Virtual Private Network Benefits

With online privacy being at the forefront of discussions regarding the Internet nowadays, typical Internet users have likely heard of virtual private networks, or VPNs. Advertisements for popular services such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN can commonly be found littered throughout social media, TV, and popular podcasts. These services promise users improved privacy, protection from malware, and fast connection speeds. The multitude of VPN options available to users further complicate the process of figuring out which service will be best-suited for their networking situation.

So what exactly does a VPN do? And how can you choose a service that works for you?

What is a VPN?

A virtual private network is a tool that has two main uses: to obscure your location on the internet and to encrypt your activities. To achieve this, VPN users connect to a VPN server before surfing the web or using apps. Taking this extra step ensures that when a user contacts a web server, that server would instead see the location of the VPN server instead of the location of the user. As we will discuss later, many VPN services even allow users to specify the location of where they want to appear. 

 

Although the ability to spoof user location is an important aspect of using a VPN, many privacy-conscious users would argue that the encryption of their data is the most valuable feature of these services. In simple terms, encryption ensures that anybody eavesdropping on your network traffic is not able to gather any intelligible information. Public key encryption guarantees that information sent between two parties is private and authentic. This method of encryption scrambles messages between the user and web server into incomprehensible strings of characters to undermine any interception. Furthermore, public key encryption provides systems for guaranteeing the identity of the sender and receiver, as well as the authenticity of the message. 

Why Use a VPN?

Clearly, using a VPN provides peace of mind by bolstering network security. But what are the specific threats and vulnerabilities that VPNs protect against?

Privacy from Apps and Websites

Without a VPN, users connect directly to a web server when browsing the Internet. In many cases, this means that the website is able to obtain data on the user and even the user’s device. This method of gathering consumer data has become the prevalent form of data collection as this information has become increasingly valuable to companies and their marketing teams. The email address of a typical internet user was reported to have an average value of about $89. A relevant phrase in today’s digital world is “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.” In other words, if platforms do not charge you for their services, then they are making their money by selling your data (see: Facebook). This concept also applies to VPN services. Free VPN services are generally regarded as inherently less trustworthy than their paid alternatives because user data is likely being sold to maintain the service.

 

Social media algorithms track user likes, comments, and searches to formulate a complete “picture” of their preferences and maximize advertisement targeting. An effective but seldom seen illustration of this concept can be seen by requesting your information from Facebook. To do so, log into Facebook on a web browser and then navigate to the Settings and Privacy menu. After selecting Settings, click on Your Facebook Information and then the View button next to Access Your Information. On this page, users can access all of the information that Facebook has collected during the lifespan of the account. 

Privacy from ISPs

At this point, it should be entirely unsurprising that even your internet service provider regularly tracks user activity and data. Unlike in Canada and Australia, American ISPs are legally allowed to gather customer data and sell it to third parties. This results from a resolution passed in 2017 that eliminated Federal Communications Commission regulations banning the practice. Currently, by default, ISPs gather and sell customer data but allow customers to opt out of this practice. Unfortunately, most customers continue to have their information sold since they are completely unaware of this practice. 

 

Naturally, ISPs have a significant level of access to user data and overall Internet activity. In addition, they hold all control over the quality of service that is delivered to each customer. So how are these two principles related to each other? Enter bandwidth throttling.  This practice refers to ISPs intentionally slowing down their customer’s internet. Customers will commonly experience throttling if they go over their data limit allotted for their usage period. But unfortunately for the average consumer, recent regulatory developments may have left the door open for ISPs to increase their profits at the cost of customer experience. 

 

In essence, net neutrality refers to the idea of internet service providers providing equal access to all content utilizing their network. Theoretically, ISPs would not be allowed to show preferential treatment to one service over another. These regulations were enacted in 2015 to hopefully preserve an open internet, shield consumers from excessive fees, and provide a level playing field for new companies. Opponents of the legislation argued the internet should be free of regulation to encourage ISPs to invest in infrastructure upgrades. In 2018, these net neutrality regulations were repealed, opening the door for ISPs to operate under less scrutiny. 

 

So where do VPNs fit in this picture? Simply put, VPNs ensure that ISPs do not have the opportunity to discriminate from different kinds of traffic. For example, if Netflix signed a “fast lane” deal with Comcast, then Comcast customers would likely experience sluggish performance when streaming from other services, such as Disney+ or Hulu. If these customers used a VPN to obscure their activity, then Comcast would not be able to adjust their service according to the content they are consuming. For many consumers, encrypting network traffic by connecting to a VPN is an effective solution for ISP throttling. 

Protection from Cyber Attacks

Modern Internet users should be well aware that their activity on the Internet leaves them at risk of being targeted by cyber attacks. One of these exploits, commonly known as a man-in-the-middle attack, takes advantage of users attempting to connect to a public Wi-Fi network. Hackers may place their own access point in a coffee shop and name the network in a way that fools customers into connecting to it. Once an unsuspecting customer connects to this fraudulent access point, the hacker has full access to any unencrypted data transmitted by the user. At this point, the hacker can gather information to compromise the victim’s various accounts, as well as alter or delete traffic coming from the connected device. 

