At first glance, it is not perfectly clear how a VPN can protect the user’s connection and, unsurprisingly, how it does that is one of the questions we get asked a lot. Every week or so someone sends us an email asking us to describe how a VPN keeps them protected online. And voila, today we want to provide an answer to that question to everyone. Read on for details…
A VPN explained
Before delving into details, let us quickly explain the basics of VPN…
The term VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and it is a technology that extends a private network across a public network to enable users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. It may sound complicated, but in reality – this all happens under the hood with users not even noticing they are connected to a VPN.
With a VPN, users get to connect to their home or office network while they’re on a different location; and as far as your network (computers in the network) is concerned, you are connected to a local network.
When connected to a VPN, all communication is encrypted making for secure communication between your computer (or other devices) and the rest of the network. The technology was originally developed to provide access to corporate applications and resources to remote users, and today it is available to everyone.
In other words, a VPN is used to establish a virtual point-to-point connection with so-called tunneling protocols over existing networks. From a user perspective, the resources available within the private network can be accessed remotely.
There are basically two ways of how a VPN protects you on the Internet…
1. VPN protects your privacy
Arguably the most important reason for getting a VPN — it will encrypt all data coming to and from your devices and the server on the Internet. Also, a VPN makes it harder (if not impossible) for Big Tech companies such as Google and Facebook to track you online.
The infamous Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal has shown to the world the nasty side of social networks and today, many users are more careful of their online privacy. They don’t want to be yet another data point in some political researchers’ Excel spreadsheet.
Also, there is no good reason to share everything you do with Google and Facebook, let alone government agencies. With a VPN, tracking you down on the Internet is way more complicated; the underlying technology will mask your digital footprint and let you virtually select the location you want/need at any given moment.
2. VPN protects your communication
Again, a VPN is not an anti-virus replacement, but it does keep you safer online. This is especially true when relying on public Wi-Fi hotspots where a malicious actor could snoop into your web traffic and potentially get ahold of your personal information.
That, of course, could happen without using a VPN; otherwise, a hacker wouldn’t be able to get any meaningful information from your encrypted, secure connection. This way, a VPN prevents the so-called “man in the middle” attacks, which have been rising in popularity in recent years.
VPN has more to offer…
Aside from keeping you protected on the Internet, a good VPN will also let you do other things.
For instance, you can use it for accessing video streaming services from all around the world which is especially important when visiting other countries. In this scenario, the likes of Netflix could block your access because of the way content rights are bought and sold on the market today. With a VPN, you will be able to trick Netflix’s servers into “thinking” that you are in the U.S. (or wherever), while in reality, you could be on the opposite side of the planet.
Another use case for VPN is to bypass internet restrictions. These are imposed in some workplaces, at schools and universities, as well as in many high-censorship countries. Again, with a VPN, you get to select the (server) location and freely roam the Internet like it’s nobody’s business. Which is just the way it should be – nobody’s business.
Finally, with VPN’s ability to virtually change locations, you can even save on airfare. Airlines are notorious for screening the potential customer’s intent to buy and show them a different price based on the perceived intent.
To sum it up – we think everyone should be using a VPN these days, and the easiest way to get started is to visit our page with Best of the Best VPNs. Check it out and never look back. 😉