What is Virtual Private Network or VPN?
With cybercrimes on the rise, it’s imperative for one to stay cautious while using the internet. Even though there are a considerable number of firewall protections, antivirus programs, and anti-malware available to us, they don’t offer complete protection against sophisticated malware. Thus, there is always some risk when sharing personal information and data on the web. Most professionals doing IT consulting Virginia Beach would suggest using a Virtual Private Network or VPN for data transfer on the internet. VPN allows one to control how they will be identified on the internet. In today’s time and age, when the entire world is connected over the internet, the incidents of data breaches have increased. You also might have lost your personal details through a credit reporting company or business that became a victim of a data breach incident.
In this blog, we have discussed important aspects of Virtual Private Network.
Let’s understand what a VPN is.
A VPN works as a virtual encrypted portal that goes through the user and the remote server operated by the VPN service. All the internet traffic is transferred through the encrypted tunnel, enabling the users to keep their data on the internet safe and secure. The user’s IP address also appears to have the IP address of the VPN server. This feature further enables one to keep their identity hidden from hackers.
When a VPN user puts their data on the VPN server, it goes out through the server, making it impossible for a third party to intercept the data or trace the user’s identity.
Understanding the Working of VPN in Real Life
Let’s take an everyday scenario to understand how VPN works. We all use public Wi-Fi networks once in a while. Be it cafes, public areas, airports, or shopping malls; we use the public Wi-Fi network. Little do we realize that someone might be keeping an eye on the traffic of the network. It’s fairly impossible to ensure if a public Wi-Fi network is secure. Using an unsecured network means putting your personal information and financial details in front of hackers and cybercriminals.
A hacker could set their own public server under the name of the café or airport to lure people into using the Wi-Fi. If you directly use such an unverified network, the hacker can quickly get hold of your data and personal information. On the other hand, using VPN to connect to the public Wi-Fi network can ensure your data is protected against malicious data breach attempts. If your managed services provider is the best IT consulting company, they would suggest using a VPN server.
Incidents like the Snowden leaks and the online infiltration of Russian have indicated that the government agencies don’t snoop online on just terrorists or fraudulent individuals. The capability of the government’s surveillance is far beyond that. The NSA has the authority and necessary resources to intercept every message that is sent out on the internet. This makes it imperative for one to use VPN servers as encrypted messages are hard to be traced back to the sender. By using a VPN, you can ensure the safety of your data as well as your identity.
