Virtual Private Networks (VPN) have been around for roughly thirty years. They provide secure communication between two networks, even over the public internet. What is a VPN? It\u2019s how you communicate in public but retain privacy.<\/p>\n
It has been estimated that VPN use in the United States has increased by almost 66 percent since March 2020, and by 165 percent globally in that same period. This is entirely due to the lock-down and work-from-home policies introduced to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>. They’re very much flavor of the month. Let\u2019s see what makes them tick.<\/p>\n A VPN is a network connection often, but not always, made across the internet. The internet is a public-facing, open infrastructure. But because only authorized users and devices can join the VPN connection, the connection is private<\/em>.\u00a0Encryption of the data provides another level of security. Even if the network traffic was captured and analyzed, the packets would be unreadable because of the encryption.<\/p>\n It\u2019s as if a closed and secure tunnel has been placed between the two endpoints, and the data travels safely through this impenetrable tunnel. This effectively provides a private network<\/em> over the public infrastructure of the internet. Because the authenticated, encrypted tunnel is a software-based connection between two physically unconnected networks, it is a virtual<\/em> private network.<\/p>\n VPNs are commonly used by remote workers to securely access the corporate network. This type of connection is established between a software VPN client on the remote worker\u2019s computer or laptop, and a VPN-enabled device, usually a firewall<\/a>, at the corporate premises. This provides a connection that is completely encrypted, end-to-end.<\/p>\n By contrast, consumer VPNs create an encrypted tunnel between a software client supplied by the provider and one of the provider\u2019s servers. The final network hop from the provider\u2019s server and the final destination is not secured.<\/p>\n VPN providers maintain a network of servers around the globe. When you connect to their VPN network you are connected to one of these servers. A server is chosen automatically by the VPN client, according to your location. Sometimes VPN providers allow you to nominate a server to connect to.<\/p>\n The communication between your computer and the VPN server is private, encrypted, and secure. However, your destination isn\u2019t the VPN server. Your destination is whatever web resource you are trying to connect to, such as a web site, cloud storage, or email server. And it is important to understand that the last portion of the connection between the VPN provider\u2019s server and your actual destination is once again transmitted over the public internet.<\/p>\n You will retain some anonymity because whatever you connect to will see the IP address of the VPN server, and not your own IP address. The VPN server acts as a digital middleman between you and your actual destination. This also masks the ultimate destination IP address from your internet service provider, adding to your privacy.<\/p>\n Two important factors to consider are how many VPN servers your provider has in their network, and what the transmission speed through their servers is. Some VPN providers offer a free tier, where they limit you to connecting to a small subset of their servers, and at reduced speed. If you want more choice of servers and higher throughput, you need to move to a paid subscription.<\/p>\n You can find VPNs that are advertised as being completely free, but these should be treated with caution. If a service on the internet is free, it is free because you are the product. There have been cases where free VPN providers have logged all of the connection information and sold it to content marketing agencies, which completely defeats the purpose of using it.<\/p>\n It’s also important to check how many devices you can install the VPN client on. It\u2019s not uncommon for people to own a computer, a laptop, a tablet, and a cell phone, so make sure your subscription permits enough installations of the client to cover all of your devices. Wi-Fi services in coffee shops, hotels, and other places are often completely unprotected, so it is important to use a VPN when you\u2019re using these services.<\/p>\n The more servers a VPN provider maintains the less chance you\u2019ll have of hitting speed degradation due to congestion. Some providers allow you to choose which server you want to connect to. This can be useful if a particular web asset, such as a streaming service, refuses connections from your location. You can digitally \u201cchange country\u201d by connecting to a VPN server in a country that is permitted to connect to the website in question. The website will see the IP address of your VPN provider\u2019s server, think you are based in that country, and will accept your connection.<\/p>\n While we\u2019re talking about geography, be aware that the governments of some countries—such as Russia and China—have strict laws regarding VPNs and what you can do with them, if anything. Take care to establish what is legal and acceptable in your locality.<\/p>\n A consumer VPN can be used to:<\/p>\n A VPN can help you to:<\/p>\n Ever since computer networking existed, enterprises have faced the challenge of secure network communication over a public infrastructure that they don\u2019t own and control. In the mid-1990’s Microsoft and U.S. Robotics collaborated on research that yielded the Point-to-Point Protocol (PTPP). In principle, and by any other name, it was the first VPN. It used old-fashioned screechy modems<\/a> and a form of encryption that would not be sufficient for today\u2019s needs, but all of the elements of a VPN were there.<\/p>\n The modern corporate VPN falls into one of two camps.<\/p>\n VPNs are provided using different implementation models.<\/p>\n VPNs cannot make you safe from cyber threats<\/a> per se<\/em>. They can\u2019t stop you from being infected by malware<\/a> if you visit an infected site, nor if download a file that is actually a trojan with a malicious payload. They won\u2019t know if the site you are visiting is a fraudulent copy-cat site.<\/p>\n VPNs serve a specific purpose and they serve it well. They should be viewed as one more tool in your cybersecurity arsenal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Virtual Private Networks (VPN) have been around for roughly thirty years. They provide secure communication between two networks, even over the public internet. What is a VPN? It\u2019s how you communicate in public but retain privacy. What is a VPN? Consumer VPNs Corporate VPNs What VPNs Don’t Do What is a VPN? It has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1785,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>Consumer VPNs<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Corporate VPNs<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>What VPNs Don\u2019t Do<\/h2>\n