Sorry we're not going to give you COVID-19 Travel advice. There's too many different rules per country that's getting tiresome already ... We are looking at different kind of Travel advice. A Virtual Private Network is a method used to encrypt a user's data and adds a layer of privacy that protects the user's identity. Over the years, using a VPN has proved to be one of the most secure ways of keeping users' data private while surfing the internet. In the recent past, VPNs were only used in the business sector, organizations to secure their data. Nowadays, many individuals and corporations use VPNs to increase their internet security. VPNs protect all the traffic sent in a Network and ensure no data is lost. They do that by replacing the user's initial IP address with an IP address from a VPN provider in a gateway city.
Users who browse the internet without the use of a VPN are prone to many risks, and their internet security may be easily compromised. Firstly, their data can be easily breached through WiFi spoofing or Firesheep, hence no data privacy. Also, they are more prone to lose their data compared to a VPN user. Secondly, the location of users who don't use VPNs can be easily exposed. This is because their computer's or device Internet Protocol (IP) address is visible to the sites they visit. Thirdly, it is easier for hackers to intercept information sent from an internet user who does not use a VPN. As a result, crucial data such as bank information, PIN, or passwords may be accessed by a hacker.
VPNs work by sending the users traffic to an encrypted tunnel and gives the user a different IP address so that their real IP address is not exposed to the websites they're visiting. Such that users can choose their gateway city or country of origin for their connection. As a result, users can access sites that are prohibited in their home countries as long as they have a VPN running. Also, it encrypts a user's data transfer by encapsulating all their online transfers. Users can ensure their internet connection is secure by conducting integrity checks to make sure their data is not lost. Also, connecting your device with a VPN is very easy as it only requires an internet connection to initiate a connection using the VPN software you've installed.
But are users truly secure and anonymous using VPNs? Without a doubt, VPNs work to protect the confidentiality and data integrity of their users. However, there are a few facts on the usage of VPNs that users don't know. Firstly, Virtual Private Networks often tell their customers that they keep no logs of their online activity. However, there's no absolute evidence to prove they don't keep them. This is because VPN providers can still access their users' traffic, logs, and browser history. Given that nothing or no one can prevent them from viewing or keeping your network logs or browser history. Even if they say they don't store users' logs, users can't be certain they don't. The only thing that users can be sure of is that credible VPN providers won't share their data or online activity with any third parties such as governments.
Another fact that VPN users don't know is that they are not completely anonymous, and they can still be tracked. This is made possible if a user initiates a VPN connection using a local Internet service provider, the ISP provider can track the user by the nearest cell tower used to connect to the internet. Also, the user's geographical location can still be known if the user allows web mapping services such as Google Maps to run on the background while using a VPN. Moreover, some VPN providers run Google tracking services or analytics on their websites, which makes it easy for Google to track the geo-location of the user. Additionally, there advanced web trackers and advertising IDs used by multinational technology companies that can bypass VPNs and still track the VPN user. Many websites can get access this unique ID when you visit them.
Using a VPN can hide your IP address but won't hide your unique ID, especially on smartphones running Android or the iOS operating system. This is because users first signed up with the companies before using their devices to connect to a VPN. VPNs are not hack-proof, but it is extremely difficult to hack a VPN successfully. All in all, using VPNs remains to be the most effective method of keeping your data secure and maintaining online privacy.