BROWSE PRIVATELY, GET AROUND BLOCKS WITH A VPN

BROWSE PRIVATELY, GET AROUND BLOCKS WITH A VPN

The rising threat of government surveillance and hacks makes virtual private networks a great tool for getting online securely and anonymously

Did you know that accessing any website reveals your IP (internet protocol) address to the owners of that website? IP addresses are assigned to you by your internet service provider and can reveal your approximate geographical location. And if you’re using an open Wi-Fi network, like the ones at coffee shops or airports, it isn’t too difficult for someone to intercept your browsing history and even your passwords as you type them.

Using a virtual private network or VPN can help you secure yourself in such scenarios. A VPN acts as an intermediary between you and the Web service you’re accessing, encrypting the data between you and itself. This makes it difficult to snoop on your activities even on an open Wi-Fi network. Most VPN services let you choose from multiple servers around the world, so the website you’re accessing doesn’t get to know which city or country you’re in. If security or privacy isn’t a concern, a VPN is still useful for accessing services that may be otherwise blocked.

There are some companies that disallow the use of VPNs. Nextflix, for example, doesn’t allow the use of VPNs to view Netflix US content from India. In China, it may even be a crime to use a VPN service that isn’t approved by the government. Lastly, depending on where packets of data are re-routed from, speeds may not be as fast as browsing without a VPN.

Having said that, here are three popular VPN services you can use to secure your internet activity.

TunnelBear

TunnelBear is an elegantly designed, easy-to-use VPN service. The interface just has a simple on/off switch and an option to choose which country you want to “tunnel” your internet through. Available for all popular mobile and desktop platforms, it offers 500 MB of free data use per month, which is great if you don’t need to use a VPN very often. Beyond that, yearly plans can cost you around Rs 270 per month upon a yearly payment. The company also offers a Blocker extension for the Chrome browser, which blocks ads and all kinds of online trackers. The company has servers in 20-plus countries and claims that it does not log any user activity when using their service.

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN has servers in over 100 countries through which you can route your internet data. The service even has an app for certain routers, so you can easily configure it. This way, no device connecting to that router needs to be individually configured. This VPN service also claims to let you watch content lagfree from popular streaming services that otherwise may be region-locked in your country. The service has a 30-day money back trial if you’re not satisfied, and paid plans start at roughly Rs 540 per month when billed annually.

CyberGhost

CyberGhost is a VPN service that offers a free, unlimited traffic plan (unlike the 500 MB limit with TunnelBear). The difference between the free and paid options is that the speeds are capped, and you’ll see ads. So if you want to do some intense downloading, then the free tier may not be suitable. On the other hand, if you’re just accessing basic services like reading on the Internet and don’t want to worry about any data limits on your free VPN, CyberGhost might just be the app you’ll want installed on your phone or computer.

Not all VPNs are safe

A word of caution before using a VPN service – check the reputation of the service provider online and read reviews by others who have used the service. There have been cases in the past where some VPN services have been caught for malpractices. The most notable case was that of Hola, which was accused of selling its users’ bandwidth to third parties.

While protecting your privacy is always a cat-and-mouse game, with hackers constantly finding new ways to circumvent old methods of protection, you’ll be relatively protected by a VPN the next time you’re on free coffee shop WiFi.

Source | Mumbai Mirror | 16 April 2017

Regards!

Librarian

Rizvi Institute of Management