Virtual private networks (VPNs) have experienced a surge of
interest since Congress voted to allow ISPs to sell your browsing history. It’s
not always clear exactly why you should be using one though. Sure, it can help
you unblock geo-restricted content on streaming sites like Netflix. However, a
VPN can dramatically improve your security and privacy by routing your traffic
out of the reach of eavesdropping governments, ISPs, and malicious hackers.
While using a VPN at home is a good idea, it is even more
important when on-the-go. Public Wi-Fi networks have a number of security
issues, and you can’t trust your network provider. The terminology around VPNs
can seem like a hurdle, but it’s worth getting your head around. Choosing to
never venture online without a VPN may be the best security decision you’ll
ever make.
1. Improve Your Security
An episode of the hit TV show Silicon Valley had the team at
Pied Piper monitoring public Wi-Fi traffic using a device called a Wi-Fi
Pineapple. These easy-to-use devices may seem like a work of fiction, but they
are indeed real. It requires very little technical knowledge for an attacker to
eavesdrop everything you do online with a Wi-Fi Pineapple. Sadly, those devices
are far from the only way that public Wi-Fi networks can be compromised.
2. Defeat Censorship and Bypass Restrictions
Public Wi-Fi networks are often provided free of charge. In
return for their service, you agree to their Terms & Conditions, which may
limit what you can access on their network. As the provider can’t determine
what content you access through the VPN, you can effectively bypass their
restrictions. The same is also true of government censorship. China has become
infamous for its Great Firewall that blocks a number of websites like Facebook.
All you need to do to evade this censorship is activate your VPN and choose a
server in a less restrictive country.
Unfortunately, countries like China and Russia have begun to
clamp down on VPNs in an effort to continue surveillance and maintain their censorship
of the internet. This worrying development at least shows that oppressive
governments are nervous about the protection that VPNs offer against digital
oppression. With the Net Neutrality debate still raging on, you can get ahead
of the game and use a VPN. As your ISP won’t be able to identify your
connection, it can’t be prioritized or demoted. If you do come across any
connection issues, you can simply change your VPN’s server to a different
location.
Millions of people around the world use VPNs to protect
their privacy while online. But some states are moving to block VPNs, banning
their usage. The latest is Russia -- can you use a VPN...
3. Stop Tracking Dead in Its Tracks
I’m going to go ahead and say that Sting called it all the
way back in 1983. In the Police’s chart-topping hit single, Sting sang “every
single day, every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay, I’ll
be watching you” — correctly predicting the rise of online tracking. Ad
networks the world over, including the likes of Google and Facebook, all track
you across the internet, building a profile of you that can be sold to
advertisers.
VPNs encrypt the data that you send from your computer to
their servers. The encryption scrambles the information making it impossible
for a third party to intercept. This means that your search terms and browsing
history are hidden out of sight. Not even the website itself will be able to
identify you, as the traffic will appear to be from the VPN’s IP address. Of
course, if you are signed into your Google or Facebook account then they will
still be able to store your movements. You can minimize this risk by using the
anonymous search engine DuckDuckGo or privacy-focused browsers like Epic or
Firefox Focus.
Who is tracking your movements online? ISPs, the government,
Google... but what about social media sites like Facebook? Yes, them too.
Here's how you stop Facebook tracking you around the internet.
4. Steer Clear of Surveillance
If only it were advertisers and social networks that wanted
to pry into our online lives. Unfortunately, the Edward Snowden leaks of 2013
showed that we can’t even trust our own government not to spy on us. The
documents revealed that the NSA had been performing mass surveillance on almost
all American citizens — tracking their online activity, phone calls, and
messages.
5- Automatically Encrypt Everything
This might seem like something from some cybercrime movie or
TV show, but a VPN client on your PC or mobile really can encrypt the data you
exchange with remote websites and servers. Indeed, any online activity you
conduct with a VPN app running and connected to a server will be encrypted.
In effect, a secure, private tunnel is created for you to
send your data through. This is how public Wi-Fi can be made safe and how data
and browsing activity can be kept from the eyes of government censors.
Every VPN service offers a client app. Through this, you
choose the server you wish to use, and connect to it. All internet activity is
routed via the virtual private network, ensuring privacy and security. Even if
your data is intercepted, it will mean nothing to the hacker.
6- Complete Sensitive Research Without Interference
Many types of research can be considered “sensitive”.
Following on from some earlier points, if you have an oppressive government,
researching their activity may well attract attention. As might looking up
censored material or movies.
Conversely, if you’re in business, and you wish to assess
the quality of your competitors, then keeping your activity private will stop
them from catching on.
With a VPN installed and activated, you can protect yourself
from observation. It’s worth selecting a server in a distant, safe location,
however. If you’re concerned about what information a VPN keeps, our look at
VPN logging should give you the answers.
ChrisPC Free Anonymous Proxy is a freeware proxy connection app filed under anonymous proxy software and made available by Chris PC for Windows.
The review for ChrisPC Free Anonymous Prox has not been completed yet, but it was tested by an editor here on a PC and a list of features has been compiled; see below. We have found that this software contains advertisements or other ad-supported elements during runtime.
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