Nowadays, a VPN is no longer something nice to have; it has become a necessity for internet users. People are becoming increasingly concerned about their online privacy and security because our increasing reliance on Internet-based software opens up more avenues for cyber-attacks.
There are many reasons why you need a VPN. We rounded up the top five.
1. A VPN Protects your Online Privacy
Cyber-criminals, government intelligence agencies, advertisers, and ISPs are among the people and organizations that have an interest in tracking your online activity. They use your IP address to watch your online behavior. A VPN encrypts your traffic and hides your real IP address from anyone monitoring the network.
2. A VPN Unblocks Geo-restricted Sites and Services
Many streaming services block specific countries or regions from accessing their content online. That means you can’t watch your regular shows or listen to your music when to travel to these places. For example, the BBC iPlayer is only available in the UK, and you can’t watch Hulu outside the US.
If you’re outside these places for one reason or another, you can use a VPN to make your device look like it’s within the allowed region. Leading VPNs can unblock many of the top streaming services, including Netflix, HBO GO, Hulu, Sky GO, Amazon Prime Video, and BBC iPlayer, among others.
3. A VPN lets you Access Sites Banned by your ISP
In many countries, ISP ban users from accessing some sites. For example, China’s Great Firewall blocks internet users from accessing popular sites such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Similarly, internet users in the UK aren’t allowed to visit torrent sites such as KickAss Torrents and The Pirate Bay.
Besides ISPs, organizations such as educational institutions and corporations also restrict access to specific sites. For example, employees and students may not be allowed to visit social media sites, YouTube, and so on. Whichever the case, a VPN bypasses these restrictions and lets you browse the internet uncensored.
4. A VPNs lets you use Public Wi-Fi Safely
Free Wi-Fi at an airport, restaurant, hospital, school, or internet café offers convenient internet access. But public Wi-Fi connections are extremely vulnerable to cyber threats because the networks have minimal security.
Using a VPN as a bridge between your device and the public Wi-Fi connection ensures that your traffic data and personal information isn’t left exposed to anyone on the network.
5. A VPN lets you Anonymously Download Torrents
To download torrent through uTorrent, BitTorrent, and other P2P software, you add your IP address to a torrent swarm. The IP addresses of all the users with whom your sharing the file are also linked to the network.
Copyright protection groups and copyright trolls lurk on these networks and gather the IP addresses on the torrent network to prosecute or blackmail users. A VPN masks your IP address and lets you anonymously download torrents.
Setting Up and Using a VPN
The steps to downloading, installing, and using a VPN are as follows:
- Sign up for a leading VPN
- Download the app
- Install the app
- Activate your account
- Connect to a server location
Congratulations! You can now enjoy all the benefits we mentioned above.
