What Is VPN and Why Do You Need It?

What Is VPN and Why Do You Need It?

You might have heard about VPNs, but you’re not sure what they are. Maybe you know that they have something to do with privacy and security, but you want a better understanding of their importance. Let’s talk briefly about what a VPN is and why you need it.

What Is A VPN?

A VPN stands for virtual private network. When you connect to a VPN, you create a secure connection to another computer over the internet. This is one of the best ways to protect your privacy, security, and identity online because everything that happens on your device goes through the encrypted tunnel created by the VPN.

The VPN, allows you to set up an encrypted connection with another computer over the internet. When you connect to a VPN, you create a secure tunnel between your device and the other computer through which all your internet traffic flows.

Your data stays safe because it is encrypted when it goes through the tunnel. If someone were to intercept your data, they would only see scrambled letters and numbers.

The best thing about using a VPN is that it prevents hackers from accessing your personal information and account credentials while you’re online (read: using public Wi-Fi).

Why do you need a VPN?

A VPN is an important tool to use if you’re dealing with any type of sensitive data on the internet. There are many reasons why you might need a VPN:

If You’re traveling and want to keep your personal information and location private.

You’d like to protect your data from hackers and malicious actors when you use public Wi-Fi.

Have a job that requires being online all the time or using specific types of software.

Live in a country where the internet is monitored and censored by the government, such as China or North Korea.

Want to watch Netflix and Hulu from anywhere in the world.

How does a VPN work?

A VPN allows you to create a secure connection with your device and another computer over the internet. Once you’ve done this, all of your device’s traffic is encrypted so no one can see what you’re browsing.

When you use a VPN, you create an encrypted tunnel between your device and another computer. A VPN helps protect your privacy by encrypting your information so no one can access it.

A VPN encrypts all of the data on your device before sending it to the other PC. From there, it travels through an encrypted tunnel to reach the other PC. When someone tampers with this data, it’s impossible for them to see what’s inside because it’s all encrypted.

What does it mean to be anonymous online?

When you connect to a VPN, your device is encrypted and your online activity is anonymous. This means that while you’re connected to the VPN, you can go anywhere on the internet without leaving any trace of who you are behind.

A VPN is important for protecting your privacy because it encrypts everything coming in and out of your device through an encrypted tunnel. Your ISP (internet service provider) cannot see what you’re doing online when you’re connected to a VPN.

 

The benefits of using a VPN

There are a number of benefits to using a VPN. One of the biggest is that a VPN helps you maintain your privacy and security online. It does this by encrypting your internet connection so that no one can see what you’re doing. This means that even if someone tries to spy on the data packets coming from your device, they won’t be able to steal information because it’s encrypted.

This also means that your ISP will be unable to collect and sell your browsing history to advertisers or other companies, which is great for consumers who don’t want their personal data sold for profit.

A VPN also has many other benefits:

-It will help you unblock websites and apps that may be restricted in certain countries or regions

-Makes it difficult for hackers and cybercriminals to steal your info

-Protects you from ISP tracking, censorship, and throttling

-You can browse the internet privately with protection against malware

Other Benefits of Using VPN

Files Downloading: To be honest, many people use VPN connections to download files via BitTorrent. However, your ISP might be throttling BitTorrent or other files downloading sites and making them extremely slow to use, you can use BitTorrent on a VPN to get faster speeds. The same is true for other types of traffic your ISP might interfere with (unless they interfere with VPN traffic itself.)

Avoid Internet Firewalls: Some countries like China and North Korea use firewalls to restrict access to the internet. VPNs can be used to get around the Great Firewall of China and gain access to the entire Internet. (However, the Great Firewall has apparently started interfering with VPNs recently.)

Get Access to Your Home Network when Traveling: Set up your VPN to access your own network when traveling. This will allow you to access a Windows Remote Desktop over the Internet, use local file shares, and play games over the Internet as if you were on the same LAN (local area network).

Get Access to Your Business Network when Traveling: Business travelers frequently use VPNs to get access to their business network, when on the road.

Using a Corporate VPN in Windows

Connecting to a VPN is fairly simple. In Windows, press the Windows key, type VPN, and click the Set up a virtual private network (VPN) connection option. (If you use Windows, you’ll have to click the Settings category after searching.) Use the wizard to enter the address and login credentials of the VPN service you want to use. You can then connect to and disconnect from VPNs using the network icon in the system tray — the same one where you manage the Wi-Fi networks you’re connected to.

Best VPN for Europe

Some of the best VPN’s for Europe are

PureVPN

NordVPN

ExpressVPN

Surfshark

IPVanish

We will shortly be doing a thorough review on each of these VPN. Do come back soon to check it out!

Best Practice Before using VPN

If you are on windows 10, and are planning to install a VPN on it, then you must make some changes to your device to speed up windows 10 and ensure there is no lag. We have covered it in depth in our article and you can read it here.

 

Conclusion

If you spend a lot of time on the internet, especially using public WiFi hotspots, you should definitely think about using a VPN. A VPN allows you to connect to a private network and access the internet through that network. This ensures that your browsing is protected and that nobody can see what you’re doing.

A VPN is great for those who want to be anonymous online as well as those who want to protect their data. Though there are some downsides (depending on where you’re located), it’s worth setting up a VPN for your device as soon as possible. It’s just a few minutes of work and will have a huge impact on your security and privacy going forward.