VPN - How It Works

 What is VPN and How It Works?

You've probably heard of a VPN before, it's even possible you've used one before. But do you know what it does? A VPN stands for Virtual Private Network basically it gives you privacy online. 

Originally VPN were only used in business settings, where big business or governments wanted to secure their data. Since people were remotely needed to connect online, business needed to create of secure connection, otherwise there were risk for hacking or other loss of data. 

Now a days VPN are used by everyone specifically because they ensure your location stays private, your data is encrypted and you can surf the web anonymously.

   

How does it Work:

Let's understand first, how internet works. When you visit a website like Facebook, Twitter or even this blog Bhai Loog, you enter a domain name, such as www.facebook.com. That domain is nickname for the IP(Internet Protocol) Address, an IP address is just like your home address which contains numbers not street names. As it's easy to remember names than numbers, we give IP address a domain name and a server translates them.

Your computer has an IP address just like any other device browsing the internet. When you enter a domain name in your browser, whether you using Chrome, Firefox or Safari, you send your data into Internet until it reaches a certain domain. That server translates your query and gives back you the data you requested. 

VPN Explained:

The problem is when you are sending your IP address, you are also sending other information such as your Operating System, current location, and others along with it too. This is where hackers can intercept your information. Imagine you are using Public Wi-Fi on your phone and you wanna check your bank account. At the same time some other person with the laptop connects to the network and can capture the information going thorough the network and can get a hold of your password, email address and other sensitive information. If you use a VPN they won't be able to do that.

The websites you visit also gather the information, but they tend to do it for their demographics. Usually its not a problem, but some times you wanna protect your identity and privacy. 

Credit: excellence IT

So, how then a VPN protects your privacy. When you send an information online, VPN creates a tunnel that encrypts your information. This way if someone gets a hold of your data, they won't be able to read it. Tunnel also makes it harder to hack in but don't be fooled, it is still possible just much harder to do. A VPN also adds an extra server. We already talked about how send your data to a server and that server then pings you back the webpage you requested. Over the VPN that information goes to the VPN's server and then that server send back the information to the server you wanted the information to go. 

This extra step helps in a lot of ways. 

• First it can change your location. Many video streaming websites such as Netflix and Hulu, restrict content depending upon your location. So by changing the location to where the content is available you can have your favorite series.
• Change in location can also get you cheaper bookings online. Researches shown that fares of flights and hotels change depending upon the location.

Lets get back to the privacy. Remember how websites collect your data for their demographics, well sometimes government can request that information and use the listed IP address to tract your location. But with VPN that information leads to their VPN server. Many VPN has no log policy which means they don't record what websites you visit. So, even if the government requests VPN providers for the tracking logs your information won't be there.

So, VPNs are really handy when it comes to keeping your privacy safe on the web. By changing your location, encrypting your data and ensuring your privacy, it's no wonder so many people around the world use them these days.