It's impossible to spend an hour or two on YouTube without seeing ads or paid promotions for VPN subscription services like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Surfshark. Companies offering these services typically use VPNs to safely and privately browse the web, watch geo-restricted content, bypass censorship, and explore the Internet without revealing your location. This is a great way to do things like: Some VPN providers claim to help protect your internet data.
But in reality, VPNs are only useful in a few very specific use cases. A VPN is like a tunnel that connects two digital locations. VPNs were originally designed as a way to connect people working from home to an office network, or to connect multiple offices to the same network, but the use cases for VPNs have changed in recent years. Many people now use VPNs to browse the web and believe that VPNs can help them avoid surveillance.
Using a VPN can be just as dangerous as not using one, so we'll break down what you can and can't do with a VPN.
What is a VPN?
A VPN is a virtual private network that allows you to connect to a private network remotely. For example, your office may be using a VPN for employees who work from home. In this way, you can establish a connection to your company's intranet and use your computer as if you were in the office. Just like when you're connected to your company's Wi-Fi network on your laptop, you'll feel like you're virtually in the office.
If you have multiple computers, phones, and tablets in your home, you're using a local area network. These devices are all connected to the same Wi-Fi network (or Ethernet cable), and you can even transfer photos and videos from one computer to another without using the Internet.
Using a VPN is very easy. Businesses or individuals typically install a VPN server on a computer in their office, home, or data center. You can then connect to this server using the corresponding VPN application running on your device using the correct credentials. There are many VPN clients for computers, servers, and routers. Windows PCs, Macs, Android devices, and iPhones also come with a basic VPN client included in the device's settings.
Suppose you have established a VPN connection on your computer. Your computer and the VPN server initiate a point-to-point connection, and all network traffic passes through this private tunnel.
Do I need a VPN?
There are several reasons why you might need to use a VPN. While working from home, you may want to access file servers and internal tools that you regularly use at the office. Maybe you live in a country with internet restrictions. It's also useful if you want to access video streaming services that aren't available in your country.
You may have used a VPN at work, especially when working from home. There are several benefits for businesses to use a VPN. For example, employees can access office servers that are not connected to the Internet because they are all connected to the same private network. In the days before cloud-hosted Microsoft 365 servers and Google Workspace, many companies managed their own email and calendar servers. Your IT service may require you to first connect to your company's VPN to access your email and calendar events as a way to protect sensitive information.
However, office environments are not the only use cases for VPNs. For example, if you live outside the United States, you know that a VPN can save you a lot of trouble when you want to stream shows on Max or access Netflix's anime library in Japan. Many streaming services have restrictions for use abroad, even if you're just traveling for work or vacation.
Some VPN companies offer access to servers located in major cities around the world, allowing you to access them as if you were physically there. When you set up a VPN connection, all your network traffic goes through that tunnel, so your streaming service may still recognize you as a customer in the United States. In fact, the streaming service sends your data to servers based in the US, but all of its network traffic goes through a VPN tunnel to your device on the other side of the world.
In some cases, the VPN server doesn't have enough bandwidth to upload the movie through the tunnel in high resolution, resulting in poor movie quality. In some cases, content companies may try to ban the entire range of IP addresses that the VPN server relies on, rendering the VPN useless.
Why you don't need a VPN
There are some drawbacks to using a VPN. When you use a VPN connection, all your network traffic, including your internet traffic, goes through the VPN. This means that you are subject to your company's IT rules, which may prevent you from accessing certain websites. Or the company could monitor and record your internet browsing habits and find a good excuse to fire you later (too much Reddit and YouTube!).
When you use a VPN to circumvent censorship or access content from another region, the VPN server on the other end can see all your network and Internet traffic. You are simply transferring risk to the VPN tunnel, and the VPN provider is at risk.
We're going to assume that all the free VPN apps in your favorite app store are free for a reason. These free VPN apps analyze your browsing habits and sell them to advertisers, who inject their own ads on insecure pages. Free mobile VPNs should be avoided at all costs.
As for paid options, some promise internet privacy with a monthly subscription. But please check our privacy policy and terms of service first. Many VPNs log your internet traffic and share the information with law enforcement and others. Read the small print.
And even if your privacy policy seems good, you should trust your VPN provider blindly because it's hard to be sure if they're actually doing what they promise. A secure home connection using a guest Wi-Fi network where only your friends can access the internet is often better than connecting to a random company's VPN server. You don't want to hand over your house keys to strangers, even if they promise not to enter your house uninvited.
Similarly, you shouldn't trust a VPN company that doesn't have a public leadership team or publish detailed security audits of its infrastructure and apps by well-known cybersecurity testers. You also shouldn't trust VPN comparison sites or influencers. Influencers often have financial incentives to promote one service over another.
Will using a VPN make me anonymous on the Internet?
Many coffee shops and hotels don't spend much time securing their Wi-Fi networks. This means that users can see other users' computers on their local network, just like at home. Additionally, a malicious hacker at your favorite coffee shop could spy on your unencrypted Internet traffic and learn information about you.
This was a serious problem a few years ago. Back when many websites didn't use secure connections on their login pages, hackers could target your bank account login and password and empty your wallet.
The best way to avoid that was to not use Wi-Fi at all. But if you really need to check your email accounts, use a trusted VPN server to prevent anyone from prying eyes (seeing what's happening inside the tunnel), even on your local network. ) could have been prevented.
The situation has changed considerably. The majority of internet sites and services are now delivered to your browser over a secure connection, also known as HTTPS, and end-to-end encryption in your favorite messaging app means no one can access your site, even if they don't have permission. cannot see your personal information. VPN.
All of this leads to today's incorrect assumptions about VPNs. Simply put, a VPN doesn't mean you're more secure on the internet. It simply depends on the VPN server.
If you're really concerned about your privacy, there are better privacy tools you can use to better protect your privacy online.
When it comes to encryption, some VPN protocols aren't as secure as you might think. L2TP, which uses pre-shared keys for authentication, can be decrypted, breaking the concept of an unbreakable tunnel, for example. WireGuard is the gold standard for VPN protocols because it is based on public and private keys.
We have an up-to-date guide on how to set up your own private and encrypted VPN server in 15 minutes.
Types of VPN
If you think you need a VPN, start here. There are several use cases where a VPN fits your needs.
VPN for remote work: If you want to use a VPN to access your workplace, this is a perfectly acceptable use case. However, be sure to turn off your VPN connection before taking a break. Because your company could see how much time you spend on social networks and other non-work services.
VPN for developers: Developers use VPN technology all the time to access remote servers and to create site-to-site VPN connections so that servers can communicate with each other. It's like bringing different computers into the same room, even if they are thousands of miles apart.
VPN services and mobile VPN apps: These can be used to access geo-restricted content from abroad. However, don't leave it on all the time. If you don't feel like you can't access something because you're blocked, you don't need to subscribe to a VPN service.
A final word on VPNs
All of this may sound a little complicated, but the bottom line is very simple. VPNs are great and can meet a variety of needs, but don't do business with shady people.