Additionally, acquiring private network services can protect you from cyber-attacks which have increased in the past few years. The diversion of data traffic through a dedicated server minimizes the risk of cyber theft while enabling a secure and ceaseless web surfing experience. If you want to enjoy all the advantages a virtual private network service offers, here is everything you should know.

How Does a VPN Work?

A virtual private network resembles an encrypted network connection between your device and the internet via a dedicated server. The network encodes your internet traffic, ensuring that your online presence remains hidden from potential cyber threats.

Typically, this network functions as a disguise. It conceals your IP address by redirecting your traffic through a dedicated remote server operated by a VPN client. As a result, your online profile, including your location and IP address, changes to that of the remote server, and it becomes nearly impossible for third parties to track your online activities.

What Are Some Uses of VPNs?

VPNs have many uses, especially in the digital world. Many people worldwide protect their internet connection from hackers while surfing the web anonymously. Meanwhile, others use it to access numerous apps and websites that are blocked in specific countries. To give you a deeper insight, we have listed some common uses of VPNs.

Protection Against Hackers

Hacking a private Wi-Fi connection is easy, but it becomes nearly impossible with an active private network. Since the private network client relays your network traffic to its remote servers, it becomes impossible for hackers to monitor your data. Subscribing to a VPN service is an excellent option to protect your data from online hackers.

Bypass Censorship

Due to regional clashes and cultural disparities, various apps and websites might be blocked for citizens living in a specific country. However, with a virtual private network and selecting your preferred location, you can evade censorship and access all web content and apps. 

Saves Money

Various reliable VPN clients promise free or discounted services. You can establish a private network connection and evade all censorships and online blockades without spending too much. As a result, you can enjoy all the perks of a VPN rather than investing in expensive software that promises online anonymity. 

What Are the Different Types of VPNs?

Although most VPNs promise similar functionality, they encrypt your network traffic using different protocols. Some of the types of VPNs available are:

Remote Access VPN

Remote access or client-based VPNs are widely used to connect to private networks such as an organization’s official network. It provides remote access to employees working from home and business travelers. Remote access networks are great for protecting the company’s data from cyber thefts.

Personal VPN

Also known as commercial VPN, this type is suitable for concealing your online identity by parodying your location and IP address. A personal VPN enables linking with a configured remote server that directs the network traffic between your computer and online services.  Rather than providing remote access to a private network, a personal virtual private network offers entry to the encrypted public internet.

Site-to-Site VPN

A site-to-site VPN combines two different networks located on sites into one. Also known as network VPN, it allows you to create a single network or intranet. These network connections can then be used to conduct company matters securely.

Endnote

The internet was never safer until the advent of VPNs. With the ability to anonymously surf while protecting your network traffic, installing VPNs is essential in today’s world. They are a fast, relatively cheap, and efficient way to protect your data and devices from third parties. Installing a VPN promises the ultimate solution to prevent hackers from taking advantage of any loopholes in your network connection.

The post How a VPN Elevates Your Online Privacy in Today’s World appeared first on Tech Today Info.

What is a VPN

A VPN ( Virtual Private Network ) is a network technology used to connect one or more computers to a private network using the Internet. As we explained in the article about what a VPN trail is for , companies often use these networks so that their employees, from their homes, hotels, etc., can access corporate resources that they otherwise would not be able to. However, connecting an employee’s computer to corporate resources is only one function of a VPN.

VPN protocols

As you might guess, private and confidential information passes through a VPN that, in the wrong hands, could be detrimental to any company. This is further aggravated if the employee in question connects using unprotected public Wi-Fi. Fortunately, this problem can be mitigated by encrypting the data that is sent and received. In order to achieve this goal, the following protocols can be used:

IPsec ( Internet Protocol Security ): allows to improve security through robust encryption algorithms and a more exhaustive authentication system. IPsec has two encryption methods, transport mode and tunnel mode. It also supports 56 bit and 168 bit encryption (triple DES).

PPTP /MPPE: technology developed by a consortium made up of several companies. PPTP supports various VPN protocols with 40 bit and 128 bit encryption using the Microsoft Point to Point Encryption (MPPE) protocol. PPTP by itself does not encrypt information.

L2TP /IPsec (L2TP over IPsec): technology capable of providing the level of protection of IPsec over the L2TP tunnel protocol. Like PPTP, L2TP itself does not encrypt information .

Part of the protection of the information that travels through a VPN is encryption, however, verifying that it remains intact is just as important. To achieve this, IPsec uses a mechanism that if it detects any modification within a packet, it proceeds to discard it. Protecting the confidentiality and integrity of information using a VPN is a good measure for browsing public and insecure Wi-Fi even if you don’t want to access a corporate resource.

Finally, those home users who wish to use a VPN network can choose between free and paid services . It is important to mention that free ones usually work slower than one that is not. We also recommend reading our Wireless Network Security Guide which reviews other steps you can take to use a public wireless connection more securely.

Types of VPN

Now yes, we are going to see the two most common types of VPN and their main characteristics.

Client-based VPNs

This type of VPN networks allow a user to be connected to a remote network, through an application that is responsible for establishing communication and lifting the VPN. To access the secure connection, the user must run the application and authenticate with a username and password . In this way, the encrypted channel is created between the equipment and the remote network, for a secure exchange of data.