So how does a VPN protect users from this attack? As previously mentioned, connecting a device to a VPN encrypts all traffic coming from that device. Consequently, even if the user connects to the fake access point, any data that the hacker is able to steal will be encrypted, indecipherable, and ultimately useless. With all that being said, if it is impossible to avoid using public Wi-Fi networks, then it is strongly recommended to utilize a VPN connection. 

Another example of cyber attack protection provided by VPNs can be seen in the case of distributed denial of service attacks, or DDoS attacks.  In short, a DDoS attack consists of hackers directing a network of devices to overload a server or another network. This overload results in significant interruptions in traffic to the target destination. VPNs protect users against DDoS attacks by hiding the user’s IP address. Simply put, if an IP address is never exposed, it will not be deliberately targeted. As long as the VPN service has robust DDoS protection on their servers, unexposed users should not experience any interruptions resulting from this attack. 

Bypass Government Censorship

While living in the United States, it is easy to take a largely free and open internet for granted. Although there are a few exceptions, the First Amendment prevents the government from directly censoring Internet content. This provides a mostly decentralized flow of information and an even playing field for growing businesses. 

 

Unfortunately, some countries around the world do not experience this degree of Internet freedom. These restrictive governments typically implement censorship systems to monitor user activity and punish those that engage in outlawed activities or speak out against the government in any way. Furthermore, any access to outside news sources are heavily restricted, so that the government has complete control over the flow of information within the country. 

 

A VPN can provide a way to bypass these restrictions by allowing users to connect to servers not within reach of a censorship system. VPN servers are located throughout the world, many of which are outside the jurisdiction of restrictive legislation. As a result, users can connect to the Internet through these servers and enjoy a greater degree of freedom than they would connecting to servers controlled by the government. 

 

Users must be mindful of several factors that may affect their experience utilizing a VPN. First, they must be aware of whether or not a particular VPN service is blocked in their country. As the concept of VPNs has become increasingly well-known, restrictive governments have been quick to ban unauthorized VPN services. Fortunately, there is a wide array of servers available worldwide for users to connect to. For example, ExpressVPN and NordVPN report that they are currently running more than 3,000 and 5,400 servers, respectively. Second, users must be cautious of the legal implications of using a VPN to bypass these regulations. Situations vary, but connecting to a banned VPN may be considered an act of political dissent and might be punished as such. For this reason, prospective VPN users must carefully weigh their options before adopting a VPN. 

How Should Users Choose a VPN?

Now that we have established the most prevalent use cases for using a VPN connection, how should users decide which VPN service to subscribe to? As previously mentioned, numerous options exist for consumers to choose from. At first glance, it seems as if these services do not present many differences besides pricing. But after taking a closer look, it is clear that these seemingly minor differences can make a significant impact on user security. 

No Logs

A VPN no-logs policy simply means that the service will not keep any record of user browsing history when connected to their server. Obviously, maintaining anonymity is of paramount importance to anybody utilizing a VPN, so users should ensure they choose a no-logs service. The previously discussed benefits of privacy from websites and ISPs are completely undone if user activity is tracked and able to be extracted. This anonymity especially demonstrates its importance in the case of bypassing government censorship systems. 

Security

Another obvious consideration to choosing a VPN is its level of security. But how can consumers determine the strength of a service’s data protection?

First, it is important to analyze a service’s history in regards to data breaches. For example, NordVPN is a very popular VPN service, but many prospective users may not be aware of the data breach that they experienced in 2018. An internal encryption key was exposed, leaving some users vulnerable to high-level man-in-the-middle attacks. Security-conscious users should definitely research the history of VPN services they may potentially adopt.

Next, users should determine the protocols that VPN services use to protect user information. It is generally accepted that WireGuard has the strongest and most efficient encryption available to protect data. Alternatively, OpenVPN and IKEv2 are regarded other trusted protocols that are more commonly used with mobile devices. Users should ensure that their VPN of choice does not use outdated and vulnerable protocols such as PPTP.

Independent Audits

The VPN audit process verifies certain aspects of the VPN service. Independent auditors complete this analysis in order to ensure impartiality. But, consumers must be aware of the scope of the audit that was done. A favorable no-logs audit provides more value to consumers than an audit on browser extensions. Furthermore, users need to pay attention to the results that were actually published. Accessing the actual report yields more useful information than simply relying on the testimony and advertisements of the VPN service.

Conclusion

With all things considered, consumers should certainly contemplate utilizing a VPN to bolster their cybersecurity and overall privacy. Protection from the prying eyes of websites, Internet service providers, and even the government should encourage even the most basic Internet user to consider signing up with a VPN service. As cybersecurity threats continue to multiply, don’t wait until it is too late to become more security conscious.

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