VPN EXPLAINED
What is a Virtual Private Network and how does it work?
A VPN, short for Virtual Private Network, describes a way of setting up a secure network connection when using public networks by encrypting internet traffic and disguising the user’s identity.
The encryption happens in real time, and the purpose of all this is to make it difficult for third parties to infiltrate a connection, track a user’s online activity, or steal data.
How a VPN works
Once online, when a user starts a VPN, a secure tunnel, imperceptible even to the ISP, is created between the user and the internet. The user’s device is now on the VPN’s local area network and can be assigned a different IP once on the remote LAN.
A VPN conceals a user’s IP address by having the network reroute the data via specially configured online servers owned by the VPN hosting company. Thus, the VPN server appears to be the source of data rather than the actual web server from which the data is being sourced.
Benefits of a VPN
Encryption
Since unencrypted data can be viewed and accessed by anyone with access to the network, a VPN, by disguising and encrypting the data, offers data privacy and protection. Transmitted or received data is indecipherable to any ‘listening’ parties.
For decryption to happen, an encryption key is required, without which a hacker or third party would have to resort to a brute force attack, which could take eons.
VPNs also help remove traces of online activity, such as searches, cookies, and history, which can be a treasure trove for interested third parties.
VPNs can also employ various authentication methods, such as two-factor authentication, where a user might be prompted to enter a password and a verification code is sent to a preregistered phone as a guard against unauthorized access.
Secure data transfer
For organizations with remote workers who need to access sensitive information, VPNs are used to ensure a secure tunnel is established during data transfer to eliminate the chances of data and information leaks.
A VPN’s main function is to hide a user’s IP address from everyone, including the internet service provider, so that any information transacted online is invisible to all but the user and the VPN service provider.
Location Privacy
VPN servers act as a user’s proxies on the internet. Since data from and to a particular web server is routed via a remote VPN server, the user’s location can be impossible to pinpoint. Furthermore, VPN services do not store logs of online activities, and those that do don’t share them with third parties, ensuring privacy.
Content restrictions
Through a technique known as geo-spoofing, where users are able to access region-locked sites or services, a VPN can come in handy. Some services or websites are locked to certain regions, and access outside these regions is restricted.
Since standard connections clearly show the region the user is trying to access the service or site from, VPNs can help by disguising the user’s location. The data is sent to the remote VPN server in an allowed region, which then routes it to the user, wherever they are.
ISP’s and Online Privacy
Since ISPs (Internet Service Providers) set up internet connections for users, they can track users by their IP addresses. All the traffic on the internet is routed via the ISP’s servers, and they can view and log all online activity, which might be shared with third parties such as advertisers, the police, and government agencies, among others.
ISPs can also be hacked, and all the personal information they log can fall into the hands of hackers and other third parties who are free to do whatever they want with it.
VPN’s are especially useful whenever using public and unsecured internet connections where opportunist hackers would be lurking and monitoring traffic, aiming to steal passwords, personal data, and even entire identities.
This ensures privacy and, by extension, security since any other third parties that might be ‘listening’, including the ISP, can’t see and determine what data is being sent and received online. The back-and-forth data is encrypted and indecipherable to a third party that would manage to access it.
Types of VPNs
Site-to-Site VPN
Particularly for large companies with multiple locations or large departments, each with its own LAN connecting to the internet, site-to-site VPNs are designed to hide private intranets and allow users to access and share each other’s resources.
Client-to-Server VPN
This allows employees working remotely to dial into their company’s network via a VPN client installed on the remote user’s computer. The user is thus not connecting to the internet via their home ISP but rather through the VPN provider, allowing them to work as securely as if they were physically at the company premises.
SSL VPN
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) VPN allows particularly remote users to safely and securely access a company’s network and resources without using specialized encryption software. This only requires HTML-5-capable web browsers and extensions that can be installed on any device.
