Is vpngate.net safe?

http://vpngate.net/

SafeStatus

Coveragestrong3 of 4 applicable core capabilities

Verdict

VPN Gate is a legitimate academic VPN relay service operated by the University of Tsukuba.

The site offers free VPN access as a public research project launched in 2013. A single stale antivirus flag exists, but no commercial deception, subscription traps, or malware distribution is present.

The service can be used for its stated purpose of bypassing censorship and protecting privacy, but users should download the client only from the official site and verify file signatures when possible.
Read full analysis
Calibrated safety spectrum

Where this site sits

  1. Dangerous1–20
  2. High Risk21–44
  3. Moderate Risk45–69
  4. Low Risk70–84
  5. Safe85–100

The score combines saved evidence strength and analysis quality. Coverage is reported separately.

01 · Investigation Brief

Investigation Brief

The site offers free VPN access as a public research project launched in 2013. A single stale antivirus flag exists, but no commercial deception, subscription traps, or malware distribution is present.

Project legitimacy and operator identity

The site states it is an academic experiment run by the University of Tsukuba in joint research with the SoftEther VPN Project.

The domain is over 14 years old and the project has been active since 2013.

Technical signals and antivirus flag

One independent antivirus engine (Chong Lua Dao) flagged the site in a stale report; no other engines reported issues.

The site provides a download link for the VPN Gate Client software and links to related academic and open-source resources.

Why the score is 88

1 independent antivirus family reported an adverse result. This comes from a saved antivirus observation rather than a new submission, so treat the detection as real but confirm the timing. Coverage remains separate so missing sources cannot be mistaken for clean results.

02 · Security Evidence

Security evidence

Collected signals and independent provider data for this URL.

Antivirus Engines

1/ 92

detections

Saved result - stale

1 engine flagged this URL

Every saved adverse engine is listed below. The full provider matrix remains available for audit.

Malicious
1
Suspicious
0
Total
92
Adverse antivirus results
EngineFinding
Chong Lua DaoMaliciousmalicious
All 92 engine results
  • Chong Lua Dao - malicious - Malicious
  • 0xSI_f33d - unrated - Clean
  • Abusix - clean - Clean
  • Acronis - clean - Clean
  • ADMINUSLabs - clean - Clean
  • AILabs (MONITORAPP) - clean - Clean
  • AlienVault - clean - Clean
  • alphaMountain.ai - clean - Clean
  • AlphaSOC - unrated - Clean
  • Antiy-AVL - clean - Clean
  • ArcSight Threat Intelligence - unrated - Clean
  • AutoShun - unrated - Clean
  • Bfore.Ai PreCrime - unrated - Clean
  • BitDefender - clean - Clean
  • Bkav - unrated - Clean
  • BlockList - clean - Clean
  • Blueliv - clean - Clean
  • Certego - clean - Clean
  • ChainPatrol - unrated - Clean
  • CINS Army - clean - Clean
  • Cluster25 - unrated - Clean
  • CRDF - clean - Clean
  • Criminal IP - unrated - Clean
  • CSIS Security Group - unrated - Clean
  • CTX AI - clean - Clean
  • Cyan - unrated - Clean
  • Cyble - clean - Clean
  • CyRadar - clean - Clean
  • desenmascara.me - clean - Clean
  • DNS8 - unrated - Clean
  • Dr.Web - clean - Clean
  • EmergingThreats - clean - Clean
  • Emsisoft - clean - Clean
  • Ermes - unrated - Clean
  • ESET - clean - Clean
  • ESTsecurity - clean - Clean
  • Forcepoint ThreatSeeker - clean - Clean
  • Fortinet - clean - Clean
  • Fortra - unrated - Clean
  • G-Data - clean - Clean
  • GCP Abuse Intelligence - unrated - Clean
  • Google Safe Browsing - clean - Clean
  • GreenSnow - clean - Clean
  • GreyNoise - unrated - Clean
  • Gridinsoft - unrated - Clean
  • Guardpot - unrated - Clean
  • Heimdal Security - clean - Clean
  • Hunt.io Intelligence - unrated - Clean
  • IPsum - clean - Clean
  • Juniper Networks - clean - Clean
  • K7AntiVirus - unrated - Clean
  • Kaspersky - clean - Clean
  • LevelBlue - unrated - Clean
  • Lionic - clean - Clean
  • Lumu - unrated - Clean
  • Malwared - clean - Clean
  • MalwarePatrol - clean - Clean
  • MalwareURL - unrated - Clean
  • Mimecast - unrated - Clean
  • Netcraft - unrated - Clean
  • OpenPhish - clean - Clean
  • PhishFort - unrated - Clean
  • Phishing Database - clean - Clean
  • Phishtank - clean - Clean
  • PREBYTES - clean - Clean
  • PrecisionSec - unrated - Clean
  • Quick Heal - clean - Clean
  • Quttera - clean - Clean
  • Rising - clean - Clean
  • SafeToOpen - unrated - Clean
  • Sangfor - clean - Clean
  • Sansec eComscan - unrated - Clean
  • Scantitan - clean - Clean
  • SCUMWARE.org - clean - Clean
  • Seclookup - clean - Clean
  • Snort IP sample list - unrated - Clean
  • SOCRadar - unrated - Clean
  • Sophos - clean - Clean
  • StopForumSpam - clean - Clean
  • Sucuri SiteCheck - clean - Clean
  • ThreatHive - clean - Clean
  • URLhaus - clean - Clean
  • URLQuery - clean - Clean
  • Viettel Threat Intelligence - clean - Clean
  • VIPRE - unrated - Clean
  • ViriBack - clean - Clean
  • VX Vault - clean - Clean
  • Webroot - clean - Clean
  • Xcitium Verdict Cloud - clean - Clean
  • Yandex Safebrowsing - clean - Clean
  • ZeroCERT - clean - Clean
  • ZeroFox - unrated - Clean

