Thursday, March 30, 2017

Well, now that our government rolled on us... what's a VPN and why should you use one

Disclaimer

I ain't no Computer Rocket Doctor Surgeon, but I've used a VPN for various reasons, including banking and most purchases. I haven't used TOR because I don't fully understand it. So if any of you Internet wizards have anything to add, please leave a comment or email me. I'm fairly green in the VPN world, and I'd love to learn more.



So. What's a VPN?

Well Jimmy, its a virtual private network. Virtual Private Networks (VPN) allows you to connect to the Internet via a server run by a VPN provider. All data traveling between your computer, phone or tablet, and this “VPN server” is securely encrypted.



How it works

Well Jimmy, normally, when you connect to the Internet, you first connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP), which then connects you to any websites (or other internet resources) that you wish to visit. All your internet traffic passes through your ISP’s servers, and can be viewed by your ISP.

When using VPN you connect to a server run by your VPN provider (a “VPN server”) via an encrypted connection (sometimes referred to as a “VPN tunnel”). This means that all data traveling between your computer and the VPN server is encrypted so that only you and the VPN server can “see” it.



Pros

Provide privacy by hiding your Internet activity from your ISP (and government)

Allow you to evade censorship (by school, work, your ISP, or government)

Allow you to “geo-spoof” your location in order to access services unfairly denied to you based on your geographical location (or when you are on vacation)

Protect you against hackers when using a public WiFi hotspot

Allow you to P2P download in safety.



Cons

It costs money (usually around $5-10 monthly with a one-year subscription)

You are basically shifting trust from your ISP to the VPN server (EFF logos are a plus)

And it can crap out and slow you down at times.



Resources

Bestvpn.com has tons of info and all my info is pulled directly from their beginners guide to VPNS
(Wikipedia.org/wiki/virtual_private_network)

Pcmag also has some very good articles on VPNS.



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