VPN use can provide a false sense of security, leaving you vulnerable to attack.
We recommend not relying on a VPN connection as your main cybersecurity tool. But, keep in mind that even the best VPN services often slow down your internet connection speed, so they may not be ideal all the time. If you travel a lot and rely on public WiFi, are looking to browse outside of your home country or want to keep your traffic hidden from your ISP, then investing in a VPN will be useful. Whether or not VPNs are worth it depends how often you could use it for the above use cases. For example, you can access shows that are only available on streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime, in other countries, or play online games with people located all over the globe. Geoblocking has also become a popular use case as it helps you reach services in other parts of the world. They’re also helpful for hiding information from other people on your ISP if you don’t want members of your household to know what you’re up to online. If you use public WiFi networks a lot, like while working at a coffee shop, then VPN usage can help give you private internet access. “If you're just worried about somebody sitting there passively and looking at your data then a VPN is great,” Jed Crandall, an associate professor at Arizona State University, told Engadget. Even then, you probably don’t need to be using a VPN all the time. That means complex passwords, multifactor authentication methods and locking down your data sharing preferences. Who are VPNs really for?īefore considering a VPN, make sure your online security is up to date in other ways.
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Instead, Yael Grauer, program manager of Consumer Reports’ online security guide, recommends looking for security features like open-source software with reproducible builds, up-to-date support for industry-standard protocols like WireGuard, IPsec or PPTP and the ability to defend against attack vectors like brute force. That means sweeping claims that seem promising, like military-grade encryption or total digital invisibility, may not be totally accurate. Even then, much of the data or information is stored with the VPN provider instead of your ISP, which means that using a poorly designed or unprotected network can still undermine your security. In other words, secure VPN services mask your IP address and the identity of your computer or mobile device on the network and create an encrypted "tunnel" that prevents your internet service provider (ISP) from accessing data about your browsing history. But they do come in handy for online privacy when you’re connecting to an untrusted network somewhere public because they tunnel and encrypt your traffic to the next hop. Roya Ensafi, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan, told Engadget that VPNs don’t protect against common threats like phishing attacks, nor do they protect your data from being stolen. Instead, they’re just one part of keeping your data private and secure. VPNs are not a one-size-fits-all security solution.
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