Our modern world thrives on connectivity and speed. Technology has developed over the years to become much faster, and the internet has helped to connect all of our devices together.
Being connected to the internet is almost essential in this day and age. Being connected helps us to stay in touch with friends and family, keep up with the latest news, and even work remotely if needed.
However, our devices and connections don’t always offer us the best possible security and privacy, which has become an integral part of the modern world. With cybercrime on the rise, it is crucial that you keep yourself and your devices safe. VPNs offer better privacy and security which can help you to stay anonymous online. A VPN has other benefits as well, and if you want to find out more about what a VPN is and why you need one, keep reading.
What is a VPN?
A VPN or virtual private network is a cybersecurity tool that will help to boost your privacy and security while you’re online. In a world where cybercrime is thriving and privacy and security is dwindling, this tool has become a very important one.
A VPN is able to encrypt your internet connection. This means that no one is able to see what you’re doing. Not even your internet service provider will be able to keep track of your internet traffic.
A VPN will also allow you to connect to one of several global servers in another country or city around the world. This changes your IP address and masks your physical location, which gives you even further privacy and security.
Both of these features are helpful and you should consider using a VPN on your device at all times. There are several benefits to using a VPN on your device aside from the increased privacy and security already mentioned. We’ll discuss that in the next section.
When Should You Use a VPN?
When it comes to using a VPN it’s recommended that you always keep it active. In fact, you should consider turning on the “auto connect” feature which will allow your VPN to turn on and connect anytime your device connects to the internet.
VPNs are especially important to use when you’re on a public WiFi hotspot such as the ones found in airports, hotels and restaurants. Oftentimes these public WiFi hotspots are unsecured networks, which is what cybercriminals thrive on. These are extremely dangerous, especially if you’re travelling abroad.
The risk with an unsecured network is that cybercriminals can use various network attacks against other devices that are on the same network. One of the most common attacks that cybercriminals use in this scenario is the man in the middle attack.
A man in the middle attack is when the hacker places their device between your device and the internet connection. They can do this by relaying the information that is sent and received from your device through their own devices before it gets to the internet access point. This will allow them to see everything that is happening on your device, and it’s a form of modern day eavesdropping. If you’re working with sensitive information, emails or, even passwords, those can all be stolen.
Using a VPN on your device will prevent a cybercriminal from being able to eavesdrop on your device even if you’re on an unsecured network. This is because the VPN will encrypt the connection for you and the hacker won’t be able to infiltrate your device and steal your data.
Other VPN Benefits
VPNs aren’t always essential just for security purposes though. You may find yourself travelling abroad and into different regions at some point in the near future with the international borders opening up again.
Some countries around the world use strict internet censorship, which will block you from accessing specific websites. For example, China blocks all social media websites, foreign news, and even some Google services. If you want to keep using these websites while you’re abroad, a VPN can help you to do so.
When you connect to a global server on your VPN, your IP address is hidden and changed to one in a different country. Once this happens, you can access the internet as if you were in that particular country.
Not only is this helpful for bypassing internet censorship, but it can also help you to bypass geographical blocking. Geo-blocking is something you might come across often when it comes to sports. Some sports content is not available worldwide due to broadcasting rights. For example, if you try to access Sky Sports from outside of the UK you will be met with an error message stating “this content is not available in your region”.
Using a VPN to change your IP address to one that is in the UK will trick the website into believing that you are accessing it from the UK, even if you’re not in the UK. This will allow you to access the content as you normally would.
You can also use this same concept to access new movies and TV shows on Netflix. Due to licensing restrictions, many Netflix shows are different depending on the region that the user is accessing them from. U.S Netflix is known for having the widest selection of movies and TV shows to choose from. All you need to do is choose a global server in the U.S and you’ll be able to access new titles.
Avoid Free VPNs
When it comes to choosing your VPN providers you may come across some free VPNs. You may have noticed that we keep mentioning ‘premium’ VPNs in this article, and that’s because free VPNs come with several drawbacks that can affect your privacy, security and ability to unblock websites. You can see some of the drawbacks of a free VPN below;
- Free VPNs have speed limitations enforced on them which can sometimes affect your browsing experience. This is especially frustrating if you’re using the VPN for streaming.
- Oftentimes free VPNs will have daily data limits. These limits are usually very restrictive, and you may only be able to use your VPN for about an hour each day, which is not enough to keep your devices secure.
- In the majority of cases, free VPNs have a limited selection of global servers to choose from. This can impact your experience as you might not be able to choose the country’s server you are looking to connect to.
- In some cases free VPNs could be rogue software. Rogue software is a fraudulent cybersecurity tool designed by a cybercriminal which they will use to infiltrate the victim’s device and install malicious software on.