VPNs can be helpful tools for protecting online privacy, and you need not be an office drone to enjoy their benefits.
A VPN, as its name suggests, is just a virtual version of a secure, physical network—a web of computers linked together to share files and other resources.
VPNs connect to the outside world over the Internet, and they can serve to secure general Internet traffic in addition to corporate assets. In fact, the lion’s share of modern VPNs are encrypted, so computers, devices, and other networks that connect to them do so via encrypted tunnels.
There at least five great reasons to use a VPN.
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First,
you can use it to connect securely to a remote network via the Internet. Most companies maintain VPNs so that employees can access files, applications, printers, and other resources on the office network without compromising security, but you can also set up your own VPN to safely access your secure home network while you’re on the road.
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Second,
VPNs are particularly useful for connecting multiple networks together securely. For this reason, most businesses big and small rely on a VPN to share servers and other networked resources among multiple offices or stores across the globe. Even if you don’t have a chain of offices to worry about, you can use the same trick to connect multiple home networks or other networks for personal use.
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Third,
if you’re concerned about your online privacy and let’s face it, in todays climate of government and corporate data retention one should be concious of it. Connecting to an encrypted VPN while you’re on a public or untrusted network—such as a Wi-Fi hotspot in a hotel or coffee shop—is a smart, simple security practice. Because the VPN encrypts your Internet traffic, it helps to stymie other people who may be trying to snoop on your browsing and internet habits.
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Fourth,
People who regularly download data from the internet whether it be legal or illegal we are under scrutiny. The copyright infringement notices being dished out across the world are out at an extraordinary rate. With corporations inrceasingly applying pressure on internet service providers to monitor their users for such activity a trusted VPN is the only way to keep your internet downloading habits private.
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Fifth and finally,
one of the best reasons to use a VPN is to get around regional restrictions—known as geoblocking—on certain websites. Journalists and political activists use VPNs to get around state-sponsored censorship all the time, but you can also use a VPN for recreational purposes, such as connecting to a British VPN to watch the BBC iPlayer outside the UK or connect to an American VPN to watch Netflix and get access to all the content, your Internet traffic routes through the VPN so it looks as if you’re just another British or American visitor.