The internet is great – only for those who know how to protect themselves.
Regardless of whether you are an enthusiast for tin foil hats or not when it comes to cybersecurity issues or not, it is not a secret that internet security is becoming a thorn in the flesh for many people, especially when it comes to the question of privacy. Even when you are on the internet searching innocently for something, your data is collected by big brands that you would trust – also though their actions prove untrustworthy.
If you add this to the blocks and surveillance issues even in the so-called ‘bastions of democracy,’ you quickly realize the increasing urge to safeguard your online privacy.
But what do you do? How do you even choose the most secure VPN that will take care of your needs?
If this is what is on your mind, you have come to the right place – we will tackle that, and more, in this article. Hopefully, all of your questions will get answers.
What is a VPN anyway, and why should I care about it?
A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a service that provides a way for you to browse the internet securely and privately, and it does so through encrypting your location and data.
While most VPNs will do this, not all of them are the same in their approach and results. For instance, you can never entirely trust free VPN services – while they will give the encryption, they will also have to make money, and they will accomplish this goal by selling your information to third parties. In addition to this knowledge, it is also essential to avoid any VPN that will keep logs of your data – especially usage data (the websites you visit, the messages you send or receive, and the things you buy online, and so on).
VPNs are becoming an increasingly important tool for security, especially in the current cybersecurity climate that is continually featuring issues of surveillance and cybercrime. However, you need to be careful when selecting them and making sure that you are going for the most secure VPN option available to you.
Options to think about when choosing a VPN
The logging policies
Any VPN service that logs your information is beating the purpose of using a VPN anyway – since the primary goal is maintaining your privacy, using one that keeps your data is a bad idea because anything you do is easily traceable to you.
Security is critical to consider when choosing a service; any VPN that keeps logs of your information is unsafe. You need to always go for the no-logs VPNs to make sure that your data is not vulnerable to attacks and leaks. If you are unsure, you are better off taking your time in choosing one and reading up reviews about it.
Most of the data that the services will sometimes log is unnecessary. For instance, a free VPN will keep information on the websites you visit, the timestamps, and what you do on these pages. The y will then sell this information to other people or corporations.
Security and trust
It is essential to cultivate an atmosphere of trust, especially when you are using a VPN. This is because you are using it when you go online all the time, even more than trusting your ISP or network.
Any large VPN service providers that have years of experience in the industry are always the best options. The y will have a higher chance of focusing on the aspects of your user experience and make sure that any traffic to and from your device is always delivered quickly and safely.
Choose the best protocols
Protocols are the manner that the VPN uses to encrypt and protect your information – and you should remember that not all of them are created equal. The y are:
- SSH – also referred to as Secure Shell, it does not do total encryption of information immediately. It is also among the least friendly options.
- L2TP – also known as the Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol. It does not encrypt information, so it is more commonly used alongside an IPsec protocol. The security levels are quite high, and it is available on a variety of devices – however, it usually experiences slower connections.
- IP Security/IPsec – this does its encryption through transport or tunnel modes. While it can secure external and internal traffic, it requires plenty of processing power and time.
- Transport Layer Security – this is considered as the successor to the SSH protocol, as it has better security levels.
- PPTP – this was great when it first started but is now considered an outdated protocol, which is why it is unsafe.
- OpenVPN – this combines security and speeds, making it the most popular option. It is also easy to maintain and update by developers, as it is an open-source application.
When choosing a protocol, it is always best to avoid L2TP/IPsec or PPTP protocols, and instead, choose the OpenVPN protocol.
Speeds
The process of encryption makes VPNs to be quite slow by their nature, and it can be frustrating when you are doing resource-intensive activities like streaming or downloading data.
In order to avoid this, it is excellent to choose servers within your own country or geographical region. The more the distance that the information is traveling, the slower the connection becomes.
The re are additional factors that can affect speeds, such as censorship, encryption, the size of the server networks, and tormenting.
Surveillance
Certain VPN services are headquartered in countries that have robust surveillance policies, and they are under frequent government control in this area. Therefore, if you want the highest levels of anonymous internet use, it is always best to choose providers whose headquarters and servers are outside the ’14 eyes’ jurisdiction.
The 14-eyes are countries that allow the spying of their people. The members include Canada, the US, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia.
Final thoughts
Selecting a good VPN for your needs is not the easiest thing when you are not sure of what to look at, but hopefully, this guideline will give you a better idea of what to anticipate when signing up for the service.
