Essentially working as a veil, VPNs tend to protect you from any harmful influx of internet traffic. Without going into the technical jargon, however, here is a simple way to understand what is actually going on. Here is how a VPN works, and of course—why you need it.
How does a VPN work?
Think of your VPN like a pretty advanced James Bond manifestation. Your VPN would go out to the external world that is full of peril and will essentially become the source of your data. In other words, it will detect any malicious element but will prevent it from entering your system.
How? That’s the tricky part. As stated, your VPN turns all incoming data into random, nonsensical pieces of information—and naturally, it becomes redundant to decipher it. If you have a valid VPN service, your ISP provider will not be able to see what you are doing—let alone other elements who intend to snoop into your systems.
What are the benefits?
Now that you are aware of how it works, it also makes sense for you to know what its benefits are. In all cases, these are the main ways in which you can benefit from a VPN.
1. Secure browsing
Gone are the days when you had to be wary of where you are browsing. With a VPN, you can rest assured that your browsing experience is completely safe. When you are using VPN, users have to possess access to an entity called ‘encryption key’ to be able to read your data. Thankfully, your VPN will disallow that.
Where security breaches in companies are becoming a commonplace event, a VPN becomes mandatory to have. Security is a major concern, and more so in enterprises—you absolutely need a VPN just to get by.
2. Proxy king
When we said that your data is encrypted, we meant everything—including your location. Using a VPN provides you a proxy location, from which it becomes nearly impossible to trace back to where you are. Good luck to hackers trying to get into your system from an random place, whether you are just in an office or your basement.
VPN servers are quintessential to ensure the security of your data. Sure, internet security software can modulate the kind of data that might enter into your system with regards to location, but having a VPN only tightens security further.
If you happen to be part of an enterprise and there are limited accesses with regards to location, a VPN can be useful here too. More about this below.
3. Crossing geographical barriers
VPNs, by creating geographical proxies, give you access to limited content that might be geographically bound. While on an individual level, this might come off as a simple personal need if you happen to consume content that is limited to your country for geographical or political reasons, this becomes very important for enterprises.
As an enterprise system, having geographical proxies allows you to browse content from a geographical area that you would want insight into. If you happen to be a content-creation firm with regards to video, you can see what a targeted geographical area prefers watching and make content accordingly.
Why should you get it?
The benefits to VPN are manifold. Here are a few of them.
- Public networks: Having your data encrypted allows you to have access to public networks. If you are at a café or any other public place, you have nothing to worry about while using their networks.
- Hidden IPs: VPNs ensure that your IP remains hidden, and therefore there is no need to be worried about your Internet Service Provider trying to collect data from your system, or see what you are up to.
- Shopping can be a delight: There are a lot of items online which have geographical favours. This is where VPN shines bright. With VPN, you can have access to global prices of products, and who knows, maybe get a massive discount or price cut. Being a local in the books seems pretty constructive now, doesn’t it?
- Limited-edition content: With geographical barriers lifted, you can consume content from all across the globe. Be it films or series or other media content, browsing through online content platforms becomes a delight.
Final word
Having a VPN seals your computer from the perils of online browsing. As long as you are practicing safe browsing and a good sense of discretion, you should not come across too many hurdles. With VPNs, you can be rest assured that you will be reaping massive benefits.
If it comes at appropriate prices and with good packages? The icing on the cake!
Source: CPO Magazine