Security Scans

Browser Threat Feed
Not flagged on major threat lists

Checked against the browser threat feeds available to this scan — no hit.

What we observed

CAPTURED PAGE
vpngate.net
Visual analysis

Visual context from the captured page

VPN Gate - Public Free VPN Cloud by Univ of Tsukuba, Japan

Context only

What the captured page showed

1 observation
  1. 01

    VPN Gate - Public Free VPN Cloud by Univ of Tsukuba, Japan

03 · Investigation Story

Investigation story

The behavior, reputation, and operator evidence that explains how this site may affect a visitor.
  1. What the site claims

    VPN Gate - Public Free VPN Cloud by Univ of Tsukuba, Japan

  2. What we observed

    The page content was captured and checked alongside 92 antivirus results.

  3. What independent research found

    The search completed without a material external warning or corroborating report.

  4. What remains unverified

    1 of the 4 applicable core capabilities did not complete, so those gaps remain visible in the coverage ledger.

What kind of site and risk is this?

Threat category

No threat category confirmed

Service and business model

Content

Free

Observed behavior

No disruptive browser behavior saved

Evidence behind this classification

  1. 011 independent antivirus family reported an adverse result. This comes from a saved antivirus observation rather than a new submission, so treat the detection as real but confirm the timing.
  2. 02The registrable domain is 5155 days old

Web research findings

Independent findings for vpngate.net, including public complaints, named review sources, registration records, and look-alike-domain evidence. A missing result is shown as unverified, never converted into a clean bill of health.

Business registration
No public record found
Could not match the site to a registered company — common for small sites.
Clone check
No clone detected
The completed research found no supported clone indicator.
Typosquat check
No look-alike match
The completed research found no supported look-alike match.
Web mentions
No scam reports found
The completed search returned no sourced scam reports or complaints.

No independently sourced scam reports or credibility records were found for vpngate.net. That is common for new or low-traffic sites and does not clear the site.

Reputation Sources

How this domain rates across independent threat-intelligence and blocklist providers.

