VPN has been a hot topic in the tech media for some time. However, the overenthusiastic marketing pitches and too specialized technological descriptions may be confusing for the average user. Our goal in this article is to explain why VPN services are actually worth your attention. Check out five main reasons why you should get a VPN for both personal and business use.
1. Protecting online security and privacy
The Internet is anything but a safe space for anonymous users. Sounds obvious, but still, we tend to forget about it. When using public Wi-Fi without any additional security, you are extremely exposed to data tracking. Your passwords and banking information are the main targets of the ill-mentioned internet strangers.
However, contrary to popular belief, hackers, and internet scammers aren’t the only threat to your security and privacy. There is also your Internet Service Provider (ISP) who knows everything about your online activity. ISP can collect and store all data, for example, the sites you visit, the files you upload and download, the things you write, and what others write to you. Frightening, isn’t it? And internet providers analyzing your activity is only a part of the problem. The collected information is often sold to advertisers who can make profitable use of it.
As you can see, your internet data is vulnerable to all kinds of breaches. VPN protects you from most of them.
2. Bypassing geo-blocking
Now we know why VPN is so crucial to protect our internet traffic from the eyes of strangers. However, safety issues are not the only purpose for using a VPN.
Imagine an evening after a long day at work. You sit comfortably in the armchair, ready to watch a popular show your friends recommended. You press play, and this is what you see on the screen: This content is not available in your region. And this is it. Bang goes watching.
A message like the one quoted above informs you that your access to a given content or service has been blocked using a geo-blocking technology. It means the provider has restricted uploaded material to the selected territory, hiding it from people staying elsewhere. Using a VPN allows you to access all content, regardless of complicated licensing issues.
3. Bypassing internet censorship
Living in liberal Western countries, we tend to forget that there are places where mass media, including the Internet, are subject to far-reaching censorship.
For example, when you are in countries such as China, Russia, Belarus, South Korea, India, or Saudi Arabia, you’re not able to access many of the most basic, popular internet platforms you are used to. This blacklist includes, among others, Google, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and foreign media sites.
The only way to bypass censorship is to use a VPN. It takes just one click to move your IP from China to the Netherlands. Simple as that!
4. Secure file sharing
Remote work is a model adopted by more and more businesses around the world. However, this undoubted convenience comes at the expense of security.
As it’s crucial to protect sensitive materials from strangers, the data shared back and forth inside your company should be encrypted. Investing in a reliable VPN is an important step toward the security of the most confidential data.
Using a VPN is also a must when visiting peer-to-peer networks such as torrents. However, not every VPN service provider supports the use of such sites. Therefore, if P2P is your main interest, you need to check this out first.
5. Access to better shopping deals
VPN is also a great opportunity for all bargain hunters. Many businesses offer different prices for their services depending on their client’s location. This type of strategy is used, among others, by airlines and subscription billing platforms.
If you want to pay less, you just need to use VPN to change your location to a place where the product is offered cheaper.
Source and more: https://vpnperf.net/what-is-a-vpn/
