Ahhhh VPN…VPN…VPN. We have all been bombarded with this word recently while watching YouTube or any other sponsored segment. We have all heard we need one but don’t want to fork out the money to actually get it but you really should consider getting one now more than ever.
Let’s start with a backstory to why I am writing about this now. The last time when we had to submit a blog post, we had to make comments like always. I didn’t think much of it until a friend messaged me with the picture of this next to my comment:
Now you see that is my public IP address. Generally, websites don’t show us other people’s IP addresses but I guess WordPress does. This number is not really private information hence the name “public” but it was still surprising to see out in the open. I could quite easily find yours if I really wanted to but that’s beside the point. The thing is that I can plug that number into an IP locator website and then take the latitude and longitude that it gives me and put it on a map. Here are the results:
I was relieved but still a bit annoyed. This location isn’t exactly accurate but it’s still within a mile of where I live. So the whole point of this story was to show you why a VPN would help because I don’t know about you but it would be nice if every website that I have ever visited didn’t know my location within a mile’s radius.
Now to get into a bit of the technical details of what a VPN is. VPN stands for virtual private network. Every time you connect to the internet, you are attaching yourself to a network of connected computers and these computers communicate with each other using something called packets which are just bits of information. Here is a simplified illustration of what happened. All the information in the red pipe is shielded from the rest of the computers and even your internet service provider such as AT&T. To the website, your IP address becomes anonymous and can not be tracked back to your location. 
This brings me to my next point. Do Not Use A Free VPN for sensitive information. If you want to access blocked websites that you don’t care much about then it’s fine. But a free VPN routes your packets through their own servers and nothing is stopping them from peeking. The whole idea of increasing your cybersecurity is to make you a less desirable target. No system is perfect but if you are harder to break into than your neighbor then the thief will likely go to your neighbor.
Generally, any well-reputed VPN is a great choice, just make sure you do your research so you know which countries you will have access to and what the device limits are. PIA and NordVPN are pretty popular choices and most will only be a couple of bucks a month for up to 5 devices. Personally, my family buys McAfee Antivirus which comes with a VPN. The antivirus is for unlimited devices so personally, I think it’s a great deal for double the protection.
Lastly, I am going to talk about some of the disadvantages of using a VPN. My biggest issue currently is that VPNs slightly slow down web traffic, this is because the packets have to be encrypted and routed through a longer chain of servers before getting to their destination. In normal day to day web browsing, this delay is not noticeable at all, but during class, the high bandwidth that Zoom uses causes slight delays. This results in me having to turn off my VPN during class for a seamless experience. It also does not stop all the tracking because websites can still monitor you using things like cookies. It also has the problem that you are trusting the company to make sure they have robust encryption and security on their servers so they don’t get hacked and leave your data exposed.
Despite these flaws VPNs are great and they keep improving every year as our systems become more robust and powerful. There are many other uses and advantages of VPNs but, if I mention them all here then this blog will become too long. I might make part two in the future if people are interested. I would love to know more about your strategy for protecting yourself online in the comments section.
Hello Jimit,
This sounds really interesting! How much is a typical VPN that is not free? Also how is it possible that information in the red pipe is shielded? Can’t the public network just read it?
Have there been any incidents that you or other people have encountered in which not having a VPN is a bad thing? For example, has your privacy ever been compromised? Maybe there are some famous examples of this, for example.
I would be interested in reading more about VPNs!
Typically VPNs are 3-7 dollars a month depending on your plan. Generally, all traffic is encrypted regardless of whether or not you use a VPN so the information is useless to a public network(That is what the S stands for in HTTPS). But a VPN even encrypts your identity which means the public network won’t know what websites you are visiting either.
You can read more about VPN safety and data being compromised in this article: https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/can-vpns-hacked-take-deeper-look/
Hi Jimit!
