Hello Proton Team,
I use Brave with your VPN extension, and the setting “continue where you left of”, i.e. Brave remembers open tabs and re-opens them when it is restarted. I suspect that this may create an initial IP leak, i.e. Brave may reload tab contents without VPN in the split second it takes for the VPN extension to make the connection.
Can you confirm or deny this?
Yes, your IP address can leak. Proton recommends to use the browser extension and the desktop app together. If you don’t want your IP address to leak you have to enable advanced killswitch on the desktop app.
We haven’t tested the scenario in order to confirm or deny it. If this is a concern in your threat model, you can consider enabling permanent kill switch, which will prevent connections without a VPN altogether: https://protonvpn.com/support/advanced-kill-switch
There seems like a better technical question to ask Brave because it depends on how their browser is loading the pages. Is it loading it from the catch or upon reopening the browser is it establishing a new connection. Depending on that if it’s establishing a new connection before the VPN makes its connection. There is a real chance that there could be a leak or compromise.
Again, everyone’s privacy expectation is different but if you’re privacy focused, the best option would be to have your browser clear it catch and cookies each time you close it so when you reopen it, it’s a fresh start
I don’t know enough techniques about Brave to give you a defended yes or no but hopefully this helps you somewhat
the pages loads first compared to the vpn. i guess this is a browser method.
The only way to guarantee no IP leak is to enable Kill Switch on app.
I hope people in the know reply to this as I’ve always wondered myself. I use FireFox and just leave it up most of the time and Hibernate my Win10 PC when I shut down.
Proton connects right away when I start up in the morning and I have Kill Switch enabled but . . .
Yes.
Why trust reddit?
Who or What do you want someone to confirm or deny. The question doesn’t have much tech information to help diagnosis.
What is your computer?
If you want to understand…install applications like Wireshark and Etherape to start. You’ll see your IP leaks instantly. When it comes to privacy and security you need to educate yourself using reliable sources.
With that said, are you seeing any leaks and how are you diagnosing them?