Slipping Under The Net

Whether to enhance the security of online transactions or to enable access to certain websites wherever you are in the world, VPNs are a need to know for travelers.

- David Phelan

You've probably heard the abbreviation VPN, and you may know that it stands for virtual private network. If you know more, perhaps you are aware of its reputation for enabling illegal downloads or other dodgy stuff. Although this reputation is well-earned, VPNs can also be used for legitimate purposes, such as making sure block chain transactions are about as private as they can be. The deep web – those sites not found via standard search engines – can also be accessed more securely using a VPN.

So what, exactly, is a VPN? At its simplest, a VPN is a series of computers networked together across the Internet. It creates a virtual tunnel between your computer and a server operated by the VPN company. This tunnel is encrypted so external Internet traffic can’t see your data.

When your computer is connected to the VPN, your IP address (the network address for a computer on that network at that moment) is masked by the IP address of the VPN server, so your identity is hidden, too.

SECURE CONNECTION