V.P.N [virtual private network]

My papa the other day asked about VPN and whether he should use them. “I downloaded a lot of stuff “He said and was worried about the security issue because of this.

VPN stands for Virtual private Network. It is a way to search through internet anonymously and securely. The idea behind using VPN is that they are able to encrypt any data you are ending or receiving over the public, less secure internet. This

means one thing for sure that nobody can snoop your internet 

activity. They are used by people who want to protect transmission of data on their mobile devices and want to enter site that are restricted .It makes use of tunneling protocols to encrypt and decrypt data at the sending  and receiving end.

How does a VPN work:

It is actually very simple to use. First you need a VPN program. This piece of software then sits on your laptop, desktop or web browser. You can also get VPN app for your smartphone or tablet. Once you have got your software you just need to turn it on ,you ae good to good to go and  configure it .

As long as your VPN is on , anything you do on internet will not be  publically accessible to anyone. At its most basic levels VPN tunneling creates a point to point connection that cannot be accessed by unauthorised users.

The performance in VPN can be affected by a variety of factors such as speed of user’s internet connection, type of internet 

protocol service provider may use and the type of encryption VPN uses.

Why would anyone use a VPN:

One of the most popular uses of VPN is to access content from the another country. Before Netflix was available here a lot of people used VPN to watch American Netflix. The VPN was basically  allowing people to access Netflix with the help of US servers and pretend they were based there.

Another reason to use VPNs is to get around government rules that block internet services or sites. You cannot access google in china for instance. So if you visit China you won’t be able to use your Gmail ,Google Maps or any other services so the only way is to access them through VPNs.

One of the most popular uses of VPN is to access content from another country. Before Netflix was available here a lot of people uses VPN to watch American Netflix. So the VPN was basically allowing the users to connect to a Netflix through US servers and pretend they were based there.

VPN protocols:

So, VPN Provide several ways to encrypt and decrypt users data with the help of various protocols such as:

• IP security
• Secure Socket Layer(SSL) and Transport layer Security(TSL)
• Point-to-point tunneling protocol(PPTP)
• Layer-2 tunneling protocol(L2TP)
• Open VPN

Do you need a VPN:

I would say a majority of us don’t need a VPN. Most of the sensitive things we do on the internet (net-banking ,e-commerce)are secured by the  provider in any case.

But if you feel you need that added bit of security ,a quick search will help compare different VPN providers.

Whatever you do though, do not use free VPN-ever. Free VPN providers will often log all your internet activity and then sell it to all advertise and others. Some free VPN providers also use your bandwidth and sell it to others.

As long as what are you are doing online isn’t overly or confidential, and you take reasonable precautions to stay safe while surfing , there is really no need for a VPN.