With always-on connectivity and support for multiple devices, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) have become a part of our daily Internet browsing. They provide the ability to bypass firewalls, ISPs, and website restrictions, significantly enhancing our access to the wider Internet. This guide explains what a VPN is and the benefits of using one.
Table of Contents
What Is a VPN?
A VPN can be defined as a private Internet connection through an encrypted “virtual” tunnel between your Internet-enabled device and a remote VPN server, which can be based anywhere. What a VPN does is mask your real IP address by assigning you a new one, then securely transmits all your web traffic through the encrypted tunnel.
Image source: DALL-E 3
Instead of connecting directly to websites and exposing your location and other sensitive data, a VPN gives your device a new identity. This makes your browsing anonymous, protecting you from hackers, data thieves, and surveillance agents. Leading VPN providers, such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Surfshark, offer the service on desktop devices and mobile apps.
Note: proxies also help unblock websites like VPNs do, but the two have significant differences.
How Do VPNs Work?
While the specifics of how a VPN works can vary between providers, these are the common activities in a VPN connection.
- Tunneling through VPN servers: when you log in from a connected device using a VPN, it establishes a secure tunnel to the Internet, with the IP address of one of its global servers acting on behalf of your device.
- VPN protocols: the encryption and decryption in the tunnel occurs thorough the “VPN protocol.” The most commonly used protocols include OpenVPN, WireGuard, IKEv2, L2TP, and SSTP. Commercial VPN providers may have their own protocols, such as NordVPN’s “NordLynx” and ExpressVPN’s “Lightway.” A provider typically chooses the most suitable protocol, though users can still select their preferred protocol.
- IP address masking: no remote connection is complete without your IP address changing over to one on a VPN server. However, there are IP address leaks that you can identify through VPN encryption testing.
- Packet obfuscation: thanks to the tunnel’s encryption, your regular browsing traffic will be replaced with obfuscated web traffic, which would not make any sense to eavesdroppers. The best VPNs use high-quality obfuscated traffic that is capable of bypassing VPN blocks by streamers, such as Netflix, which often use deep packet inspection.
- Most reliable VPNs offer a “kill switch” feature, which ensures that if the VPN connection drops, your IP address remains concealed, and your Internet traffic is securely disconnected.
What Types of VPNs Exist?
Whether you’re a casual Web user or a network administrator, there’s an astonishing variety of VPNs available to suit your needs. While we can’t cover them all here, the following are the most important:
- Remote access VPNs: also known as client-to-site VPNs, they are among the most common and are widely. The client (end user) logs in using their credentials through a VPN application and connects to the VPN’s servers.
- Mobile VPNs: another form of remote access VPNs involves connecting to the VPN service through a smartphone app. The VPN connection secures the entire smartphone (or tablet) from external tracking attempts.
- Site-to-Site VPNs: organization-wide VPN networks that connect all the existing networks in an organization’s global offices. Regardless of where employees are located in the world, they connect to a common range of VPN servers.
- Hybrid VPNs: cross between site-to-site VPNs and remote access VPNs. Think of an external vendor or supplier connecting to an organization’s site-to-site VPN network through a remotely installed client.
- Cloud VPN: a form of VPN with all the VPN data hosted in the cloud, instead of hosting the VPN servers physically in data centers (or RAM disks, which is becoming common with top-tier VPN providers). For example, NordVPN’s NordLayer, where all infrastructure is hosted in the cloud.
- Point-to-Point (P2P) VPN: a point-to-point (P2P) VPN establishes a secure connection between two points in a network. An example would be an SSH tunneling session, where a remote desktop client is operated securely without being exposed to the Internet.
Why Should I Use a VPN?
Privacy
In today’s digital age, private and anonymous browsing is not a luxury – but a necessity – to protect your device and identity from cybercrime. Every activity you perform on various websites – especially top-ranked social media platforms, video hosting sites, and streaming services – leaves traces of your online presence. This data is at risk and can be sold to data harvesters and ad marketers, who use it to target you with spam – even worse, it can be exploited by cybercriminals.
Even if you reside in a country governed by stringent data privacy laws, such as those under the GDPR, or frequently use VPN servers to bypass geo-blocks, you can still fall victim to foreign governments that employ surveillance tools. Only a secure VPN with a no-logs policy can provide you with a high level of protection against these threats. Having said this, a VPN cannot give you 100% protection against all cyber threats, so you may want to consider a few alternatives to VPNs.
Encryption
While no VPN is perfect, it is safe to assume that a high degree of encryption will apply to all Web traffic. This encryption is crucial, as it ensures that our personal and financial information does not leak. While you could previously be more casual about network surveillance, that’s no longer an option.
Encryption becomes even more important when you’re using a public Wi-Fi network, where many network intrusions occur. A VPN protects you in these settings by making all your web traffic unreadable to packet sniffers.
Remote access
The VPN has emerged as a marvelous invention, a boon for digital nomads like me, who can safely browse important websites for work, get access to geo-blocked content, and stream from home, while also accessing local content abroad. Many companies rely on and depend on remote workers. The use of site-to-site and remote access VPNs provides their far-flung employees with better access to and reach of company resources.
Image source: DALL-E3
Additionally, while traveling, you may face restrictions in trying to access banking and credit card services. In such a situation, a VPN can prove handy, as you only have to choose an appropriate server. No matter where you are, you can install a VPN client on any device, such as a cyber café, and uninstall it later.
Geo-restrictions bypass
If you’re living in another country, a VPN is the fastest way to unlock geo-restricted content on Netflix, Hulu, and other video streaming services. Even if you’re not a fan of streaming, geo-restrictions can feel very stifling for other reasons. Many websites, and even content creators on YouTube or other social media platforms, can restrict access to their content to specific regions or exclude certain countries altogether. Only a quality VPN that can go undetected can bypass these site-wide restrictions.
If you use a VPN while also deleting your browsing history, you can stay assured that no one will ever know anything about what you did online.
With the question answered of what a VPN is, once you start using one, you will never want to browse the Internet without it. It can be the best way to protect your device from hacking, DNS/IP address leaks and ISP surveillance. While a few governments frown upon VPN use, get around that by installing VPN applications from mirror sites or the dark web. If the ISP has blocked you from accessing Tor, there are other methods of access.
Image credit: Pixabay. All screenshots by Sayak Boral.
Sayak Boral –
Staff Writer
Sayak Boral is a technology writer with over eleven years of experience working in different industries including semiconductors, IoT, enterprise IT, telecommunications OSS/BSS, and network security. He has been writing for MakeTechEasier on a wide range of technical topics including Windows, Android, Internet, Hardware Guides, Browsers, Software Tools, and Product Reviews.
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