Using A VPN | Online Safety And Security | Netsafe

Common reasons to use a VPN

VPNs can be beneficial for the following purposes:

Securing sensitive data: Protect your information when you are emailing, browsing, online banking, or working from home.
Enhanced security on public Wi-Fi: Add a layer of protection to keep your login credentials safe from interception on Wi-Fi hotspots. Alternatively, consider using mobile data, which is generally more secure.
Maintaining anonymity: Hide your IP address to achieve a basic level of anonymity when online.
Accessing geo-blocked content: Access or stream regional content by masking your location.
Preventing ad targeting: Stop advertisers from using your cookies to show targeted ads.
Bypassing censorship and surveillance: Get around any blocks that may be in place to prevent you from seeing specific content online.

VPNs can have limitations

Using a VPN is not a fail-safe solution and comes with its own set of risks.

Here are some key considerations:

Encryption vulnerability: All encryption can potentially be broken, meaning that information transmitted through a VPN is not completely secure.
Limited protection: VPNs do not protect against viruses or malware. They do not completely shield you from online tracking. Destination websites can still log your browsing activity. However, combining a VPN with private or incognito mode in your browser can enhance your online privacy.
Trust issues: Using a VPN means placing a lot of trust in your VPN provider. They can potentially see everything that you do online, including the websites you visit and the content of your communications. You are trusting them not to retain, misuse or sell this information for profiling or targeted advertising.
Geo-blocking limitations: some services, such as Netflix and BBCiPlayer, are becoming more adept at detecting and blocking VPN traffic. As a result, you may find access to these services is denied when using a VPN.

How to get a VPN

There are two main types of VPN: company VPNs and consumer VPNs.

Company VPNs are typically used by employers to make remote working more secure. They work by creating an encrypted tunnel between the employee’s computer and the corporate network. This makes the employee computer part of the network, virtually.

Consumer VPNs are used for personal computers or mobile devices. They provide a trusted connection between your device and the servers of the VPN provider. If you want to use a consumer VPN, you will generally need to download software to establish the connection, and pay a subscription fee

How reliable are free VPNs?

Using a free VPN can expose you to security risks due to downloading unknown malware. Not all free VPN providers will have malware that compromise your computer security, however it is important to know the risks that come with free VPNs.

Choosing a VPN

With hundreds of VPN options available, choosing the right one for you can be difficult.

We recommend researching and reading impartial reviews before making a decision. Think about the limitations we discuss above and consider the following factors:

Security: Check the SSL rating(https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-a-ssl-certificate) for the service.
Provider’s location: consider the country in which the VPN provider operates.
Privacy: Understand how much personal information and meta data the provider collects.
Transparency: Look into their policy on sharing records with law enforcement.

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