VPN stands for 

"Virtual Private Network" and describes the opportunity

to establish a protected network connection when using public
networks. VPNs encrypt your internet traffic and disguise your online
identity. This makes it more difficult for third parties to track your
activities online and steal data. The encryption takes place in real time.
How does a VPN work?
• A VPN or Virtual Private Network is an encrypted private connection between two machines. When you
use a VPN, your PC or other smart device connects to another computer called a server. Your device will
then use that server's information to browse the internet rather than its true network information. Any
site tracking user data would then see the VPN server's information rather than your device’s
information.
Why Do You Need a VPN?

• Security on Public Wi-Fi. ...

• Data Privacy From Your Internet Service Provider. ...
• Data Privacy From the Apps and Services You Use. ...
• Data Privacy From Your Government. ...
• Access to Any Content in Any Place. ...
• Security When Working Remotely. ...
• Adaptable to Numerous Smart Devices. ...
• Smart Savings.
• Why use a VPN?
• Do you really need a VPN? Short answer: yes. There are several
important reasons why you need a VPN, the two main purposes
being privacy and access.
Why should you use a VPN connection?

• Your ISP usually sets up your connection when you connect to the internet. It tracks you
via an IP address. Your network traffic is routed through your ISP's servers, which can log
and display everything you do online.
• Your ISP may seem trustworthy, but it may share your browsing history with advertisers,
the police or government, and/or other third parties. ISPs can also fall victim to attacks
by cyber criminals: If they are hacked, your personal and private data can be
compromised.
• This is especially important if you regularly connect to public Wi-Fi networks. You never
know who might be monitoring your internet traffic and what they might steal from you,
including passwords, personal data, payment information, or even your entire identity.
What should a good VPN do?

• You should rely on your VPN to perform one or more tasks. The VPN itself should also be protected against
compromise. These are the features you should expect from a comprehensive VPN solution:
• Encryption of your IP address: The primary job of a VPN is to hide your IP address from your ISP and other
third parties. This allows you to send and receive information online without the risk of anyone but you
and the VPN provider seeing it.
• Encryption of protocols: A VPN should also prevent you from leaving traces, for example, in the form of
your internet history, search history and cookies. The encryption of cookies is especially important
because it prevents third parties from gaining access to confidential information such as personal data,
financial information and other content on websites.
• Kill switch: If your VPN connection is suddenly interrupted, your secure connection will also be
interrupted. A good VPN can detect this sudden downtime and terminate preselected programs, reducing
the likelihood that data is compromised.
• Two-factor authentication: By using a variety of authentication methods, a strong VPN checks everyone
who tries to log in. For example, you might be prompted to enter a password, after which a code is sent to
your mobile device. This makes it difficult for uninvited third parties to access your secure connection.
What kind of VPNs are there?

• There are two basic types of VPNs. A remote-access VPN allows users

to connect to another network, be it the internet or their company’s
internal system, through a private encryption tunnel.
• The other type, a site-to-site VPN, is also called a router-to-router
VPN. This type of VPN is mostly used within corporate environments,
specifically when an enterprise has headquarters in several different
locations. The site-to-site VPN creates a closed, internal network
where the various locations can all connect with each other. This is
known as an intranet.
Types of VPN protocols
• The above two VPN types are based on different VPN security protocols. Each of these VPN protocols offer different features and levels of security, and are explained below:
• 1. Internet Protocol Security or IPSec:
• Internet Protocol Security or IPSec is used to secure Internet communication across an IP network. IPSec secures Internet Protocol communication by authenticating the session
and encrypts each data packet during the connection.
• IPSec operates in two modes, Transport mode and Tunneling mode, to protect data transfer between two different networks. The transport mode encrypts the message in the
data packet and the tunneling mode encrypts the entire data packet. IPSec can also be used with other security protocols to enhance the security system.
• 2. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP):
• L2TP or Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol is a tunneling protocol that is usually combined with another VPN security protocol like IPSec to create a highly secure VPN connection. L2TP
creates a tunnel between two L2TP connection points and IPSec protocol encrypts the data and handles secure communication between the tunnel.
• 3. Point – to – Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP):
• PPTP or Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol creates a tunnel and encapsulates the data packet. It uses a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) to encrypt the data between the connection.
PPTP is one of the most widely used VPN protocol and has been in use since the time of Windows 95. Apart from Windows, PPTP is also supported on Mac and Linux.
• 4. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS):
• SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and TLS (Transport Layer Security) create a VPN connection where the web browser acts as the client and user access is restricted to specific
applications instead of entire network. SSL and TLS protocol is most commonly used by online shopping websites and service providers. Web browsers switch to SSL with ease and
with almost no action required from the user, since web browsers come integrated with SSL and TLS. SSL connections have https in the beginning of the URL instead of http.
• 5. OpenVPN:
• OpenVPN is an open source VPN that is useful for creating Point-to-Point and Site-to-Site connections. It uses a custom security protocol based on SSL and TLS protocol.
• 6. Secure Shell (SSH):
• Secure Shell or SSH creates the VPN tunnel through which the data transfer happens and also ensures that the tunnel is encrypted. SSH connections are created by a SSH client
and data is transferred from a local port on to the remote server through the encrypted tunnel.
• There are several VPN protocols, or methods of security. The oldest
is PPTP, point-to-point tunneling protocol, which is still in use today
but widely considered one of the least secure. Others
are IKEv2, L2TP/IPSec, SSL, TLS, SSH, and OpenVPN. As an open-
source protocol, OpenVPN is amongst the most secure because any
vulnerabilities in its programming will quickly be noticed and patched.
Conclusion
• VPN has become a necessity to protect your information, data,
network and more. VPN gives you free, secure and access to all the
content on the internet in the world. With a VPN connection, your
online data traffic is hidden and your outside access is blocked.
Thanks to VPN, hackers and cybercriminals cannot decrypt, use or
view encrypted data