From online frauds, and scams to even hacking sensitive personal information, the Internet these days seems to be a haven for fraudsters. There’s a growing concern about internet security and how it might jeopardize the security of information and finance of people and organizations. VPN or Virtual Private Network can be a solution to such problems. Millions of people around the world are adopting VPNs for their data security and safe online browsing. So here’s a beginner's guide on VPN. Let’s find out how a VPN works, the benefits, and the types of VPNs. 

What is a VPN? 

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. Generally, the internet is provided through an ISP which processes all of their user’s traffic simultaneously. This makes them susceptible to malicious attacks which might intercept the net traffic to access personal data. 

A VPN works as an intermediary between the computer and the destination to make it untraceable. There are a few complicated steps involved in the process. Let’s have a look. 

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How Does VPN Work?

VPN creates a secure channel between the computer and the intended destination by developing a private network just for the user. The data gets encrypted and sent directly to the VPN server. There it gets decoded and sent to the intended location. This middle encryption allows the data to be completely untraceable by anyone. 

Every device has a unique IP address that can be used to trace all of its activity. VPN essentially masks the IP address and assigns a new IP address from their server. As a result, the data becomes completely untraceable even by the ISP. VPN works not only to maintain anonymity online and protect privacy but also to allow users to access region-specific content. 

Benefits of Using a VPN 

There are a lot of benefits to using VPN. Here are a mentionable few. 

Enhanced Privacy 

VPN brings enhanced privacy thanks to the end-to-end encryption between you and the VPN server, making it impossible to be tracked by a third party. 

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Secured Data Transmission 

The end-to-end computer-to-server extension also allows for secured data transmission. This is especially helpful if a user is in a public network zone like using free wifi. It's impossible to tell who else is signed into the network and what kind of monitoring they might be running. Secured encryption allows for safe data transmission. 

Bypassing Geographical Restrictions 

VPN helps to bypass geographical restrictions so that a user can access services that might not be available in their location or to evade censorship. For example, Netflix has a host of shows that are available in the UK but not in India. With VPN, a user from India can reroute their IP through the UK and access all the contents regardless of the restrictions.

Anonymity 

Ever found yourself in an awkward situation where you searched for a product and minutes later you got bombarded with adverts for similar products? This is no coincidence as advert agencies specifically target keywords by monitoring user data. 

The solution? Using a VPN. It will provide you with complete anonymity so that you can browse without having to deal with irritating intrusions.

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Remote Access 

Another great thing about VPN is that it allows users to access the company network securely while working remotely. Remote working is on the rise since the advent of the pandemic and a VPN allows complete data safety for an individual as well as the organization. 

Features of a Good VPN 

A good VPN should have the following features as standard. 

IP address encryption 

This feature should mask the IP address and generate a random one in exchange. The encryption should be between the device and the VPN server. 

Protocol Encryption 

Protocols are traces of internet browsing that are left in the form of cookies and browser history. A good VPN should encrypt the protocols to make sure that a third party doesn’t have access to the data. 

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Kill Switch 

There’s no guarantee that a user’s internet from the ISP would be continuous. It may so happen that the internet connection might get compromised from the ISP’s end which may in turn expose your connection with the VPN server.

In that case, a good VPN should have a kill switch to disable any sensitive running program. Users should be able to configure which programs, browsers, or even websites come under this protocol. 

Two-Factor Authentication 

What if someone else has access to the computer or the internet? Can they access the VPN and the shared data? This is where two-factor authentication comes in. VPN inherently doesn’t store any information on their servers. The two-factor authentication further helps to ensure that no unwanted user has access to the VPN other than the designated user. 

Types of VPNs

There are mainly three types of VPNs. These include – 

SSL VPN 

This VPN works to create a secure channel for the company's private network. SSL VPN usually comes with a secondary box that establishes a secured connection with the company system network. 

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Site-to-Site VPN 

This type of VPN is used to communicate resources between two points. For example, a company may have two offices in two cities. Now if there is a constant need to share resources securely between the offices over the net, they might implement the site-to-site VPN. This essentially creates a secured secondary network between two existing local networks. 

Client-to-Server VPN 

This is the most common type of VPN and the one that’s most widely used. If a user isn’t affiliated with any company but is just looking for general privacy while browsing, then the client-to-server VPN can be a good option.

How to Use a VPN? 

Before using the VPN it's important to understand which VPN service should be chosen. This might include – 

- VPN Client 

- Browser extension 

- Router VPN 

- Company VPN 

For each of these VPNs, the use case is pretty simple. A user needs to install the VPN on his or her device accordingly and log in. Then the user will get a start switch to initiate the masking. There is also a secondary menu to choose IP address and geographic location based on the user’s preference. 

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Final Words 

Virtual Private Network or VPN has made accessing the internet more secure and safe than ever before. With hackers and scammers becoming increasingly innovative, a VPN is a surefire way to stay secure against online threats. However, proper research is necessary to pick the right VPNs.