VPN has dedicated server networks that enable individual access to restricted sites with secured surfing to users’ IP addresses and locations. It functions in a way whereby individuals’ identity and location are masked or hidden from public access, as well as location identification on the server accessed.
In today’s world, where lots of internet fraud and scam activities are going on, it would be better to say that surfing the internet with a virtual private network is what is required to keep your information and web activities secured and protected from the public.
What is a VPN, and How Does It Protect Me from Internet Fraud?
Back in the days when VPN was created, it was primarily to protect business connections and help keep business information safe and secure without any alteration by internet fraudsters.
However, in today’s world, people are using VPNs for personal, cooperative, organizational, country, and business purposes. Infant, VPN is so popular that even the bad guys—internet hackers and key loggers—use it to mask their IP location to carry out internet fraud and go undisclosed.
Others use it to access censored content in a region where specific access to content is restricted to certain individuals or regions.
Most bank details manipulations and transaction login details theft happen as a result of caches and cookies of users’ details collected by browsers, which, in most cases, when hackers gain access to such details, can be used to defraud people’s money online and even physically.
Have you ever wondered why you would visit a site to buy something and leave, and then visit another site only to see an advertisement of products sold on the previously visited site advertised on the current site you visited?
It’s called tailored users or audience ads, whereby the site you visit collects your information, monitors your internet habits, and uses it to tailor ads to you as you surf the internet. To prevent such information or data collection, you need a virtual private network. There are lots of ways a VPN protects you from the internet. Aside from the protective features of a VPN, it also helps in accessing content and streaming services restricted to your consumption.
Uses of a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
In general, one can say that a VPN is basically to protect users’ privacy while accessing the internet. As true as that is, there are still lots of specific tasks and activities you can use a VPN to accomplish, which, if known, would help in going for a VPN.
Protect Online Identity
Security on Public Wi-Fi
Secure and protect your banking and other transaction details and logins.
Protect your gaming account.
Bypass regional, geographic, or demographic site restrictions and streaming service platforms.
Block ads when surfing the internet.
Bypass regional censorship.
Torrenting anonymously
Bypass price and product discrimination, limitation, and restriction.
Traffic encryption
Data Security
In all of these uses, yes, your identity might be shielded from the public’s notice; your data and identity are still identifiable and open to the VPN service provider you are using, and some of these providers also go as far as selling your data to the advertising company.
In some cases where fraudulent activities have occurred and the VPN provider of the person who perpetrated the fraud is discovered, the security agency can probe them and request your IP address or your location.
That VPN gives you free access to the internet with a secured or hidden identity doesn’t mean you’re completely out of sight. Gurdeep Singh-Pall, a Microsoft employee, can be given credit for developing the Peer-to-Peer Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) which led to VPN.
How to Get a VPN: The Best VPN Providers
VPN providers come with different features and access; it’s in the best interest of the user to compare the different features and access a particular VPN server provides and know which is the best fit for the current use or needs. That being said, the most popular thing people do is head over to a VPN provider site and register for VPN client services.
However, according to users’ choice, one can set up a VPN server, use the workplace VPN if you have access to one, or host a VPN server from your home at any hosting site (NameCheap, Godaddy, Bluehost, etc.). More so, you can easily download a VPN app on Android, Windows, iOS, macOS, and Router and set it up to start surfing the internet freely without restrictions.
There are countless VPN providers, and based on our research of the best, depending on what your needs are, we recommend ExpressVPN, basically for streaming and torrenting, StrongVPN, also for streaming and torrenting, and Tunnelbear.
How does a VPN work?
Using a VPN is like calling for intermediary help to protect you from organizations, online fraudsters, hackers, and governments who would either want to monitor your activities online or gain advantage of your personal information.
The working process of VPN is simply that when you connect to a VPN service provider, as opposed to a direct connection to the internet service provider (ISP), instead of direct transmission of data to the ISP where thousands of other internet users are connected, your computer or device will transmit data to the VPN server, which the VPN server will then transmit to the ISP, but not with your internet protocol, which tells everyone where and who the data transmission is coming from but from a different IP from the VPN server or provider, making your activities online completely hidden from others.
How to Use a Windows Built-in or Default VPN Connection
Microsoft has an in-built virtual network in Windows 10, 8, and 7, which you can easily set up and start surfing the internet with a protected, secured, and undisclosed identity. To set it up, tap the Windows key or open the search box and type VPN; click on the VPN settings that appear; tap on the add VPN connection; and follow the setup process to complete the VPN settings.
VPN Encryption Process and How It Works
Though the easy identification of VPN servers has resulted in blocking server access, different VPN providers have adopted different encryption methods to keep their operations sophisticated and make their server addresses or IPs undiscoverable to the public, regulatory agencies, and website security software.
However, the process below generally describes how most VPN servers encrypt their connections.
First, a computer connects to a secured tunnel (the VPN server), and the data of the connected computer is encoded (an unreadable code is created), which is used to communicate with the VPN server to which the computer is connected, which makes your devices the same as the VPN server to which you are connected and then masks your IP address as the same as the VPN server to which you are connected.
At that point, your visibility is shielded, and what is seen on the ISP is the VPN server you are connected to, making your personal information and location unknown to the rest of the internet users—hackers, government, and corporate organizations—but be reminded that the VPN provider has your data and information on their server.
Types of VPN
Standalone VPN:
it’s a VPN server that gives you full control of the server’s access, and it’s mostly used in homes and offices. Hosted on most hosting servers, such as NAmecheap, Godaddy, Bluehost, and other hosting sites.
Browser Extensions: This type of VPN is used as a browser add-on that can be used in Google Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers. Recently, Opera integrated a VPN server into its browser. But you need to know that your data and personal information are protected only when the add-on is enabled in the browser you’re using, and most importantly, most browser extension VPNs are weak and most often leak users’ information.
Cooperate VPN:
These are the types of VPNs that businesses have developed for use by their employees. organizations such as banks and other cooperative entities that grant employees access to the company’s intranet password and an app. And I would want to keep the company’s information secure and hidden from the public.
Router VPN:
People and cooperative entities that have numerous devices to generally protect from the public use this type of VPN most frequently. Any device connected to the router can’t be seen on the web. It works simply this way: your devices are connected to the router while the router is connected to the VPN.