VPN can offer an extra layer of protection on your privacy if you are worried about people probing for your information when you are surfing the web. Perhaps you have noticed lately that there is someone looking at you while you are using the internet in a coffee shop. When you notice this, it is important to quickly take the initiative to subscribe to a VPN to protect yourself. It is easy to set up a VPN and beginner web surfers can quickly start using it to protect their identity in no time.
VPN Creates a Secure Tunnel to Transfer Your Data
VPN uses an encryption technology like IPSEC to create an encryption tunnel from your computer to the VPN server. No one will be able to know what you are doing on the web as long as the traffic travels along the encrypted tunnel. Your ISP will also not be able to learn about your browsing habits. They will only see logs of connection to the third party server. VPN can only prevent people from knowing your web activities. It cannot protect you if you accidentally download a malware while downloading a file on the internet.
VPN Protects Your Privacy and Anonymity
VPN will obscure your location so that you will no longer see ads based on where you are living. Every time you visit a website, the advertisers will create a profile. Since you obscure your location through VPN, the profiles they create will be incorrect. The IP address you are assigned will be different from the real IP address and not matched with your location. Businesses will find VPN useful in protecting their employees from being tracked while they are working on sine projects on the internet. Individuals will be more secure when transmitting financial information on the internet. They will not have to worry that a hacker will access the records.
How to Set Up a VPN
It is easy to learn how to use a vpn to protect your privacy. After signing up the VPN, you will have to create an account and download the application on your computer. Once you have logged into your account, you will be able to select the server location. Many VPN programs offer kill switches feature that will automatically quit all opened browsers in the event of unstable internet connection. This will prevent the data from leaking during an unstable internet connection.
Looking for Trust Factors When Choosing a VPN
You must look for the trust factors when you are choosing a VPN. Not all VPNs are trustworthy – some will secretly track your activities. An indicator of a trustworthy VPN is whether it offers no logging policy. You can spend time going through the terms of service to learn about the information on logging. However, even with no logging policy, there is no guarantee that the VPN will not store your logs. Sometimes, they can accidentally store your logs for a long time before. Scams among VPNs are common so you must do thorough research to confirm that the VPN has a trustworthy no logging policy before signing up.
Paid or Free VPN
If security is your highest concern, it is best to sign up with a paid VPN. Paid VPN is less motivated to share your data since you pay for the service. Despite that, paid VPN can also have flaws in their security. They may also not be completely transparent with the customers. You will want to check the news for VPN companies that have been recently hacked so that you can avoid joining them. Hackers often aim for big VPN companies as they have a lot of valuable data so you should choose a smaller VPN company to be on the safe side. In addition, you will want to choose a VPN that is based in a different country or one that offers servers based in other countries so that you can access geographical restricted websites when you are traveling.
Free VPN, on the other hand, is often unsecure as they display ads and may keep logs of your browsing activities so that they can sell them to third parties. After all, they need to find a way to monetize their service to continue offering it free for people. It is the norm for free VPN to implement a script in the background that can leak some web information and interrupt with the user’s privacy. Perhaps you found one free VPN that is secure but keep in mind that they can always sell your data since you are not paying.