What Is a Virtual Private Network (VPN)?

A virtual private network is a computer network that gives online privacy to a user by creating an encrypted connection from a device to a network. It uses tunneling protocols to encrypt sensitive data from a sender, transmit it, and then decrypt it at the receiver’s end.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a computer network that provides online privacy by creating an encrypted connection on the Internet. Virtual private networks facilitate the security of communications and data transfer for an organization.

The security of personal data and activities while using the Internet has always been a matter of concern. It is precisely to address this pain point that the concept of virtual private networks came about. The ambit of the technology gradually grew to accommodate the needs of businesses and corporates of varying sizes.

Because the user’s internet protocol (IP) address is masked and untraceable during this process, it provides a high level of privacy. The most common use of VPN technology is keeping all online recreational activities of an individual untraceable, even when accessed on a private Wi-Fi network.

When used for businesses, a VPN only allows authorized personnel to access data of the organization through the Internet. With the help of a VPN, an organization with multiple offices globally can share its data with its employees, irrespective of location. This can be safely done because their IP addresses are masked, even while accessing public Wi-Fi networks. VPN significantly reduces the threat of cyber-attacks and security breaches.

A 2019 report by Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence LLP projected a CAGR growth rate of 6.39% to touch USD50.153 billion by 2024 for VPNs. The increased demand will be fueled by the need to protect against cyber-crime-related issues. Another study conducted by the University of Maryland concluded that hacker attacks happen at a frequency of every 39 seconds.

The CyberEdge Group 2020 Cyberthreat Defense Report revealed that 80.7% of organizations in seven major sectors had been affected by at least one successful cyberattack in 2020. VPN usage and data privacy are strongly interrelated. With VPNs making use of a separate server for Internet usage, hackers and cybercriminals can effectively be kept at bay.

How does VPN work?

Put simply, VPNs work in three steps:

1. The service encrypts the data that you are sending out.

2. The data is placed in a secure capsule and sent through a private tunnel created on the Internet that masks the origin IP address.

3. The receiving address gets the capsules and decrypts the information without seeing the origin address.

When the Internet was conceptualized, the primary idea was to send data from point A to point B in an efficient manner. This was achieved by moving data on the IP, which has rules on how data must move between these points.

Computer servers facilitated this over long distances, and if one failed, another would instantly take up the job. Transmission, rather than security, was the primary concern then and even today. This means that the Internet, for all practical purposes, remains a relatively insecure set-up.

A VPN gives you the security you need while harnessing the power of the Internet.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using VPN

In an article in Computer World (1997), author Bob Wallace told Tom Nolle, chief strategist at ExperiaSphere and president at CIMI Corp, that VPNs would let companies close ranks with suppliers, business partners, and remote sites around the world, and support growing legions of remote workers. Those predictions have come true to a large extent. Let’s look at the advantages of a VPN.

1. Enhanced security: The fundamental functioning of a VPN strengthens the security of network traffic. It keeps all communication between remotely-located employees safe from the cybercriminals, without disturbing the flow of work. A VPN uses a range of encryption technologies like IP security (IPSec), layer 2 tunneling protocol (L2TP)/IPSec, as well as secure sockets layer (SSL) and transport layer security (TLS). All of these come together to create the tunnel through which encrypted data is passed from origin to destination points via a server.

2. Bypass geo-restrictions: Particularly in the case of personal use of a VPN, geo-restrictions can be bypassed to gain access to sites. The case in point being the scramble to access Netflix from other regions. VPN also helps to bypass censorship impositions in case of restricted sites while traveling. However, this access can be blocked if the need arises.

3. Anonymous downloads: Torrents, while usually associated with piracy, have several legitimate uses as well. Despite this, accessing Torrents can put you in trouble. VPNs can be used for access in such cases, provided they are for legitimate causes. There are still chances of your IP address being revealed by dubious service providers.

4. Easy file sharing: VPNs pave the way for large networks to provide easy access to the information within a private network. It makes the management of multiple remote locations and employees easier, with access that is similar to a local intra-network. This process needs a large bandwidth. However, internet service providers (ISPs) often resort to bandwidth and data throttling to boost the Internet speed of other customers; that is, they place a cap on the amount of data and bandwidth used. VPN helps bypass these caps.

Disadvantages of using a VPN.

1. Speed issues: The stronger the encryption for a VPN, the slower it becomes. This especially holds true for free VPN providers (which come with several other negative points). However, paid services can deliver good levels of encryption at decent speeds. There are several ways to boost speed, for instance, reducing the distance between the device and the VPN server location. Also, upgrading to the necessary number of servers that can take the load of a large number of people using it makes a huge difference.

2. Increased network complexity: If you require a high-quality VPN, the network that needs to be set up will be more complex. This comprises several network topologies, protocols as well as hardware devices. The complexity can take a while for users to understand.

3. Security issues: Businesses use VPNs for the primary reason of giving data access to the employees working remotely. The security of the company’s network is then based on the number of users, their devices, and their access points, which reduces control of the VPN.

By COOLNIO