A frequently asked question is whether a VPN is really needed. Well, let me ask you this: Are you truly alone while reading this? Because there’s a chance someone else is reading along with you, trying to collect your personal passwords and data.
Cyberattacks are more frequent now than ever before. Research shows that a cyberattack happens every 39 seconds. A VPN could have prevented many of these incidents. Stolen money, cloned identities, or personal information sold to third parties.
The facts don’t lie. With the chances of becoming a victim so high, using a VPN is no longer optional. It’s essential.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through why a VPN is necessary and what kinds of threats you can protect yourself against online.
Overview
Is A VPN Necessary?
I already kind of mentioned that a VPN is essential nowadays, and it’s true. Everything is online and can be tracked, followed, or hacked. There are probably even more threats out there than you can imagine. And for people with bad intentions, it has never been easier to access your online data. With the rise and use of AI, it will only get worse, and those who don’t protect themselves will regret it later on.
What cyber Threats Are There Without A VPN?
You now know that a VPN is needed. But what risks and threats are you exposed to right now? There are six main threats we’re going to discuss. You’ll learn what these threats are and why it’s truly important to protect yourself against them.
1. Data Interception
Data interception means someone is eavesdropping on or intercepting your internet traffic. They can see everything you send or receive. Including your passwords, messages, emails, and bank details. But how do they do this?
When you connect to WiFi, you become part of a network, and your device communicates with it. Hackers often exploit unprotected networks either by hacking directly or by acting as a man in the middle. This means they position themselves between your device and the network you’re trying to connect to.
In this way, all your internet traffic passes straight through the hacker. Some people might think they have nothing to hide and that a VPN isn’t necessary. If that’s you, you really should keep reading. Because all of this can happen without you even realizing it, until it’s too late.
2. Identity Theft
When hackers gain access to your account through data interception or by tricking you into entering your private information on a fake website, they can steal your online identity.
Once they have access to your name, birthdate, address, and social security number, it becomes easy for them to make you a victim of various crimes or to make you pay for things you never agreed to. And the worst part? You are the one who has to prove that you didn’t do any of it. Let’s talk about the first thing they can use your identity for.
3. Financial Loss
With your identity, they have more than one way to steal your money and assets. They can open a bank account in your name, apply for loans, request and withdraw credit cards, buy products using “buy now, pay later” services and leave you with the bill, or file tax returns and have the refunds paid to them.
When hackers do things like this, you can get into serious trouble with creditors, companies, or even the government. A common trick by hackers is also to receive medical treatment under your name, leaving you responsible for all the costs they incur. You can imagine how little control you have once a hacker targets you, and your privacy will be just as compromised.
4. Loss of Privacy
If you’re in control of your own privacy, you decide who knows or doesn’t know something about you. But as long as a hacker has all your information, you lose all that control. What they often do is track where you are, what you’re doing, and even sell your information to other criminals who will also use your data to violate your privacy. Or possibly even threaten you, demanding that you do things you don’t want to in exchange for not releasing sensitive information about you.
5. Censorship
Censorship is something that is often imposed by governments, internet service providers, or large platforms. When you don’t use a VPN, they can block your access to certain websites or information depending on the country you live in. Although this is mostly done by these corporations, hackers can also use censorship. The only difference is that a hacker needs to have hacked your device first before they can do this. This brings us to the last point.
6. Hack Attacks
While a VPN is not direct protection against a hack of your device, it does protect your network from being hacked while you’re connected. When hackers gain access to your network, it becomes easier for them to hack your connected devices as well.
They can use your device for their own purposes, such as sending spam emails or planning other attacks. They also gain the ability to start using censorship to guide you in the direction they want you to go. This way, they try to steal even more from you.
Most people think they can tell when they’ve been hacked, but this isn’t always the case. Your device can be hacked while it’s still functional. And in the meantime, hackers can simply monitor what you do and use your device for other purposes.
What Does A VPN Do
As you might have noticed, all the trouble mentioned above could have been prevented if the hackers hadn’t gained access to your passwords, accounts, and emails through an insecure internet connection. This is exactly where a VPN comes in. For many people, a VPN is indispensable for the following reasons:
- Encryption: As soon as you turn on a VPN, your internet traffic is fully encrypted. This means your data is transformed into unreadable code, so even if someone intercepts it, they can’t understand or use it.