Google Safe Browsing
Not listedCheck ↗
VirusTotal
ListedCheck ↗
AbuseIPDB
Not listedCheck ↗

04 · Domain & Infrastructure

Domain & infrastructure

Timeline · identity · encryption · redirects · hosting

The plumbing behind the site — who registered it, how it’s encrypted, where it’s hosted, and where it links out. A valid certificate or a calm server doesn’t mean the business is honest — scam sites pass these checks too. Use this to corroborate the verdict, not to overturn it.

Infrastructure map

How the saved page connected to the wider web.

  1. Domainvpngate.net
  2. Redirects towww.vpngate.net
  3. Hosted byUniversity of Tsukuba
  4. Referencessoftether.org · github.com

Domain Timeline

  1. Jul 19, 2012
    Domain registered

    First appeared in WHOIS records — 14 years old today.

  2. Aug 31, 2026
    Saved security review — Reviewed as safe

    This saved scan found no active threat signals in the checks it completed.

vpngate.net has operated for years with no threat signals in this review — a long, stable track record, though it is never a guarantee on its own.

Contact Verification

Saved contact details can help identify the operator. Their presence supports traceability; it does not prove the business is trustworthy.

What We Found
Has contact info, but not on the site's domain
Emails on site's domainNone
Phone numbers104.243.34.45
Postal addressNot listed
Linked social profiles2
Signal Summary
Contact details look reasonable
  • Phone number listed (104.243.34.45).
  • Links to 2 social profiles.

Domain & Encryption

Domain History
Age14 years old
RegistrarJapan Registry Services Co., Ltd.
RegisteredJul 19, 2012
ExpiresJul 19, 2027
Owner privacyUnknown
Encryption Certificate
StatusValid
ProtocolTLSv1.2
IssuerLet's Encrypt · YR1
ExpiresNov 26, 2026 (87d)
Self-signedNo
Hosting & Technology
HostingUniversity of Tsukuba
Server locationJP
Web serverMicrosoft-IIS/8.0
PopularityTop 100k worldwide

Redirect Chain

Hops
3
Cross-domain
No
Lookalike
No
Punycode
No
  • 1302http://vpngate.net/
  • 2302http://vpngate.net/en/
  • 3302https://www.vpngate.net/
  • 4200https://www.vpngate.net/en/

Server Reputation

Abuse Intelligence
Confidence score0%
Reports on file0
ISPUniversity of Tsukuba
Usage typeUniversity/College/School

Referenced Domains

Outbound domains this page links to or loads resources from. Each links to its own security scan.

05 · Evidence Ledger

Evidence ledger

Coverage, provenance, and source freshness remain separate so a missing check is never mistaken for a clean result.
  1. Antiviruspartial
  2. Browser threat feedcomplete
  3. Page contentcomplete
  4. Analysiscomplete
  5. Visual evidencecomplete
Completed analysis

The conclusion is supported by the evidence saved with this report.

Technical threat

suspicious

Malware, phishing, credential theft and hostile infrastructure.

Additional evidence review

Operator / customer risk

unknown

Complaints, withdrawals, business conduct and commercial traps.

No confirmed evidence in this dimension.

Source coverage and freshness

Status shows whether usable evidence was saved; finding shows what that evidence observed.

Antivirus
Result1 of 92 engines flagged
CompletionLimited
FindingAdverse
Freshnessstale fallback · Aug 31, 2026
Browser protection
ResultNo browser threat-list match
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
FreshnessNot available
Page content
ResultPage fetched · HTTP 200
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
FreshnessNot available
Visual evidence
Result1 visible observation saved with the page capture
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
FreshnessNot available
Independent research
ResultThe search completed without a material external finding
CompletionCompleted
FindingNo adverse finding
FreshnessNot available

06 · Your Next Move

Your next move

Still, stay alert

No major threat indicators — but a clean scan does not guarantee every page is safe, and phishing emails routinely spoof real domains.

  1. Double-check the exact URL in your address bar

    Confirm you are actually on vpngate.net and not a lookalike like v-pngate.net or an IDN homoglyph.

  2. Use a password manager

    Password managers only auto-fill on the exact domain they were saved for — they refuse to fill lookalike domains, which is the single best phishing defence.

  3. Discuss this site on the forum

    If you have first-hand experience with this site — good or bad — share it with the MalwareTips community.

