VPN
(Virtual Private Network) services are often confined to the stigma that only
hacker criminals use them to keep those snooping federals at bay. However, this is not exactly an accurate
perception of these useful networks. For
those who are rather tech-savvy, being able to encrypt and reroute your cyber
activity can be an invaluable asset… simply because having the capability to
access cyberspace via your own reliable, secure network provides more than just
the ability to cover your tracks.
An
individual wearing a bright orange shirt in a crowd of people wearing other
brightly colored (but not orange)
shirts is still easy to find. However,
place that same individual in a crowd of other orange shirt wearers, and this
person just became a great deal more difficult to track down. Then, if you move this crowd to a far away
land with different laws… then good luck, you’ll now have to fill out a lot of
paperwork to find your man. This is
essentially how VPNs work.
A
VPN is basically a secure computer network that is composed of several private
computers, which essentially operate as a collective trust. While it is possible to follow a cyber trail
through a VPN network, it is still rather difficult to gain access to it,
decrypt the data once you’re there, and depending on the server’s location,
gain permission to even try.
#3: Use While Traveling Abroad…
If
you’re a jet set businessperson, a wander-lusting drifter or an incurable
philanthropic humanist with a zest for adventure, then you’ve already felt the
aggravation of using annoyingly unreliable local networks. If you’re trying to follow your favorite TV
shows online from the land you call home, you might not be able to do so,
depending on your service. Also, you
might even be subject to a nation’s ridiculously obscene firewall, and be
blocked from accessing certain sites or apps, as you would in more civilized,
free countries.
However,
if you have access to your own VPN service, then this problem miraculously goes
away. Because you can directly connect
to your network, you won’t have to
use those outdated (and sometimes obtusely restrictive) networks in other parts
of the world.
#2: Speaking of Free Speech…
This
is one for the investigative reporter, human right’s advocate, and the ones who
blow the whistle against abusive governments and corporations… and need a way
to protect themselves from retaliation.
It
is true that if bludgeoned hard enough, a government or corporation can crack a
VPN. However, using a VPN will add just
one more layer of protection from snooping, thereby increasing the time and
resources spent on tracking down the good watchdog. In addition, if you use a foreign service
like a VPN in France or Dubai, then
you’ll even force the regime to deal with international cyber laws and
protocol.
If
you’re neck deep in a story, which will expose a corporation that uses unicorns
for slave labor (oh, the cruelty), then using a VPN would be in your tremendous
benefit.
*Note:
quick tip… you might also want to do some research on using Tor, Tails, and MAC address “spoofing”, if
you really are about to uncover something big.
Go get ‘em, 007!
#1: Safety & Security
If
you work in IT security, you regularly access your million-dollar bank account
in Morocco, or you’re a private home stock or forex trader, then you might want
to start thinking seriously about network security. It is possible for someone to watch your
activity between an LAN (local area network) and the part of cyberspace where
you work. However, using a VPN will make
this almost an impossible task for a common hacker.
In
order to track your communications from your router to your VPN, the hacker
would have to maintain local access to your own home network… essentially
requiring the bad guy to be physically present.
This issue places yet another step between you and a cybercrime or
identity theft.
In
addition, communication through a VPN is usually encrypted, which means that
even if a hacker were able to trace your activity, they would have to crack an
encryption, which is certainly no easy task.
Considering a VPN?
If
you want to get the best bang for your buck out of the VPN of your choice, then
it is best to keep a few things in mind:
- First, you get what you
pay for. Use a cheapo or free VPN,
and you might end up with a false sense of security.
- Second, if you are in
desperate need of covering your tracks, then do not try to rely on your VPN
alone. You need to employ other
protections.
- Third, it may be worthwhile to utilize a VPN that is located in a non-extradition foreign nation, which doesn’t usually cooperate with the country where you’re located.
Simply
put, using a VPN is just another way to refuse being a victim.
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