- Tunneling: With tunneling, a Virtual Network Path is created. Whenever you send or receive information, it travels through this secure tunnel. This ensures that nobody can monitor what you send or receive—not even your internet provider.
- Hiding your IP address: Normally, your IP address is visible, revealing your location and identity. With a VPN, it looks like your internet traffic is coming from the VPN server’s location, not your own.
- Data Integrity: VPNs check whether your data has been altered or damaged. This prevents hackers from manipulating your traffic and redirecting you to fake websites.
- Authentication: Before a VPN connects to a network, it verifies whether it’s connecting to a real server and not a potential man-in-the-middle attack where a hacker pretends to be the real server.
- Kill Switch: Not all VPNs have this feature, but a kill switch is designed to block all internet traffic if your VPN connection drops, preventing any data from leaking until the VPN is active again.
- DNS Leak Protection: When you search for a specific web address, DNS leak protection ensures that your DNS requests are also encrypted. This way, even your internet provider can’t see which websites you are visiting.
Because of this technology, you can use the internet just as you like. Without all the major risks and threats. If you browse without a VPN, you can never truly know if someone is stealing your data or watching your activity. Therefore, it is highly recommended to use a VPN.
How Does A VPN Protect You
The functions and the need for a VPN should be clear by now. But maybe you’re still doubting whether a VPN is something you specifically need as well. We would recommend a VPN to someone every day of the week. Your situation doesn’t matter. As long as you use the internet, a VPN is necessary. Let’s go through some situations where a VPN is used most often and where it’s absolutely worth using one.
Privacy Conscious Users
The fact that a VPN ensures your privacy is protected, is reason enough to use one if this is important to you. Since all your data gets encrypted, there is no way for anyone else to access it. Not even governments, internet providers, or large companies that normally track all sorts of data about you.
Additionally, your location will be completely anonymous, which is very important if you are actively working to protect your privacy.
Journalists & Activists
If you are a journalist or activist, you might need a VPN to access information that is only available in certain countries.
Also, you probably send sensitive information to sources or colleagues. Without protection, these messages can be intercepted. Especially if you frequently connect to public networks while traveling. A VPN in this situation would be a absolute must.
Gamers
When you game a lot, you run the risk of getting a DDoS attack. This happens frequently in online games where competitive players find out your IP address to shut down your internet. A second risk is when you game on public Wi-Fi networks while traveling, which increases the risk of getting hacked. Additionally, some countries restrict certain games. But with a VPN, you can simply change your geo-location and still play your favorite game. If you’re an active gamer, a VPN is definitely a smart choice to use.
Crypto & Stock Investors Or Traders
While trying to gain wealth, it’s important that nobody gains access to your account details. If this happens, they can steal all your assets. Not only that, but especially when you’re investing or trading crypto, it’s possible to track which wallet belongs to you and plan a targeted attack to hack your device. A VPN is highly recommended when trading or investing in stocks or crypto at all times.
Travelers & Digital Nomads
As a digital nomad, you travel a lot, which can cause problems with geo-location and how certain apps work. This includes things like streaming platforms, banking websites, or work-related services. Digital nomads are generally very concerned about their privacy and not being tracked. This also means that when they need to send funds to different places, they wouldn’t want anybody to intercept this. For this reason A VPN is indispensable for travelers or digital nomads.
Average Internet User
Even if you’re not someone from the scenarios above, chances are high that a VPN would still be a good option for you. Ask yourself the question: do you use things like social media, streaming services, banking apps or websites, or do you shop online? If the answer is yes, then it’s necessary to protect your privacy from all the threats that could occur. Additionally, as an extra benefit. You’ll also be able to stream movies and shows from different countries if you want to.
Make sure you don’t become a victim of any of the threats that can happen when you don’t use a VPN. Remember, a cyber attack occurs every 39 seconds. This means that every 39 seconds, you could be too late to protect yourself from getting hacked, scammed, and having your money and identity stolen.
Is A VPN Safe?
It’s understandable if you don’t fully trust a VPN provider. After all, can’t they still see your data?
In the past, there have indeed been VPN providers that turned out to be selling the data of their users. However, this generally happens with free VPN services or unreliable brands.
Trusted VPN providers use a strict no logs policy, meaning they do not store any information about their users or their internet traffic. Additionally, free or very cheap VPNs often lack essential security features like a kill switch or DNS leak protection.
To help you choose only the most trustworthy VPNs, we’ve created a Recommended page where you can find the best VPN providers available right now.
