A VPN, or virtual private network, is a fantastic way to hide your real IP address online and also encrypt data between you and the VPN server so nobody else can steal it or intercept it. Now a days we have to be ever more careful to protect ourselves online due to all of the data thieves and hackers.
What Is A VPN?
A VPN is a group of computers that are connected to each other over the Internet, companies use VPN’s to connect to remote data centres to encrypt their communication so other people cannot pry on their files or other data while it is being transferred.
When you use the software or the login credentials to connect to the VPN it will check the security key with the one one the server (the other host), once both match you are allowed to continue on through to the website or other host you were trying to connect too. On the website itself it will look like you are from the VPN’s place, for example if you are from the UK and your VPN is in the USA it will look as though you are from the United States and not your home country, this is handy for privacy reasons!
Reasons To Use A VPN
- Student – If you are a student and you are using cyber cafes or university computers you may need a secure connection to reach your emails or other servers you are attempting to connect too so nobody else can get your data or whoever uses the computer after you.
- The Downloader – If you like downloading, whether illegal or legal, it is good to protect yourself against having your real IP address on these sites. This is of course so the police do not catch up with you if you were to download illegally, I am not saying you should do… just giving you an example 🙂
- Protection – You may want to protect yourself online so nobody can see what you are doing or accessing, the only people that will are the ones that own the VPN!
The Costs
The costs are very cheap indeed! You are able to pick one up for just $9.99 per month and this includes encryption. Once you have purchased one you will get sent the login details, the username, password and IP address. Most of the VPN companies have their own software that you are able to download and install, this will save you having to put in the login details yourself.
Bio: I use a VPN to connect to my data centre storage over at ShareFile, this comes in very handy when I am using cyber cafes while i’m away on business. Though not that expensive it is truly needed to create a secure line between me and the data centre.