Virtual Private Networks
Perhaps you’ve heard the term VPN (Virtual Private Network) before. As the technical world grows they seem to be growing in popularity. But what is a VPN, exactly? What does it do? When should you use a VPN? And does it really keep your network more secure? Who benefits from using a VPN? Is there anything an end user needs to watch out for when using a VPN?
The Explaination
A VPN, essentially, adds an extra level of security when using a network. A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel from endpoint to VPN server that the user’s internet traffic can move through. This can help increase security, privacy, and freedom while online because the traffic is flowing through a private VPN before reaching the public internet. This way, anyone who is trying to spy on your network will not be able to see your browsing activity because your true IP address and location are hidden.
The Pros
It helps protect your internet connection from certain kinds of cyber attacks, allows the user to stay anonymous (to a certain extent) while online, and unblocks censored content.
VPN’s are especially useful when using open or public wifi like at a mall or coffee shop. Hackers have the ability to take control of a public wifi or create a fake public wifi network. They are then able to monitor your browsing history and gain access to your account login information. A VPN safely secures your data behind encrypted walls, which means that even if you are logged in to the same network as an attack they will have to break the encryption code your VPN uses in order to gain any information about your network traffic or login details.
VPN’s are also incredibly useful in a company that has remote workers. Through the use of a VPN, remote workers may access files on the server or on the network that they would otherwise be unable to get to.
VPN’s also help unblock censored content. This is particularly useful when you live or are visiting a country that has restricted internet, a good VPN can help you bypass the restrictions. In addition, some countries allow you to access content for free whereas other countries will not. For example, you can change the list of shows and movies on Netflix based on your location, and a VPN will allow you to change location with a few clicks of a button.
VPN’s also prevent ISP’s from spying on you. When you are online without a VPN, all your network traffic can be clearly seen by your internet service provider. They can then exploit that in order to slow down or block certain websites or file sharing protocols such as Bittorrent. There are also governments that work with certain ISP’s in order to conduct mass surveillance on citizens. When you use a VPN, all the ISP can see is the amount of traffic it is transporting. They cannot decipher the endpoint or the data the traffic is carrying.
A VPN can also thwart most Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks as long as it’s configured correctly. A MITM attack is specifically designed to steal traffic on the network. When you use a VPN, the traffic can still be intercepted, but what the interceptor sees is gibberish, since it’s been encrypted by your VPN.
The Warnings
It is important to note that VPN’s only protect data as it goes across the network. They do not protect where the information originated from nor where the data ends up. It is important to know how else your data may be compromised on a network in order to keep your guard up and prevent attacks.
While VPN’s may help in preventing websites from tracking you, they are still able through the use of tracking cookies. If you are using a VPN for this reason it is also very important to use a privacy-focused browser, such as Brave, Tor, or Firefox (with some additional privacy add-ons).
You can also still get tracked if you have malware on your computer. Some malware is actually designed specifically to track user information from the user’s computer. A VPN cannot protect against this. That is why it’s important to also have an antimalware software on your computer that you run regularly.
Your information is only as secure as your VPN. Just like the very real concern that your ISP can sell your info or allow the government to view your traffic, so can your VPN. In fact, a lot of free VPN’s do just that. It is very important that you do your research when choosing your VPN. There are many wonderful VPN’s out there, but, unfortunately, there are just as many bad ones. Some VPN’s are even responsible for putting malware on users’ computers. Others keep log files of your traffic, which means that if their servers are compromised, so is all your data. Some don’t even actually encrypt your traffic! That’s why it’s so important to do your research. If you have any questions about a particular VPN or would like suggestions on what VPN would work best for your business we’d be happy to help you. Just give us a call at (216) 282-5222 and we’ll answer any questions you may have.