VPN : What Is VPN, How VPN Works

Some people may know the concept VPN but lots of people doesn't know what actual VPN is. So In this article, I'll try to explain What is VPN and How It Works.

The internet has a love affair with acronyms. Your ISP gives you an IP, so your computer can access the DNS, via a URL, coordinated by the ICANN.

Confused ?

The reality is that the average internet user doesn’t understand all this and if you’re part of that group, don’t worry! It’s not critically important for you.

There is one acronym, however, that I believe every person who owns a computer should know: VPN, which stands for Virtual Private Network.

This VPN article reviews ultimate beginner’s guide to VPNs will run through a number of different topics. So, with that out of the way, let’s get started !

Why a VPN ?

Nowadays Online Security become most important. It seems like almost every week there’s a front-page news story about somebody’s email getting hacked, identities stolen or privacy exploited. Get used to it , this is our new reality.

It’s more important for us to Secure our Computers nowadays than it is for us to lock our doors.  If you’ve known anybody who has had their identity stolen, you know that it’s not a simple wipe and replace. It takes years, sometimes more than a decade to recover from an identity theft.

So, what can you do to protect yourself ? There are a number of measures you can take to Staying Safe Online, such as 

1. Updating your Facebook security settings.
2. Creating long secure passwords.
3. One of the easiest things you can do today is start using a VPN.

It’s not foolproof and despite the marketing, I don’t believe we’re ever completely anonymous or totally safe on the internet, but it is the best step you can take to secure yourself online.

Well then that begs the question, What is a VPN ?

A VPN, again a virtual private network, is a means to encrypt, or secure, your data to keep it safe and add a layer of privacy to protect your identity.

Without going into too much boring detail, here’s one way you can visualize a VPN. Imagine that you are on your computer and the cloud is the internet. Normally, your computer accesses the internet directly via your Internet Service Provider.

While this connection may be fast, it’s rarely secured and it’s very easily traced back to you. When you access the internet via a VPN, imagine that your connection is routed through the internet via a Secure Tunnel to a server in another location – sometimes in a different city, sometimes in a different country. At this point, the server accesses the internet on your behalf.

The benefit here is that not only are you keeping your Data Safe, you’re also Masking your Location by making the internet think that you’re located where the server is, not your actual home or office.

Initially, VPNs were developed for corporations that needed to protect their sensitive data being sent over Public and Private Networks, but ever since Wikileaks became a household name, the personal VPN market has rightly grown by leaps and bounds.

What most people don’t realize is that not all VPN Encryption is the same. You might hear terms like OpenVPN versus PPTP or 256-bit encryption versus 128-bit encryption.

It’s not important for you to understand all of these connection protocols, just know that higher bit encryption rate is better than lower bit encryption rate and, frankly, SOME form of VPN encryption is better than nothing at all.

Now, in the real world, what does it look like to Use a VPN ?

With a VPN, I can jump on the internet at my favorite coffee shop and be confident that all the passwords I'm typing or the websites I'm visiting can’t be intercepted by a hacker sitting in a corner sipping a coffee.

A VPN can also spoof, or trick the internet into thinking you’re in a different location. For instance, I may be logging on to my computer in India , Australia but with a VPN I can spoof my location to New York or Paris. This is important if you travel a lot and like to use services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon or any type of streaming service that restricts content based on geo-location.

Now let’s stop for a moment and consider the Reasons Not to Use a VPN. I mean, if a VPN is so important, why isn’t everybody using one, right?

There are a few reasons why this is the case.

• First, most people don’t realize that something as simple as using a public Wi-Fi network outside their home puts your security at serious risk. It’s scary easy to snoop on computers over a public Wi-Fi network.

• Second, some people don’t like using a VPN because it naturally slows down your internet speeds. When you begin encrypting and rerouting your internet traffic, there’s just no way to get around a loss in speed.

• Finally, personal VPNs cost money.

Sure, there are Free VPNs out there but as they say, nothing is really “free”. These free VPNs, they either display tons of ads or sell your information, which is exactly the opposite reason of using a VPN. The paid services aren’t crazy expensive, but for some reason it’s been a deterrent for people.

Allow me to conclude this explanation of a VPN with these thoughts , 

• First, a VPN is not a connection to the internet. It is a Secure Way to access the internet.

• Good news ! A VPN is often really easy to use, even if you don’t consider yourself “tech-savvy”.

• Finally, if you use public Wi-Fi at places like a coffee shop, an airport, a college, your local grocery store…anywhere!...you should seriously consider a VPN.

If you like this article please share this with your friends and I welcome your feedback in the comments below.

Take care and don’t forget to secure yourself online.

If you want more information on VPNs , I suggest you to click on below link, where I cover commonly asked questions, like how to access block sites using VPN , Does VPN help to increase internet speed , Is VPN Legal, Top 10 Best VPN 2020 and How to enable VPN in Opera Browser.

VPN  Virtual Private Network