Nowadays, almost everyone spends time on the internet for banking transactions, shopping, communication, and many other daily activities. Since the usage of the internet, besides making life easier, also brings safety and security questions, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) becomes a must-tool for everyone to maintain online privacy and security.
What is a VPN is and what it does?
Virtual private network can be summarized as:
“A private network which encloses links across shared networks or public networks (such as the internet). Virtual Private Networks allow people to send data between computers connected via a public network that emulates a point-to-point private connection. “Virtual private networking” refers to the creation and configuration of a private network connection.”
Breaking it down further…
As mentioned previously, a VPN is essentially an encrypted connection. It starts with a user on its front end and connects to an encrypted external server.
Let’s break down the three letters in the abbreviation, which also provide a good description of what a VPN is and what it does:
- V is for “virtual.” Virtual means that a VPN operates on a software platform rather than residing on hardware–separate local servers connected by hardwires, for example.
- P is “private.” The front-end user is guaranteed privacy through a connection that leads to a secure VPN server through an encrypted “tunnel.”
- N is for the “network” of secured servers. The user’s data is streamed through the aforementioned “tunnel” like a packet of data enclosed in another packet.
The key security advantage of a VPN is that it presents a moving and untraceable target. Essentially, a VPN shows the user’s online (IP) address as a VPN server other than the user’s location. Not only is the user’s location hidden, but the data to and from the user and the server is also strongly encrypted.
Your smartphone also needs a VPN
Android and iOS operating systems have built-in security that makes them somewhat safer than PCs. However, as users use free public and insecure Wi-Fi services—rather than paid mobile data streaming—to save on data costs, like smartphones or other mobile devices, they can be as vulnerable as any home computer.
So, working on an unsecured public Wi-Fi connection—in a coffee shop or airport, for example—subjects the user to a “man-in-the-middle” (MITM) attack.
A MITM begins when a hacker actually gets “in the middle” of a two-party connection on the web. The hackers impersonate either or both parties and gain access to the data or information they are share or pass back and forth.
The MITM uses a variety of high- and low-tech strategies, for example:
- So-called “evil-twin” hijacking. A user logs into an unsecured public Wi-Fi network where the hacker routes the user to a fake network to collect the user’s credentials;
- Routing the user to a fake website or a fake web application directing the user to a bogus web application controlled by the attacker;
- Using devices like “web pineapple” to detect and access unsecured networks;
- “Side-jacking” or stealing session cookies that contain unencrypted login information to access a compromised email or other accounts;
- Embedding malicious software to detect online activity to and from the victim.
So, the benefits of a mobile VPN are the same as for PCs. Using the internet on the road with mobile devices actually poses even more significant threats, which is also another reason for mobile users to subscribe to a premium VPN to:
- conceal their online identity and location
- defeat man-in-the-middle attacks
A VPN also has benefits that accrue by virtue of routing the user’s connection to a remote server.
Internet censorship is a tactic authoritarian countries use to keep their citizens away from websites they see as threats. E-commerce sites use unfair net pricing, geo-blocking, and ticketing agents to block shoppers or display different prices when detecting users from more affluent areas.
A strong VPN can bypass net censorship and circumvent unfair pricing by routing the user to remote servers not currently blocked by governments, vendors, or streaming services.
A final word of caution
VPNs are not malware, and they don’t hunt viruses. VPNs do have encryption protocols with built-in security features, but they do not provide full protection against virus injection through phishing or clicking on links in unsecured websites. Users should always rely on their operating systems’ built-in firewalls and security and deploy strong and regularly updated anti-virus programs.