The internet is a vast and wonderful place. It’s given us access to an infinite amount of information at our fingertips, as well as the ability to communicate with people all over the globe. But with this comes some risks – especially regarding our privacy.
In this digital age, protecting our online identities and personal information is more important than ever, so a VPN (virtual private network) is one of the best ways to do just that. Let’s take a closer look at what a VPN is and the five benefits it can provide in 2022.
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What is a VPN, and How Does it Work?
You have probably heard the term VPN quite often in the last few years but don’t exactly understand what it is or how it works. A VPN, also called a virtual private network, is basically a server you connect to, providing anonymity and encryption.
But how is a VPN able to do this? Basically, when you connect to the server, a secure connection is made, and any information and data that passes between you and the server is encrypted and decrypted.
You can also think of a VPN as a middleman. This means that once you connect to a VPN and visit a website, the VPN will request data on your behalf, and all of the data exchanges will take place through the VPN. Furthermore, the VPN will mask your IP address, ensuring even more security and privacy.
Unlock Geographically Restricted Content
One of the first benefits that a VPN can provide is that it can allow you to unlock geographically restricted content. The most common use for a VPN to unlock geographically restricted content would be with streaming platforms, such as Netflix, that display specific content to specific countries.
Moreover, if you visit another country, like Oman, for example, that country might have censorship and restrictions on some websites or platforms that you might be able to visit back home. But a VPN is a way to go around this, and the VPNs listed at EarthWeb can help do that. Interestingly enough, you might also get better deals on products if you change your location to view another country’s store.
Increased Privacy
Another benefit of using a VPN is the increased levels of privacy it can provide. As mentioned above, a VPN will mask your IP address and give you a new IP address that is not associated with yours. In other words, when you visit websites, they won’t be able to tell what your IP address is.
In addition, since all of the information that passes between you and the VPN is encrypted, it means that your Internet service provider, websites, and even the government won’t be able to track your activity online.
Increased Security
One of the biggest benefits VPNs can provide is that they can help increase security. As mentioned above, VPNs can help you mask your IP address, which means that potential hackers or websites won’t access any personal information.
It’s highly recommended that if you use public Wi-Fi networks, you must use a virtual private network since public Wi-Fi hotspots don’t offer the greatest security. More importantly, when you visit websites, especially those that you have created accounts for and have financial information on, all that information being transferred between you and the website will be encrypted and not vulnerable to the efforts of a hacker.
Less Data Usage
Finally, the last benefit that VPNs can provide is less data usage. Did you know that the average person uses around 9 GB a month? That’s quite a lot of data, especially if you are on a capped plan.
When you use a VPN, you can actually end up using less data because your online activities aren’t being tracked very accurately. More importantly, if you are using a capped plan, you are probably being throttled at some point during the month, which won’t happen when using a VPN since, as mentioned, your online activities aren’t being tracked.