate networks remotely and for consumers to circumvent geo-blocking on overseas content websites like Netflix. People also use VPNs to encrypt their traffic when pirating copyrighted content. Now a major security vendor, Norton By Symantec, is entering the already crowded VPN market with its Norton WiFi Privacy offering for mobiles. Here's how it differs from the other VPN services.

The exponential growth of the Android Market is a bit of a double-edged sword. More apps are a good thing for the end user, but how do you know those apps aren't secretly bundling in nasties? Norton wants to take care of this and all things security for you with its new app.

Online criminals move fast, seeking to take advantage of developments in the news or freshly-exposed vulnerabilities. Norton's new Cybercrime Index site tracks current trends in the malware world, identifying the most commonly "poisoned" search terms, sites which are particularly dangerous and provided a daily percentage score measuring just how active cyber-criminals are.

Facebook's application architecture (and indifferent attitude) means that it's all too easy to be sent dodgy links by well-meaning friends. Norton's Safe Web application for Facebook scans your news feed and wall, alerting you to material that could potentially cause a problem.