What is VPN? Why Should Everyone Use it and Types of VPN?

VPN Stands for Virtual Private Network. It is a kind of network that connects various private or public networks (LAN, WAN, etc.). VPNs are well known for their ability to provide connectivity between sites. However, recently, VPNs began to be used by individuals as an essential technology in protecting their identity and personal information when they use the internet. We can say that VPN can be considered one step further than SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protocols like HTTPS.

It creates a safe and encrypted tunnel by rerouting all your online traffic via an external server, hiding your actual IP address, and securing your data from hackers. When your service provider transfer data through this kind of connection, they usually encrypt your data so it will not be visible to the network or any other internet user.

So what is VPN in layman’s terms?

So basically, its a bridge between you and the website when you connect with the internet., So when you search for google.com or surf any website, you give away your IP address, location, computer details, language, time zone, screen size, and 100s of other data to the site you connect. However, when you use VPN, you effectively hide all that information from the website you are surfing or hackers or government agencies ( they are notorious for spying on you! ) and protect yourself.

There is a point here that you must understand, and I will explain later, which is a sophisticated fraud of VPN. In a nutshell, please avoid any VPN that says it’s FREE! VPN copy whatever you are doing from your computer to their server (Before anything passes from your computer to VPN, it is encrypted so no one, Even the VPN service, cannot access the data). Your information is protected by using a legitimate and reputable VPN.

So, now you know the basics about the VPN, let’s take you into some more details about Why you should ( I will say one MUST use it )

Accessing the content without any censorship :

Gmail or other contents are often blocked without any legitimate basis, as sometimes they are falsely classified as spam. Using VPN can easily allow you to access your emails and data without any problem. You need to select your own country as a VPN location, and your email service will immediately track that it is you who is using your data, and they will unblock you. Governments block or track content on your device or through an internet service provider. This way, they may legitimately control the security threats to protect their nation, or sometimes they use them to curb legitimate protest. VPN offers every user a secure, private online connection that is free from government control and has encryption to protect you from unknown threats.

Highly Secure (encrypted) Connection :

As you now know, a VPN connection is highly encrypted, which means access to your private data ( like credit card info or something important ) is protected and can not be accessed by anyone.

So it helps you protect yourself and is achieved by converting your data into the encrypted format, a straightforward example of how encryption work.

For example, if you are typing your credit card number on the internet: 4568 5455 5254 5521, then encryption will convert that number into something like 1213354323232656232323232.

The above random numbers will be huge in a real-life scenario. In simple terms, one character will be translated into 200+ digits, so it’s impossible for anyone, including the internet network provider, middleman, or government, to decrypt your data. This process is called encryption. 256bit encryption protocol will be more than enough to give user security, protection, speed, and privacy.

So you can see it is almost impossible for the hacker to steal your data or even for any Govt agency to debug this data ( I will not claim its impossible, but I would certainly say it isn’t easy to do )

Safeguard Your Personal Information :

As you know, Internet browsing is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Now everyone has smartphones. There are more laptops and tablets than people on earth! You can’t deny internet access is now part of our lives. We all use it for Socializing, Browsing, Online shopping, Banking, etc.

VPN helps you to safeguard your digital life with its highly secure connection. But as this access increases, so does the risks of identity theft, Fraud, Stalking, etc. You must have heard about NSA or No Such Agency as they call themselves in their Twitter profile too! They are infamous for monitoring anyone illegally, especially if that person is a US citizen.

Nowadays, they do not need to tape your phone or internet line to monitor your activity. They can access your online data through your ISP ( Internet Service Provider and your data are not protected ), but with a VPN, You are always safe from NSA or any other government agency.

Hiding Your Location:

If you are using a VPN, you can effectively hide your actual address or disguise your site to any location on earth you want. They do this by placing the server worldwide and tunneling the traffic through their servers. Most VPN providers allow you to choose, which is also called location spoofing, and it will make you a ghost on the net and keep you safe and secure from all attacks, either legitimate or otherwise.

So when you choose UK, USA or any other place. They route the data through channels of different computers, which are located everywhere, and it finally reaches the USA. All this happens super fast, so you won’t even notice that you are using many different computers for your internet connection.

Your final site will never get your actual address but what they receive is the server address that may be located worldwide. Address spoofing may put you in some issues if you are abroad and trying to access your bank account. As you are in a new location, your bank may take this attempt as fraudulent and temporarily block your access.

The reason behind using multiple servers is straightforward. If only the computer used is based in the USA, then it will be straightforward for an agency to secure that computer and get your data. However, the data reaching this computer in the USA is from another computer based elsewhere, so it will be impossible for anyone to decrypt the data even though they have control over the physical device.

What Should You Look for in Good VPN Software?

Choose a service that is easy to install and use. It should not be difficult for you to connect to the VPN network on your device. A good VPN application will make a connection in a matter of a few clicks only. The VPN software or application should support all operating systems and internet or network connections. If it works on windows, it must work on Mac as well. Identical for Android/Apple mobile phones and Tablets etc.

Your security & privacy is an essential feature! Ensure the software provides strong encryption, such as 128-bit or 256-bit. Also, look for the protocols that VPN software supports. I have explained little about this protocol in this article. There are many different options, including PPTP, L2TP/IPSec, and OpenVPN. It makes no difference which one you choose; however, there is some debate about this topic, so I recommend reading widely before deciding which one is best for you.

Different ones provide more robust encryption than others, so you should not pick a protocol based on speed but security. The final option is the NAT Firewall, which provides additional protection and stops unauthorized access to your device while it’s connected to an internet network.

Main features to look for

• Easy to Install
• Security, privacy, and speed 
• Broad compatibility with Windows, Mac, iOS, Google OS, Android, Chromebook, and so on.
• Location of servers
• 256Bit Encryption level
• Kill Switch – Handy to disconnect all traffic in one go
• Two Factor authentication like SMS verification or Authenticator code.
• No History logs