When we talk about the implementation of this type of VPN, we find that operating systems such as Windows, Mac, and mobile phones such as Android offer the possibility of configuring an encrypted communication channel with a network based on various standards. In the case of Apple and Windows family devices, options such as L2TP (Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol), PPTP or SSTP are included.

This type of VPN turns out to be a simple mechanism for users to connect their computers or mobile devices to a network in which the privacy of information must be guaranteed. In this way, it is a great option for an employee to connect to sensitive company information while working from home or from a hotel, for example.

Network-based VPNs

This approach is intended to connect different networks to each other through a network that is not secure, mainly the Internet . It is the approach chosen by companies to connect networks of different locations that are geographically separated to share information securely. There are several types of virtual private network networks. Within this approach we can find IPSec tunnels.

IPSec tunnels are the simplest approach to a VPN network and most network routers and firewalls have this feature. This type of approach is nothing more than establishing a tunnel ( tunneling ) so that all traffic exchanged between two networks travels encrypted. Although this same approach can be used to encapsulate traffic for a single device.

In this type of approach, it is necessary to establish the ends of the tunnel, that is, the devices in charge of encapsulating and decapsulating the information that travels encrypted. In addition, it is necessary to define how the authentication will take place (passwords or certificates) and the type of traffic that will flow through the established tunnel.

To define the traffic that can travel through the VPN, IPsec tunnels can have policies to restrict the traffic that flows through them. Access control lists (ACLs) are used to establish policy-based VPNs.

When using this type of approach, a single tunnel is established between two sites to provide access to resources in a more controlled manner. For example, it could be used to give a supplier or customer access to company-specific information.

In contrast to policy-based IPCSec tunnels, we find route-based IPsec tunnels that work as a virtual link and allow any type of traffic to flow through them.

There is no excuse not to protect communications

Whether you’re looking to protect access to a work network while traveling, protect browsing data when using public Wi-Fi, access geo-blocked sites, or bypass Internet censorship, using a VPN is the best alternative we have to guarantee that when exchanging our information it is done safely .

There are various VPN services that we can use to achieve our goal of guaranteeing the privacy of our data, we can choose from free alternatives or some that for a few dollars a month guarantee us the privacy we need. Of course, as with many other services, the free options make their profit on the other side, often the collection of personal and browsing data.

So, if you combine this protection measure with an anti-malware solution , a properly configured firewall and responsible behavior, as a user you can provide high levels of security for your information.

The post What is a VPN and how does it work for data privacy? appeared first on Tech Today Info.

This article will talk about why every smartphone should have an android VPN. Even if you are on iOS, you must always connect to a virtual private network whenever you are surfing the web. Are you interested in learning why you should always use it?

If yes, keep on reading because, in this article, you will uncover the top 4 main reasons why you should always use a VPN on your smartphone. 

4 Reasons Why Every Smartphone Must Have a VPN

1) Security

The first reason that has motivated us to create this article was security. The fact that all smartphones can be tracked is something that everybody needs to know and understand. 

Using a virtual private network, you can easily increase your internet security by encrypting your connection which makes the phone more secure and harder to track. 

2) Privacy

Privacy is another thing that everyone wants his/her privacy for. But even if you don’t care about anonymity while browsing the Internet, it’s important to protect yourself from being tracked by hackers, governments, corporations, and advertisers.

If you’re connected to Wi-Fi networks at public places regularly, then there’s a high chance that your activity may be monitored.

This includes tracking personal activities such as shopping carts, bank transactions, and other payments online. When you’re working remotely from home, you should remember to turn off the wi-fi before going to bed so that your activity won’t be seen by anyone else.

3) Faster Service Connections

When you’re traveling abroad, you’ll have issues with a service connection most of the time, and you might experience slow speed or loss of signal.

It happens quite often, especially when traveling in developing countries like Vietnam. In places where there isn’t infrastructure, people get stuck in the middle of nowhere waiting for hours just to make their calls. So, here comes the point: it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Using a VPN makes sure that you’ll have that your connection stays stable and strong no matter where you travel. For instance, if you go somewhere like Indonesia, using a VPN ensures that you are always protected against the risk of losing your connection.

4) Accessing Apps From Other Countries

It’s annoying to spend money and download apps only to see out-of-country prices. There are many international VPN providers offering free plans as well as paid ones. However, some of them might only allow access to certain countries.

Don’t worry, though, because it doesn’t mean that you need to buy expensive phones or tablets. As long as you have an internet connection, you can still stay connected even when you’re outside your own country.

Why Every Smartphone Needs To Know What A VPN Is fast internet connections, no matter where you are located.

Last Minute Thoughts

Almost every person nowadays carries a smartphone and uses it for different applications such as web browsing, watching shows, and even online transactions. While these tiny gadgets are super helpful, they are also the most vulnerable devices which can easily be hacked. 

This article explains why every smartphone must have a VPN app installed whenever it is getting connected to the internet. We hope you will have learned something new and interesting. Besides that, we also hope you have enjoyed reading this article.

If yes, please don’t forget to share it with your friends and family too!

The post 4 Reasons Why Every Smartphone Must Have a VPN appeared first on Tech Today Info.