The use cases of VPN
The invention of the internet has changed our way of life. Today, we are dependent on the Internet in every aspect of our lives. From education purpose to business purpose, the internet has changed every aspect of our lives. Simply, the modern world is driven by the internet. To look up for any information or to buy any daily products, we are dependent on the internet. But, do you know that there is a major drawback to using the Internet? The uses of the internet threaten our privacy as most of the stuff we do online is tracking to gather information about us to sell for advertising or any other purposes. In that case, a VPN helps us to keep our online activity hidden so that our online activity does not hamper our privacy. Though it is not possible to be completely hidden in the world of the internet while we are using it, the uses of VPNs make it hard for the companies that are tracking us and collecting our personal information. Nowadays, many people use VPN services on their devices but the interesting fact is that most of them do not know what is a VPN and how it works. In this article, we will discuss the VPN, types of VPNs, and use cases of using a VPN. Besides, we will give a clear idea about how to choose the right VPN to secure your online activity.
The VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. A VPN establishes a connection that is secure by encrypting the data and creating a private tunnel through which the data travels safely from your device to the VPN server. As the data is encrypted while sending from your device to the VPN server and travels through a private tunnel, anyone else can not read the data. From the VPN server, your data is then sent to the public internet. In a simple word, a VPN creates a private tunnel through which your data is sent to the VPN server, and then from the VPN server that data is sent to the public Internet such as your targeted website, and vice versa. The main purpose of the VPN is to protect your personal information and privacy in the internet world. Besides, it hides your IP address, online activity, and communication.
How VPN works
A VPN works with an encryption protocol to pass your internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel between your device and a remote VPN server. It hides your IP address and other data and makes them inaccessible to others.
For example, you are using the internet without connecting to any VPN. In that case, all of your internet traffic which means your IP address, the sites you visit, and the online activity can be accessed by the ISP that you are using or the Government organization, advertiser, or any other people in your network.
Now, if you are using a VPN, it creates an encrypted tunnel through which your data will be redirected to the VPN server, and from the VPN server, it will go to the public internet. Data will be coming to your device in the same way. From the internet to the VPN server and from the VPN server to your device through the encryption connection. In that case, the ISP, Government agencies, advertisers, or any other people will be able to see the IP address of the remote VPN server, not your actual IP address. Now, as your actual IP address is hidden, it becomes hard to track you and collect your information. In this way, A VPN makes your online activity secure.
How the VPN server operates
When you set up a VPN client or VPN app on your device, all of your data such as the website you want to visit is sent to the VPN server from your devices by encrypting. Then, the VPN server decrypts the data, hides your IP address, and then sends the data to the website. The website will show the IP address that is attached to the VPN server. The VPN server then encrypts the data that is back from the web server and sends it to you. While the data that is back from the websites is sent back to your device, the VPN client decrypts that data.
Types of VPN
There are different types of VPN clients available. Some are in favor of business and some are in favor of personal use. The VPN that will be identical for you completely depends on your needs.
Remote Access VPN: Remote access VPNs are developed specifically for companies so that the employees of the companies can connect to a remote network securely. For the business, it is very important as sometimes the employee of the company needs to provide support from the home or outside the office. In that case, they can access the company resources securely using the remote access VPN client. In some cases, a Remote access VPN protects the data of the users while using a public network.
Personal VPN: The personal VPN is for individual internet users. While you are using a VPN as an individual user and connecting to any VPN clients, the VPN clients will protect your data from the website of the internet, and hide your location, online activity, and IP address.
Mobile VPN: Mobile VPNs are developed to provide private internet access to its users. It works even if the connectivity is poor. It is best for individuals who use mobile for work purposes such as delivery person.
Site-to-site VPN: Site-to-site VPN is also known as the network VPN. This type of VPN can be Intranet-based VPNs and Extranet-based VPNs. Intranet-based-VPNs connect the network of the same organization that has multiple offices in different locations while the Extranet-based-VPNs connect the network of two different organizations.
The use cases of VPN
VPN clients provide many advantages to their users by protecting them from online threats and hackers, hiding IP addresses, and giving them the ability to browse privately. There are many use cases of using a VPN. Here is the list:
- Provide protection who use public Wi-Fi. Public wi-fi such as wi-fi of the coffee shops does not provide strong wi-fi security protocols and hackers can easily hack the connected devices of the unsecured network. VPNs protect in this case.
- As VPN encrypts the connection, it reduces the possibility of Ransomware attacks. Business people who have valuable resources and need to access those resources remotely, sometimes become victims of ransomware attacks. VPN can help here by encrypting the internet traffic.
- Some streaming platforms provide free streaming for some specific locations and in that case, by using a VPN it is possible to freely stream those contents from anywhere. Besides, some contents are restricted in some Geos including Apps, Games, Movies, and many more. VPN also works to enjoy location-based blocked content from anywhere.
- Some websites are blocked in certain areas for different reasons and the people who live in those areas are not able to access that website. VPNs help to access websites that are blocked in certain areas.
- There are restrictions on Internet usage in some countries. For example, China blocks Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, and many more apps. A VPN will help you to block this type of restriction. This type of restriction is known as censorship restriction.
- While we use the internet, our ISP can track all of our internet activity. Besides, your ISP can store and sell your information also. As VPN makes all of your internet traffic encrypted, ISP can not track your online activity perfectly, or using a VPM makes it harder to track.
- In an e-commerce website, the price of the same products varies depending on the location. By using a VPN, it is possible to bypass this price discrimination.
How should pick a right VPN
VPN does not make you fully anonymous while using the internet. Even after using a VPN, websites or advertisers can track us using different ways. Different types of trackers and cookies on websites can identify us and our behavior. Besides, there is a process called browser fingerprinting that is used to track the browser version, screen size, and many more. But VPN makes it harder and so it is better to use a VPN. Even some VPN clients are also not safe. If they want, they can also see your online activity and sell the information. So, while choosing a VPN, it is always best to choose the good-rated one and read the privacy policy of that VPN client. Besides, some VPN clients provide basic support for protection against malware. Considering all of these things, it is recommended to choose VPN clients that provide all the features for online protection and have a clear privacy policy in terms of data collection or any other information that is required for online privacy, above all, if the VPN clients will work or not perfectly for the most of the above-mentioned use cases.
Conclusion
In the modern world, it is impossible to be anonymous for the general users. Sites owners and advertisers apply different methods to track a user and then, collect the information and sell the information. A VPN only makes it harder to be tracked online but it does not completely remove the possibility of being tracked. Using a Tor browser even provides better protection than a VPN as the Tor browser bounces the traffic through several servers, and it becomes harder for website owners, advertisers, or hackers to track. However, it is a bitter truth that there is no guaranteed way to be completely anonymous online.
