What Is VPN and Why You Should Have One

The internet makes us find ways to conveniently do tasks remotely—which is great! But are you sure that you’re secured?

Every time you connect to public Wi-Fis, your data becomes more at risk. Just think about those times when you logged in to your emails or online bank accounts by using public Wi-Fis at coffee shops or at the airport. Unless you use a VPN, you are very vulnerable to hackers who can easily set up fake but convincing hotspots.

When you’re out traveling and need to access content from your home country, without a VPN, your private data aren’t safe either. And when you’re “torrenting” (which we don’t recommend) without VPN, you don’t only leave tracks but you become susceptible to malware from some torrent sites.

Basically, whenever we surf the internet or make online transactions via an unsecured Wi-Fi connection, we are exposing our private information and browsing habits. So I’m telling you this, you’re unsecured online, and this is why you should have a VPN installed.

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and from the name itself, it should provide you a private, anonymous, and safe way to connect to the internet by creating a private network from a public internet connection. To do this, VPNs masks your internet protocol (IP) address, making it seem like you’re at a different location.

It works like this: When you connect to a VPN, it uses encryption to scramble your data—transforming it to an unreadable code as it travels between your computer and the server of the VPN. This makes your device recognized as being on the same local network as your VPN, so your IP address will be perceived as the IP address of your chosen geolocation provider’s servers. This then makes it harder to virtually trace your data and prevents anyone else on the network from eavesdropping.

In short, VPN is a strong system that will keep your online activity private. But it doesn’t stop there. With a VPN, you’ll get access to geo-blocked websites and streaming content from your home country. So if you’re a local Netflix user and you changed your VPN to Japan, you will then get access to Netflix’s Japan-exclusive shows. On the other hand, when you’re online shopping with a VPN, the prices can change according to your chosen location.

If you’re now convinced that you need a VPN to protect your personal information and privacy, here are things you should mainly check when choosing a VPN:

Is it free or paid?
Free VPNs offer very limited services that aren’t really effective since they have fewer server locations and less bandwidth to provide. If you want a powerful security service that you can rely on, then seriously go for paid ones that offer more server locations and bandwidth. Plus, paid VPN will prioritize your customer problems if for some reason you get one. Hey, it’s worth the pay.

Do they respect your privacy?
Since it’s their job to protect your privacy, you should be protected from them as well. Check if they have a no-log policy in their terms and condition to assure you that they never track your online usage.

Where are their servers located?
If you have target server locations in mind, make sure that your VPN service has them.

Is it available to multiple devices?
So your money doesn’t feel like going to waste, see if the VPN service is available across multiple devices.

It’s completely important to keep your devices safe from hackers and malware as you use the internet. If you highly value your privacy and accounts, then we recommend that you get your own VPN as soon as possible.

To know more about VPN, head over to this link.