    Open

07 · Safety FAQ

Safety FAQ

Common questions, answered directly from the scan data above — so the answers reflect the saved verdict and evidence in this report.

Is vpngate.net legit and safe?
Our automated security review found no threat indicators on vpngate.net, so it appears legitimate. it ranks among the world's most-visited sites, and the domain is 14.1 years old, registered on July 19, 2012 — established domains are far less likely to be scams. Even so, always double-check the exact address in your browser, because phishing emails routinely spoof real, trusted domains like this one.
Is vpngate.net safe to use?
vpngate.net has a Safety Score of 88/100 (Safe). 1 independent antivirus family reported an adverse result. This comes from a saved antivirus observation rather than a new submission, so treat the detection as real but confirm the timing. at scan time. Treat unexpected login or payment requests with normal caution.
Could a legitimate site like vpngate.net still be used in a scam?
Yes — and this is worth understanding. Even trustworthy domains get spoofed in phishing emails (a fake message that only looks like it's from vpngate.net), and legitimate sites are occasionally compromised on specific pages. A clean verdict means the site itself checks out today; it does not mean every email or link claiming to be from vpngate.net is genuine. Always reach the site by typing the address yourself rather than clicking links in unexpected messages.
Has vpngate.net been flagged by antivirus engines?
Yes. 1 of 92 antivirus and blocklist engines in our malware network flagged vpngate.net, 1 of them as outright malicious. Even a single detection from a reputable engine is a meaningful warning, and multiple detections rarely happen by accident.
Is vpngate.net on any phishing or malware blacklists?
No — vpngate.net is not currently on the major browser blocklist feeds that Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge rely on. Note that blocklists can lag behind brand-new scam domains, so "not listed" is reassuring but not a guarantee on its own.
How old is the vpngate.net domain?
vpngate.net is 14.1 years old, registered on July 19, 2012 through Japan Registry Services Co., Ltd.. A multi-year registration history is one of the stronger signals against a scam, though it's never a guarantee on its own — established domains can still be misused.
Does vpngate.net have a valid SSL certificate?
Yes — vpngate.net presents a valid TLSv1.2 certificate issued by Let's Encrypt · YR1, valid for another 87 days. Important caveat: SSL only encrypts the connection between you and the site — it does not verify who runs it. Almost all scam sites now have valid SSL too, so a padlock alone never means "safe".
Where is vpngate.net hosted?
vpngate.net resolves to an IP operated by University of Tsukuba in JP (University/College/School). Hosting location alone doesn't make a site good or bad — but hosting that doesn't match a brand's claimed country, or that sits on networks known for abuse, is one of the many signals we weigh alongside the verdict above.
Is vpngate.net a well-known website?
Yes — vpngate.net ranks in the global top 100,000 most-visited sites, which means it has substantial real-world traffic. Genuine popularity doesn't automatically make a site safe, but throwaway scam domains almost never reach this level of traffic, so it's a meaningful point in the site's favour.
How often is the vpngate.net report updated?
This report is a record of the scan run on August 31, 2026, and the verdict reflects that point in time. Scam sites change fast — they can go live, get flagged, or vanish within days — so if you believe something about vpngate.net has changed, MalwareTips staff can run a fresh scan that re-checks every signal from scratch and republishes an updated verdict.

08 · Final Verdict

Final verdict

The saved conclusion, decisive evidence, and practical action in one final view.
Verdict score
88/100
Safe

VPN Gate is a legitimate academic VPN relay service operated by the University of Tsukuba.

Saved capturevpngate.netCapture-safe
Captured during this scan. Opening this report does not revisit the site.
Conclusion

The site offers free VPN access as a public research project launched in 2013. A single stale antivirus flag exists, but no commercial deception, subscription traps, or malware distribution is present.

Recommended actionThe service can be used for its stated purpose of bypassing censorship and protecting privacy, but users should download the client only from the official site and verify file signatures when possible.
Saved evidence only

Missing checks are never treated as a clean result.

Scan another URL
Continue toCommunity

09 · Community

Community

First-hand experiences add human context after the scanner has reached its conclusion.