You’ve been working remotely for a few months. Typing away at a computer in your house is all well and good, but you want a little change of scenery. You want to go take advantage of the free public Wi-Fi at your local coffee shop.
Before you pack up your laptop, you may want to think about investing in a VPN to protect your data. It will stop hackers from seeing your presence on the network, allowing you to get your work done without worrying about an attack.
This is one only benefit of having a VPN. Check out this guide to learn why you should use one for information security.
What Is a VPN?
Before we get into why you need a VPN, let’s talk about what it is. They’re also known as virtual private networks. They create a tunnel encryption for your data to go through. This completely hides your online presence.
Nobody will be able to see your IP address, so you’ll be able to browse through the internet without worrying about anyone getting their hands on your personal information.
1. Keep Your Network Secure
Out of the long list of the data protection benefits that VPNs provide, this one is the most important. As you browse through the internet, websites can track what you’re doing.
They’ll analyze this data to send you targeted ads. Not only are these pop-ups annoying, but they’re full of possible malware. To stop your browsing experience from being interrupted, you should invest in a VPN.
They’ll block your activity from websites. Since they can’t gather any data on you, they won’t be able to send you any of those customized ads.
2. Hide Your Sensitive Information
Hackers are pretty crafty. They know a million and one ways to gain access to your private information. If they’re able to intercept any of your login credentials, they can gain entry to your bank accounts and more.
A VPN will encrypt all your login info. To most people, your passwords and usernames will look like a bunch of jumbled text and symbols. Hackers won’t be able to make sense out of it.
3. Prevent Data Caps
VPNs aren’t only useful for having a private browser experience. The best VPN can also prevent something known as data throttling. You see, certain internet providers have data caps.
When you reach a browsing limit, they’ll slow down your service. You’ll have issues getting pretty much anything to load. That’s where the private virtual network comes in.
Your internet provider won’t be able to tell how much data you’ve used. This is useful for those who need to access the internet to work while they’re on the move.
4. Gain Access to Geo-Blocked Sites
If a website is geo-blocked, you won’t be able to gain access to it. This sucks when you’re out of town in a different country. How are you supposed to relax with your favorite Netflix shows if you’re in a different region?
The answer is a VPN. If you’re using one, you can make it look like you’re still accessing Netflix through your hometown. This is only the tip of the iceberg.
Let’s say that you want to buy airline tickets. By stopping the geo-block, you’ll be able to browse prices from places all over instead of being limited to your own location.
Some areas around the world have censorship laws in place. They’ll block people from entering certain websites. Without a VPN, you may not be able to gain access to your social media, for example.
5. It’s Great for Business Owners
Do you own a business? If so, having your own VPN can help you get things off the ground. It can get several of your employees on the same network at once.
They can run cloud applications using a secure tunnel of encryption. By using a VPN, all your employees can use applications with a single computer.
Again, VPN networks can prevent Wi-Fi from slowing down, so your employees will always have access to high-speed internet to get the job done.
6. Secure Messaging
If you’re like most people, you spend a lot of your time chatting with people online. Running a business means sending sensitive information back and forth with other workers.
If hackers can gain access to your chat history, it’s all over. We will say that a VPN won’t encrypt your entire text conversation. What it will do is mask your presence online.
It takes focus away from your browsing, so nobody can read your messages.
7. Take Advantage of Free Public Wi-Fi
Everyone likes to get a change of scenery every now and again. You may want to take your computer to a coffee shop or fast-food restaurant to work. Without VPN, this can be slightly dangerous.
When you use free-public wi-fi, everyone else on the network will be able to see what you’re doing. Hackers can get your login information.
If you send data to another person, they can intercept it. That’s the last thing you want. Use a VPN to mask your presence online and stop those pesky attackers from seeing you.
Protect Your Data With a VPN
Are you worried about hackers gaining access to your private information? Do you want to browse through the internet without having to worry about a pesky geo-block? Protect your data and increase your web experience by investing in a VPN.
While they are illegal in some corners of the world, they can be worth your while as long as you read up on the local laws first. Secure your connection today.
If you’re looking for more ways to keep yourself safe while you’re online, we’re here to help. Visit the Tech section of our blog for all the latest tips and tricks.
