Increasingly, you can hear in the news or read on the Internet from such a phenomenon as VPN. Not everyone fully understands what it is and why it is needed. Meanwhile, the benefits of installing such a network is substantial. How to decide on the concept and decide whether you need a VPN? How does this even work? All this you will learn in this article.

What is VPN?

First, let's look at the decoding of the abbreviation itself. VPN - Virtual Private Nerwork - virtual private network. In short, this is a technology that provides another encrypted connection over your connection.

It allows you to remain anonymous on the Internet, making purchases, booking hotels or just walking around the sites. Without a connected VPN, all your data is not protected, so the risk of leakage of passwords and logins, as well as bank card numbers and even geo-location is quite high. This way you can easily identify all your movements and actions.

Confidentiality is achieved by the fact that the connection is made under a different IP address, only one of the VPN routers is visible, which does not indicate the real source of the connection.

How VPN works

The principle of operation of such a network is quite simple:

  • first, as we said, the IP address changes. As a result, it is impossible to determine where you really go online. For example, when using a network it can be indicated that the country from which the connection originates is not Russia, but, for example, the United Kingdom. This is also useful because the blocking of various sites is no longer valid.
  • Then the data is encrypted. That is, besides the fact that it is impossible to determine the location of the user, the provider or other users will not be able to track your search history. And even if some hackers manage to intercept the data, they won't be able to decrypt them, so security and anonymity are increased by a huge number of times.

Why do I need a VPN

Many people believe that they have nothing to hide and do not even think about how much data about them can be found on the Internet and how it can be dangerous. Let's name the main advantages of a VPN and the reasons why installing it, if not necessary, is highly desirable.

The most insecure connection is the public access point - Wi-Fi. In this regard, even in the short time spent in a cafe for shopping, attackers can get to the data of your bank cards and leave you without money. With a connected VPN, this does not happen.

Also, pay attention to the above-mentioned locks. Different sites are blocked in different countries and connecting to another country will help circumvent such blocking in order to gain access to the necessary information. Also, select sites may not be available in some regions. In this case, you can perform the reverse operation - connect to the Internet as if you are in your home region. Then there will be no problems.

In addition, residents of some countries are given special discounts or privileges when making purchases. By installing any country from the proposed private network, you can pretend to be a citizen of this state and buy things at competitive prices, using all the advantages.

In marketing, such a move is known as price discrimination. There may be two options - depending on your location, prices for the same product may vary significantly. This is due to the fact that manufacturers pay attention to the average level of income in each region. Despite all the injustices of this approach, it is very common. Also, by accessing search history, marketers can understand which product you purchase most often. Providers often sell this information to them. Therefore, being sure that you definitely buy this product, the price is inflated several times.

With the help of VPN, you can also hide the fact of visiting any sites, for example, social networks at work. And if a lock is installed on them, then it will not be difficult to bypass it.

Well, the most important advantage will be your complete limitation of any surveillance. No one can access the list of your actions on the Internet. Even if it now seems that there is nothing terrible about data leakage, no one can know how criminals can use them.

Output

Now you know what a VPN is and what it is used for. Is it worth it to install it yourself - it's up to you to decide, but there is no doubt about the benefits of the installation, because you get advanced functionality and complete confidentiality. This explains the ever-increasing popularity of this network.