two girls sneaking out through a window

3 reasons to use a VPN

There are many good reasons to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), even if you are just casually scrolling. Privacy is a right that is yours to value and defend, and if you want to increase your online privacy then a VPN is one of the possible solutions. 

A VPN works like this: When you’re connected to the internet, all of your activity is logged and associated with your Internet Protocol (IP) address. Using a VPN creates an encrypted tunnel from your device to the VPN server, which is like creating a digital middleman between your device and the internet that blocks others from seeing what you’re doing. When you connect to a VPN, instead of your activity being associated with your IP address, now it’s the VPN server’s IP address that is associated with your data. Yours remains private.

Here are three reasons why you might want to use a VPN.

1. To stay private, at all times

Someone who is worried about being spied on — perhaps by their Internet Service Provider (ISP) or by someone that is on the same network, such as an employer or spouse — may choose to use a VPN. All these snoops will see when you are using a VPN is the fact that you are communicating with the VPN server. They are unable to see the content of the communications and where the traffic goes from there. Even if hackers are on the same WiFi network, that encrypted tunnel makes it impossible for them to capture any of your data.

2. To change your location

There are some basic reasons why someone would like to change their location. Some services have location-based restrictions and these services usually rely on your IP address to figure out where you are. So, if you want to evade such a restriction, you can pretend to be in a location where these restrictions don’t apply. Or the other way round if you want to restrict content: For example, if you don’t want your children to visit Pornhub you can set your location to Utah, because visitors from this state are blocked over an age verification law.

choosing a different location in Malwarebytes Privacy VPN

Switching your location is easy in Malwarebytes Privacy VPN

3. To protect when you need it the most

Some users only use a VPN when they feel they need its protection the most. For example, they might turn on the VPN when they are connected to a public WiFi, accessing their bank accounts, sending work-related or other sensitive information, or because they plan on visiting high-risk websites.

Malwarebytes Privacy VPN

Malwarebytes Privacy VPN helps protect your online privacy, shield your location, keep your data private even on public WiFi, and delivers speeds way faster than traditional VPNs. And it’s important to know that Malwarebytes does not log anything the user does. What you do is your business, not ours.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pieter Arntz

Malware Intelligence Researcher

Was a Microsoft MVP in consumer security for 12 years running. Can speak four languages. Smells of rich mahogany and leather-bound books.