You should consider VPNs essential today, with the Internet the way that it is. Increasingly, going online is fraught with risks; there are both security and privacy concerns to deal with. Furthermore, so much of the Internet gets blocked unless you’re located in the right part of the world, and VPNs represent a way around that particular challenge too.
But VPNs are not just about security. In fact, once people find the right VPN, in many cases they can no longer contemplate the Internet without having it on.
Table of Contents
What is a VPN?
Normally, when you connect with a service online, your PC creates a direct connection to the servers that host the online service. In doing so, the data of that connection is saved at the ISP level, meaning that your browsing isn’t really private.
A VPN, however, adds another layer to the process. The data from your PC gets routed through the VPN service, which then connects to the target server. VPNs also feature the encryption of the data as it flows through the network. What this means is that your connection does become secure and, what’s more, it is then located somewhere else – you might be in Venezuela, but if you use the best VPN for Venezuela, the Internet will believe that you’re in a different location.
How can you use a VPN?
One of the most common reasons for using a VPN is to connect to cloud services. The encryption of the data helps to make the cloud service more secure, and for many businesses with sensitive documents in the cloud and on the network, the VPN is mandated by the IT team.
But there is a multitude of other ways to use VPNs, and that’s why around one in four people worldwide (and growing) invest in the technology.
- Assess films and services that aren’t available locally. Did you know that Netflix has a different range of movies, depending on where you are in the world, and there are some services that are available in America, but nowhere else! Another common one is sports – most sports geoblock their content to their country of origin for sponsorship and licensing reasons. With a VPN you can bypass these issues, and that can, in turn, deliver you access to films and other forms of entertainment that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to watch or experience.
- Use public WiFi safely. It’s not generally a good idea to use public WiFi in airports, cafes and other such locations, because they are fundamentally insecure and other people might end up “listening in” to what you’re doing. Because a VPN encrypts all the data, you’re able to protect yourself from snoopers.
- Use your cards overseas. One of the most common reasons that people get their cards frozen by their merchants is when they try to use them overseas. Overseas use of a card will often throw up red flags for fraud, and then having to deal with the bank to get the card unfrozen can be a lengthy process that can undermine your holiday. By using a VPN that is connected to servers back in your home country, you can actually bypass those fraud flags when shopping online from anywhere in the world.
- Get around government censorship. While we’re talking about travel, if you happen to be in a country like China or Iran, then what’s available to you online is significantly more limited than what others can access, because, from search engines and results through to social media, the government there has restricted what local traffic can access. A VPN connection allows you to continue to access your social media accounts as though you were back home.
- Access the dark web. Thanks to various horror films and sensational news reports, the dark web has a bad reputation as being a haven for criminals and illegal activity. In practice there are many (many) legitimate uses of the dark web and many people prefer it because the privacy that it allows them means they can escape the radar of advertisers, or even unwanted government attention (for example, for protestors). The dark web is a wild west of the Internet, however, so a VPN is absolutely essential for accessing it.
These are just some of the possible uses of VPNs. Essentially, anyone who wants to access the Internet privately, without sharing their real-world location, and enhance the security of using the Internet, will find value in VPNs. Given that that’s just about all of us, VPNs are a tool that is exploding in popularity.
The final question, then, is which VPN to use. There are some free VPNs out there, but the quality of them can be patchy, and they can even be a security risk in their own way. A good VPN, that will maintain your Internet speeds and properly protect your data, will set you back a premium, but it is one of those things that are worth paying for.
For more information please visit: argentina proxy
