Here are five instances you may not have considered before where a reliable VPN could help protect your online security.
As more and more of your daily life occurs through Internet connections, online privacy and security issues become even more important. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) can help you establish a secure and private connection by creating a “tunnel” between your device and the Internet, protecting you in two important ways:
- By hiding your real IP address so that your identity is protected and it isn’t easy to pinpoint your location.
- By encrypting the traffic between you and your VPN provider so that no one on your local network can decrypt or modify it.
Here are some situations you may not have considered before where a reliable VPN could be helpful to you.
- A walk in the park
It’s a beautiful Saturday morning, and you’ve made yourself comfortable on a park bench, sipping a cup of coffee while catching up on your favorite news sites, watching a few videos, playing your favorite casino games, and doing some online shopping while taking in the sunshine and fresh air.
Instead of using up some of your mobile data, you connect to your city’s public Wi-Fi network. A free service provided by the city should be fulfilling. Unfortunately, you can’t be sure that the network is secure or even that it is your city’s public network. Also, you don’t know if it is configured to protect you from bad people or entities that may spy on you while you are connected.
Also, you will most likely not have access to certain websites from your country without using a VPN.
Here is a practical example for you to make you understand what we are talking about.
If you love gambling but you live in Doha, you will most likely be denied access to any platform of online casinos in Qatar.
Qatar’s two internet service providers, Oredoo and Vodafone, actively block even the top online gambling sites.
The benefit of using a VPN to access casino sites in Qatar is that your IP address will be hidden. You can thereby visit websites that, for instance, are restricted in Qatar. There are platforms where you can find instructions on security and legality to always act appropriately and guidance to use VPN to play at the best casinos in Qatar.
Finally, enabling a VPN can help protect your device from anyone trying to snoop on the sites you are visiting or hijack your sensitive information while relaxing on that bench in the park on any given day of the week.
- In the neighborhood
Have you ever connected to a public hotspot that appears to have a legitimate and reliable name? Be careful because, in reality, anyone can set up a public Wi-Fi network with a seemingly legitimate name to entice users to use it. In addition, connecting to unknown Wi-Fi networks makes you an easy target for attackers and criminals who intend to access your device to steal private information, install malware, or worse.
Enabling a VPN can increase security whenever you connect to public Wi-Fi by blocking unknown entities from eavesdropping on personal data from your phone or laptop.
- On vacation
If you are temporarily renting a place to work remotely from or are planning your next vacation on an Airbnb, you will most likely be able to take advantage of a free Wi-Fi network. This net, even if password-protected, is not automatically a guarantee of a secure and private network.
First, the host could access the network to track your online activity. Second, if they didn’t change the password, any previous guest could reconnect with you later.
So, unless you choose to opt out of using the Wi-Fi network of the place you are renting, you can use a trusted VPN whenever you connect your computer, phone, or tablet to that network. The above also applies to hotels and hostels.
- In your home
In general, the scenarios outlined so far do not apply to your home network as long as it is properly configured with a complex password and suitable security measures: however, this does not make you safe from prying eyes.
Because your home Internet traffic is routed to and from your devices through your Internet service provider (ISP), the provider can track your online activity. For example, an ISP can see what sites you visit, how much time you spend on them, your location, and information about your devices. However, if you install a VPN, you will be protected and free from anyone who wants to track you down.
