VPN: what it is and what are the advantages of the Virtual Private Network

A VPN, also called Virtual Private Network, is a type of connection that allows you to create a virtual network that ensures privacy, anonymity and allows you to keep your data safe as it circulates between the various devices and on the network. We’ve been hearing more and more about VPNs in recent months, but let’s try to understand what it is, how it works and what it is for specifically.

But what is a VPN?

Virtually everyone in our life has heard of VPNs at least once. These types of connections are, especially in recent months, widely advertised as a solution to browse securely, protecting your data and yourself. We usually hear about it especially when it comes to connect to public networks to which even malicious people could connect.

But what is a VPN? This is the acronym for Virtual Private Network, literally “virtual private network”. This network create a secure and encrypted tunnel for communicating your device with the external network. The tunnel mainly allows you to create a secure and anonymous connection, keeping away potential cybercriminals who could get into your data.

The password of the VPN is the safety. By connecting to a public or private network, the level of security will be increased, keeping your data protected. You will have placed, virtually, a shield to your networked device. A VPN, coupled with a good antivirus, allows you to be virtually immune to any cyber threat.

The VPN in fact, as anticipated, uses tunneling, a mechanism that allows you to create a safe and secure tunnel where data travels. Traffic is encrypted by the servers of the VPN of your choice: the virtual private network is interposed between the device and the final destination. Imagine connecting to a public Wi-Fi network and entering credentials on a website, or making a purchase by entering your credit card details. Or even consult your own home banking. All of these things, if done without a VPN, can be dangerous – any hacker could easily target your device and steal your data.

This self-defense mechanism is also widely exploited by companies, especially for smart working workers who access sensitive data remotely and can put the corporate infrastructure at risk. A VPN, in these cases, is really essential.

What is a VPN: not just security

Second, a VPN allows you to change your IP address “Pretending” to be in another country, in order to take advantage of services not available in the area in which you are located.

In addition to making surfing the net much safer, in fact, the VPN allows you to hide your real IP. The IP allows you to geolocate the device you are using, since each IP address is associated with a physical place (usually it identifies the city from which you are connected, not the precise street). By connecting to the internet via a VPN, you can prevent the site you are consulting from knowing your real position, keeping the level of privacy even higher.

This can be useful for two reasons: you may not want a website to know the city you are connecting from. Although you are in Padua, you can take advantage of a VPN by connecting virtually from Milan. The second reason, besides privacy, is the ability to access websites not available in your country, for example Italy; or to view another catalog of a content streaming site. If you are on vacation in France, but want to take advantage of Netflix’s Italian catalog, the VPN is for you. In fact, you can bypass the region-lock, therefore the blocking of contents based on the region in which you are.

So with a VPN you can protect yourself from malicious people, a fundamental system if you often go to shopping malls, hotels and universities with free Wi-Fi; preserve your privacy thanks to the “hidden” IP address and unblock sites and content that are not available where you are. Virtual Private Networks are practically mandatory when traveling in countries where there are restrictions such as China, where it is not possible to connect to services such as Google, Whatsapp, YouTube, etc.

Use VPNs to take advantage of some great deals

Another advantage of the VPN, always related to changing your IP address, is that of being able take advantage of some offers intended only for a particular country. We often hear about this type of connection when it comes to buying cheap flights and hotels that are not found in Italy. If you have a VPN, you can try switching servers to connect to and see for yourself if the price of a particular flight changes when the IP address changes.

Are VPNs legal?

When it comes to leveraging user-friendly tools, the legitimate question is always: is all this legal? In our country, VPNs are legal, but that’s not the case everywhere. In ChinaFor example, where VPNs are used heavily, only certain Virtual Private Network services are authorized and consequently the other services will not work.

Things change for other countries, it seems that in the United Arab Emirates Using a VPN can lead to hefty fines if used for fraudulent purposes or to violate cybercrime law. In other countries, the laws against VPNs are much stricter, although they usually don’t apply to tourists. In any case, before proceeding to use such a connection, it is good to inquire about what is lawful to do.

The best VPNs

Photo: NordVPN.

Now that you know what a VPN is and given the huge benefits of these networks, you need to choose the best service to use. There are so many VPNs available. There are dozens of different names online, and it can often be difficult to choose the best VPN. Our advice is to opt for a paid service, since the free ones often have some limitations in terms of data traffic; number of servers to connect to – perhaps there is no Italian IP address – and safety in navigation.

Paid VPN services on the other hand offer unlimited data traffic it’s a large number of servers to connect to. In this case it is possible to hide your IP address by pretending to be in practically any country outside your own, as well as take advantage of a faster and more secure connection. To choose the best VPN you need to consider the connection protocol used, for example there are services that offer VPN via older PPTP protocol, while IKEv2 / IPsec or OpenVPN is preferable, such as NordVPN service.

It is also important to consider the number of simultaneous connections that can be exploited from the same account. NordVPN, in addition to offering more than 5000 servers in 60 countries, allows you to protect 6 devices at the same time. It is obviously available for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux. Furthermore, you can install NordVPN directly on your router, to protect all devices on your home network using only one of the six available slots. It is available at € 2.80 per month if you choose the two-year plan, with 3 months free; or € 4.18 per month for one year or the monthly subscription of € 10.16. In any case, the satisfied or reimbursed formula is available, which it offers 30 day trial.