What is a VPN, and do I need one?
Is it the ultimate stealth technology, or just another gimmick? Time to find out with Practicum by Yandex.
You’ll typically hear VPNs discussed in two contexts: Internet freedom and corporate security. In the first case, a VPN serves as a kind of tunnel that helps you browse the Internet as if you were in another country. In the second case, a VPN becomes a tunnel in reverse: you can browse the Internet from anywhere in the world, but as if you were sitting in your office.
Let’s break it down.
Routing and its perks
On the Internet, you are never directly connected to a site. When you open a website or fetch an email, your request travels through a network of routers, each one belonging to some company. Your internet service provider (ISP) is one of those companies, but there are also backbone networks, traffic exchanges, Atlantic and Pacific telecom operators, and more. Together all of these companies do one thing: make sure your request reaches its destination, wherever in the world it may be. And they own all the devices and resources that make this happen.
So, the Internet is owned. And if you own hardware and software on the Internet, you can do many things:
● You can monitor, log, copy and read all traffic that passes through
● You can analyze the traffic and gather statistics
● You can block certain requests or redirect them
● You can prioritize one request over others
● and more.
How routing can be used
Here are a few examples of how people can use the power of routing for their own benefit:
A hacker can set up a fake hotspot in a cafe, maybe even from his laptop. The network could be called something like ‘Cafe Wifi Free’, and guests will sign on. From here, the hacker can throw a fake ‘Flash Player Update’ onto their web browsers and install a backdoor into their computers. Or he can just monitor people’s traffic and look for passwords and sensitive data. Thankfully, much traffic is now encrypted, so sniffing out a Facebook password won’t be that easy. But an FTP password, for example, goes out totally unencrypted — that’s a security risk.
Your ISP can check your account status and block all of your requests until you pay your bills. Or your ISP can limit your connection speeds when you connect to rival services and increase speeds for allied services.
Your boss can impose a workplace ban on Facebook, Instagram, personal email services, or NSFW sites. In this case, your workplace routers will be configured to block all requests to access those sites. Even worse, your workplace can collect data on who tried to access which sites and when.
Your boss can also set up a dedicated server to host all your work documents, tasks, and internal emails. This server will live in your office building, and it will only be accessible to employees logged onto the corporate network. If you try to access your work server outside the office network, that request won’t know where to go.
A government can decide it doesn’t want its citizens visiting certain sites or using certain services (such as Wikipedia in Turkey or pretty much half the Internet in China). Then the government can make deals with local Internet providers to block all traffic going to those sites. What happens to providers that don’t comply? Who knows…
Where VPN stands
A VPN helps you change the routing of your signal so that it avoids certain routing settings or uses others. For example:
You are on vacation when, suddenly, you need to access a document on your corporate server, which is only accessible from inside the office. You connect to your office through a VPN, and you see the Internet as if you were sitting in the office. Your corporate server is suddenly accessible, but Facebook, personal email, and NSFW content are not.
You are still on vacation and try to access your favorite streaming service. However, the country is so exotic that your streaming service says, “Sorry, this content is unavailable in your territory.” So you VPN back to the U.S. and watch your favorite shows as if you were in New York.
You are in Turkey, and you need to read something on Wikipedia. Local ISPs won’t let you access Wikipedia. So you use VPN to tunnel into Germany or Italy. From there, Wikipedia is available because Italy and Germany don’t block requests to access Wikipedia.
A VPN has the added benefit of encrypting all the traffic between you and the VPN server. So there is an additional use:
You are in a cafe, and there is free WiFi. But who knows? It could be a fake network with a hacker sitting on it. You connect to a VPN server, and all your traffic to that server gets encrypted. The hacker can’t read your traffic, and you can browse as usual.
How VPN works
For VPN to work, you need three things:
1. A VPN server, which means a computer that’s ready to route your traffic. In an office, your tech team will set up your VPN server for you. There are paid VPN services and free ones too.
2. A VPN client — a piece of software that tells your computer to send all its traffic to that VPN server. Typically, your VPN service will provide you with the relevant software.
3. A connection between the two. Obviously, if your hotel or government doesn’t want you using a VPN, it can try to block the known addresses of VPN services. Or it can analyze your traffic and stop everything that looks like a VPN connection.
As a consumer, all you have to do is launch a VPN client, press ‘Connect’, and — once the connection has been established — browse as usual. Your traffic is now safe, encrypted, and routed through the VPN server of your choice.
Where your VPN can fail
A VPN lowers your browsing speeds because your traffic now needs to take a detour through a remote server in another country. It’s bearable, but it’s noticeable.
VPN servers are subject to local laws and regulations. If you happen to VPN through Italy and break some local Italian law, then the Italian police will come to talk to your VPN provider. And your VPN provider has no business covering up for criminals.
There is no guarantee that free VPN services operate transparently and honestly (or paid ones, for that matter). Much like a hacker in a cafe, VPN services have the means to monitor your traffic or inject malicious content into it.
If a government or a company really wants to crack down on VPN use, there is technology available to prevent VPN connections.
Is a VPN anonymous?
To a certain extent. If you use a secure browser, reject cookies, kill all tracking, and use a VPN to mask your presence, there is a higher chance of staying anonymous for some time. But with enough determination, a government can still track you.
If you are really concerned with your privacy, consider using TOR: it also isn’t 100% private and anonymous, but it has a kind of three-step VPN connection, making it much harder for people to trace you.
VPN can also be counter-anonymous. Knowing well that some people use VPNs for illegal activities, VPN services can easily monitor all traffic and report their customers to the proper authorities whenever something lousy happens.
Balancing Internet freedom and cybersecurity are important parts of the future of business. To learn more about networks, servers, and data privacy, explore Practicum by Yandex and enhance your career.
