The global effect of the pandemic has literally pushed everyone to go digital. When face-to-face interaction posed health risks, everything shifted to the online world. Office spaces became little meeting boxes, business, and personal events were held ‘live’ digitally, and even online payment transactions have skyrocketed over the past months.
With everything moving towards this new space, the lack of the physical component wherein we should be able to see and feel secure has diminished as well. More than ever, it is now that we must also consider looking at how we could protect ourselves online.
A certain documentary revealing how social media works behind what we see on the screen indicated that we had become a commodity. Our online profiles, interactions, and activities were used far more than what we had anticipated.
But it’s not yet too late to do something about it. Educate and protect yourself online so that you won’t have anything to worry about in real life.
Heard about VPN?
Get yourself that extra layer of security. A strong password may be a good first layer of protection for your online account. But for those lurkers out there, breaking that code would be a piece of cake.
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a service that enables you to access the internet through an encrypted tunnel. This acts as another layer of security that provides you with online privacy and protects your sensitive data.
Commonly, a VPN is used to give you a secure connection over a public Wi-Fi hotspot. It encrypts your online data, as well as your personal information, every time you connect to a public Wi-Fi like the ones available at the airport or your local coffee shop.
It also hides your IP address. Masking your IP address is very important when you want to have online privacy. A VPN ensures that your location (city and country), torrent download history, or just a simple browsing history won’t be linked to your identity.
Aside from those security features, using a VPN also carries some fantastic perks.
By connecting to a VPN server from a different country, you’ll be able to access restricted websites due to geo-blocking. We know that there are a good number of countries that have policies on internet censorship.
Fond of watching movies and series online? With the help of a VPN, it is now possible to access Netflix libraries from countries worldwide.
Now, you might be thinking, how does this work?
Backend, it’s very busy and might be very technical, but here’s an easier way to explain how the process works:
Step 1: Request a DNS
Remember the IP address masking from earlier? This is where it happens. A DNS request is made, so instead of your actual IP address, it requests a new IP address for you from the VPN server once you log into your VPN account.
Step 2: Get secret keys
This is the part where your secret keys are being made. These keys are essential in the next steps.
Step 3: Secure the channel
This part is where the secret keys are being used. A secure channel is created by the use of the special secret keys.
Step 4: Encrypt the data
Remember the ‘tunnel’ that we’ve mentioned from earlier? This is the part where you ‘enter the tunnel.’ VPN protocols help encrypt your data using the secure channel that we made from the previous step.
VPN, swipe, right!
With our heavy reliance on technology and the increasing amount of time that we spend online, using a VPN is essential for anybody. Think of it this way; if you go online, then you need a VPN.
Still not completely sold on the idea of using a VPN? Surfshark listed some of the types of people who are in need to use a VPN:
Privacy geeks: those who need to be able to control their privacy. A VPN ensures that all your information is ensured whenever you go online.
Avid gamers: get ahead of your peers and access games before they are released in your area. This way, you are given a chance to get games at better prices and play with friends across the globe who share the same VPN server as you.
Human rights activist: There are countries where strict protocols on freedom of speech are implemented. Express yourself online without revealing your true identity through the use of a VPN service.
Travelers: Public Wi-Fi is a necessity for travelers. But it would be best if you did not compromise your security by using these services. Use a VPN.
Save yourself from being prey to the lurkers online. Avoid hackers, malware & phishing, identity theft, ad manipulation, ISP tracking, and price discrimination by using a VPN.
