What is a VPN? How does it work?

Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are used today for many reasons, in the past, these type of connections were often used in business environments when a large employer wishes to allow employees access secured internal network over the internet while working from home or in the field, but it’s becoming more and more common now to see them used by even small businesses or even individuals who for a range of reasons wish to keep their activities online secure and private.

How does it work?

when your device is trying to connect to the internet, it connects to your Internet Service Provider (ISP), which then connects your device to any website or other internet services. Your internet traffic crosses through your ISP’s servers and can be inspected by your ISP.

But when your device is using VPN, you are connecting to the VPN provider server via an encrypted connection (VPN tunnel). Once connected, all internet traffic is encrypted and secured from eavesdropping, but the VPN server can see it.

Now the first step of the security process for a VPN involves creating a tunneling protocol which acts as well a tunnel or channel for the information packets being transferred to pass through, it creates a security layer which immediately terminate the connection whenever it detects an intrusion and reconnects the client back to the server using a different route avoiding the compromised points. All of the data you’re sending and receiving in this tunnel is encrypted and secured from prying eyes.

You should use a VPN when you work on an untrusted network, which mean using your device at the coffee shops and logging in to Paypal or using your phone’s Wi-Fi to check your inbox at the airport can all potentially put you at risk.