What is a VPN?
Internet is great invention which came to being in the early 1980s, in fact, 1 January 1983 is considered to be the birthday of the internet. Ever since the internet was created, there has always been the need to for protocols to keep data private and secure and in the year 1996, the VPN technology was introduced when a Microsoft employee developed the peer-to-peer tunneling protocol which created a more secure and private connection between a computer and the internet.
A lot of people confuse a VPN with an Antivirus, whilst both protects us from harm, they are quite different in how they operate. An antivirus software secures your device from malware through real-time protection and it scans your device for suspicious activity, an antivirus protects you against Malware, Phishing scams and it protects the Data on your devices. A VPN on the other hand encrypts and redirects your internet traffic to keep your information safe from anyone who might be snooping around. The major limitation of an Antivirus is that it protects you at the end-user level, but a VPN helps you to improve the security of the connection when you are connected to the internet. Learn how to set up your VPN in South Africa.
What is a VPN
VPN is an acronym which stands for ‘Virtual Private Network’ and the main use of the VPN is to help a user to establish a protected network connection when using public networks because if you connect to a public network without a VPN, you will be at risk. It is important however to note that you need to be secured when you connect to the internet, regardless of whether you’re at home, work or on public Wi-Fi. Below are some of the risks associated with not having a VPN:
Your data could be stolen
You could get hacked
You could be spied on
You could experience reduced internet speeds
What A VPN does is it encrypts your internet traffic and disguise your online identity, as long as you use a VPN, it then becomes difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data. The question you may be wondering is how it is possible for a VPN to disguise your online identity, well, they a VPN achieves that by hiding your IP address by letting the network redirect it through a specially configured remote server run by a VPN host. If you are connected to the internet through a VPN, that VPN’s server becomes the source of your data and noone will be able to track your internet activities. If it so happens that someone manages to access your data by some means, that data will be of no use because a VPN turns all your data into “gibberish”. A VPN makes you virtually invisible in terms of your geographical location and this gives you access to media and websites which are geoblocked.
To help you understand how important a VPN is, it is important to show you what happens if you connect to the internet without a without a VPN. If you connect to the internet without a VPN, your device sends a request to your ISP or a Wi-Fi network and it is important for you to realise that the data being transferred between you and your destination is not encrypted. Transferring unencrypted data is very dangerous because it leaves you vulnerable to anyone who wants to view your online activity.
There is quite a number of VPNs in the world and below is a list of some of the top VPNs which can protect you when using the internet:
HideMyAss
NordVPN
Private Internet Access.
CyberGhost.
Torguard VPN.
NordVPN.
IPVanish.
VPN Unlimited
ExpressVPN.
Surfshark.
There are three types of VPNs namely:
Remote access VPN
Personal VPN
Site-to-site VPN
Remote access VPN
A remote-access VPN allows users to connect to a remote network, usually by using special software. If you ever needed to log on to your office network, you most likely used a remote access VPN as well. It makes working away from the office safer and easier, as employees can access data and resources from anywhere.
Personal VPN
Most consumer-grade VPNs are classed as personal VPNs, including NordVPN. They are very similar to remote-access VPNs in operation, but instead of connecting to a proprietary restricted network (such as your workplace), you connect to your VPN provider’s servers for protection and privacy while you explore the internet.
Site-to-site VPN
Site-to-site VPNs are mostly used by businesses — large corporations in particular. They allow users in selected locations to access each other’s networks securely. It’s a great way to connect all offices and enable different branches to safely share resources and information.
Top reasons to use a VPN
It is quite alarming that a lot of people who use the internet do not know what VPN is and yet the VPN is quite important as it helps you to secure your internet activities. When most of the people hear about VPN, they believe it’s something too high-tech for the average user and there’s no reason why they should use a VPN, a notion which is not true because a VPN is useful for everyone.
A VPN (which stands for virtual private network) is an extremely useful tool which helps in giving you privacy when connected to the internet, it is highly risky to connect to the internet without a VPN because your information will be exposed and can fall into the wrong hands. VPN software protects your information by masking your device’s IP address, encrypting your data and routing it through secure networks to servers in far away states or even other countries. In doing so it hides your online identity, ensuring that you are able to browse the Internet securely and anonymously. This article seeks to outline some of the reasons why you need to use a VPN.
- Hide your internet activities from your Internet Service Provider
Your ISP is one company that has too much access to your information and they can see everything you do online, which is not safe at all. ISPs can collect your information and then sell it to advertisers and this is risky because your information can end up falling into wrong hands. There are people who think that the ‘private’ browsing function is enough, well, ISP’s can still access your information even if you’re using the “private” browsing function. This shows that it is very important to use a VPN because it will can help obscure your IP address from your own ISP so your ISP won’t be able to track your online activities. - Get a secure connection on a Public Wi-Fi
In a world where almost everything is online based, there may be times when you are forced to connect to a public Wi-Fi, and a public Wi-Fi poses a great threat to your information. Public Wi-Fi’s are available at work, restaurants, cofee shops, supermarkets, airpots, malls amongst other public spaces and in all these places, you find a lot of people with their gadgets all connected to the same Wi-Fi. The problem with public Wi-Fi is that it is an extremely risky if you do not have a VPN because your browsing will be unencrypted and can be picked up by anyone. You should always use a VPN when connected to a public Wi-Fi using any of your gadget be it your (laptop, tablet or smartphone) because it helps to secure your connection so you won’t fall victim of either hacking, phishing or an internet related crime or violation. - Protect Your Personal Data From Businesses
The free Wi-Fi that we get from retailers and their Apps which we download on our phones can be a trap because these businesses collect your data, as it very useful to them. This is also not a great thing because noone must collect or use your information without your consent so it is very important for you to use a VPN because it will then help protect your personal data whilst you are using your apps and use free Wi-Fi offered to your at a retail store. - Protect Proprietary Info
The Covid 19 pandemic changed how most companies operate and nowdays a lot of companies including Twitter have adopted a remote or hybrid work policy recently, and this is convenient for a lot of employees. The major problem with remote working is that remote workers can log into company servers from an unsecure connection and this could pose a serious threat to the business especially if a connection is intercepted by a hacker. It is therefore important for companies to provide all their employees with a VPN as this will help keep the company’s files and projects safe. - Access Blocked Content
A VPN is also useful when it comes to unlocking your access to media which is not available in your physical location due to a geoblock. What a VPN does is that it can make it appear as though you’re located in a different location, so you can access otherwise blocked websites or media. Media streamings sites such as Amazon, Netflix and Hulu offer different types of programming per location so if you are in South Africa, you will not be able to watch some programmes being offered to American viewers, with a VPN, you can appear as though you are in a different location thereby unlocking that exclusive content.