I have to say, I was pretty shocked when I saw that it hands the information out so plainly like that. While this information certainly is “public,” it still has implications outside of just finding your location. Websites and companies recognize that even this public facing IP address can be problematic if known by attackers, which is why firewalls for corporations will generally block ICMP packets (used when you type something like “ping amazon.com” into command prompt) and is why companies and cybersecurity professionals to make sure potentially sensitive IPs can’t appear on something like shodan.io, used for searching for IP addresses related to specific activities or businesses. It’s really impressive how insecure WordPress really is though. Some things you cannot even protect yourself from with a VPN though. For example, WordPress allows you to edit other people’s comments on your own blog without their permission!
https://nnhswordpress.naperville203.org/wjwoker/2021/03/20/is-everyone-cheating-during-the-pandemic-or-why-you-should-come-back-to-school/#comment-30
While I asked you in advance if it would be okay for me to test this feature out, this is EXTREMELY dangerous! Imagine if I edited your comment from a negative response to my post to a positive response. Or, worse, imagine if I edited your comment to be racist or discriminatory? It still lists the comment under your name, and says nothing about my meddling! We’re learning about XSS in cybersecurity class soon, and I’m honestly curious if WordPress doesn’t protect against that. Though don’t worry, I definitely won’t try it without your permission and I DEFINITELY won’t do it if it’s against the law.
Hi Jimit,
As an occasional user of VPN’s, I learned a lot from reading your blog and have to say that this concept of VPN’s is very interesting. I too never thought much about the fact that my IP address was available for anyone to locate, and that information could be handed out so easily. I’m glad that VPN’s exist and give us that extra layer of privacy that we all need. Would you recommend using X-VPN? This is the one I currently use at school to access blocked websites. It is free, which I know you said is not reputable, but what are your thoughts on it?
X-VPN is decent. I have used it in the past as well. Just be sure not to access anything sensitive.
Hi Jimit,
This was a very interesting read! I loved reading about VPNs and have tried numerous before. However, I never actually paid for one. I’ve heard of NordVPN before and actually tried the paid version but never really saw the need to buy a VPN. Most browsing I do is usually on my home PC so I never saw the need to hide my IP. Most of the stuff I do anyways is pretty unimportant anyways. Thanks for the advice again, look forward to looking at your future blogs.
Hey Jimit!
Cybersecurity is a really interesting topic to me, and one that I really wish I understood more of, which is what made your post very interesting to me. My understanding of what you described (in the diagram and elsewhere) is mainly based in the IPSec protocol, which I believe is a way in which endpoints are protected (which are the main flaw in modern [especially free] VPN security). I think a lot of VPN’s function similar to the telephone gig we always see in movies, where the criminal pings a network of satellites before pinging the target phone. I assume then that backtracing in a VPN would then be possible from either endpoint without the IPSec protocol? And if so, are there better methods to cybersecurity than really complex redundancy?
Hey Jimit,
this comment is sponsored by Nord VPN. I’ve always been suspicious of VPNs, I’m not sure where the idea is rooted but I’m worried about the VPN company taking my info, which I guess would be the same as some shady source taking it, except it’s a well known company. I’d also like to ask about McAfee. I’ve only heard bad things about that company, so I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.
To be honest, McAfee overall is not great because it takes up a lot of system recourses and you only can run it well on a powerful computer. Security-wise it is rated to be on par with the other top ones out there so it is not bad. The unlimited devices is what attracts my family because we have A LOT of devices.
Hello Jimit,
The first sentence of your blog caught my eye because I hear “VPN” a lot when I watch sponsored YouTube videos also. The YouTuber will always explain how important it is to be secure online and how this particular VPN is a great deal and blah blah blah, but it always feel disingenuous because it sounds like they are just rehearsing a script that the company gave them to try to persuade people to use their product. I’m sure you can relate to this.
After reading your post, it was eye-opening to see how easily any website can track you. I agree with your reasoning on why we should use VPNs. The sentence about the thief going for your neighbor really struck me, because that is also analogous to real world thieves. They tend to target the less protected people.
I do not have and have never used a VPN, but I believe there is some antivirus software on our personal computer at my house. Thank you for also enlightening me on the technical details of a VPN, because I never knew exactly what they were or how they worked. I’d be interested in a part two for this.
Hi Jimit, VPN’s are extremely useful and as someone who uses one, I agree that VPN’s are great tools to securing our privacy on the internet. It is crazy to think that with an IP address people can do so much with it and it kind of scares me sometimes. In my opinion though, the reduction in internet traffic speed is definitely worth the increased privacy and security you gain from using one.
Hi Jimit,
I think this is a really insightful post, and it shows the danger of leaving your IP exposed like that. I know that at a lot of businesses, they make their employees get VPNs for privacy concerns. Kind of adding on to what Robert said earlier, I was wondering if we really had to be concerned about someone using our IP to track our location down? Plus, VPNs can be very finnicky sometimes (especially when switching connections and WIFi networks).