So it seems like you can't go anywhere these days
without hearing about VPNs and for pretty good reason.
If we're putting more and more of our lives up there
in the cloud, we have to make sure
that we're doing it securely so that your data
stays with you and my data stays with me.
I've already talked about how I've moved my family under
more secure messaging and how I'm trying to get everybody to
use stronger passwords with the help of password managers.
Now it's time to dive into the deep end.
It's time for VPNs.
(upbeat music)
VPN stands for
Think of things like this.
Your internet provider as it stands today,
whether you are at home or in the office
or even on your phone, that's one tunnel,
and as you switch from your home network
to your office network to your phone,
those are all separate tunnels, right?
As you're moving through these tunnels,
the various providers can actually see what's going on
to a certain extent, and when you're on
one of those free wifi spots, say at the coffee shop
or the grocery store or wherever,
anyone else on that open network can sniff what's going on
flying through the air, all the data as well.
That's where VPNs come in.
Think of a VPN as a tunnel within that tunnel
only it's opaque, it's encrypted.
People on the outside tunnel can't see into your
virtual, private tunnels, so it's more secure.
You're still browsing websites.
You're still getting email.
You're still doing whatever, only now,
people on the outside can't see you.
Same goes for your location, too, by the way.
This is the sort of thing, if you've ever gone to China,
you know what I'm talking about.
China is behind a big government firewall.
VPNs allow you to set different endpoints that say,
"I'm not actually in China anymore, I'm in France,
or the US, or wherever, and then you can get back
to all your usual websites.
The downside to this, things might be a little bit slower
and you're gonna have to be able to set them up
in the first place, right?
Now, I know what you're thinking, wait,
this still sounds really scary, and on one hand, it kinda is
because it really comes down to a matter of trust.
Who do you trust with your data?
Do you trust your internet service provider,
which by the way, is probably been in the news a lot lately,
talking about whether or not they can sell your data,
or do you trust the builder of this new virtual,
private tunnel thing we're talking about using,
which will also be able to see all your data.
That's kinda the big question here
before we even get to which VPN you should consider.
Do some homework, right?
You're gonna wanna read their blogs.
You're gonna wanna check their About pages.
Go on Reddit, go on Twitter, go on Facebook, wherever.
Ask your friends what they're using
and why they like their VPN.
What, your friends don't all use VPNs?
It's just me?
Another question I get a lot:
do you have to use a VPN every second of every day?
You'll have to, but you can't.
Like I said earlier, if you log on to a public wifi spot,
wifi on your airplane, or wifi in your coffee shop,
or wifi in the grocery store,
or when you're getting your oil changed,
if there's not a password on that wifi spot,
it's an open spot.
You want to use a VPN.
Or if you want to add just another layer of security,
not foolproof, but one more layer,
that's when you want to use a VPN.
Or if you want to obfuscate where you are
for whatever reason, legal reasons,
please, then you want to use a VPN.
Or if you are doing something that maybe you just
don't want your internet service provider to know about,
again, legal things, boys and girls,
but then you might want to use a VPN.
It's one of those things that I
actually have to remind myself.
I'm at the gym.
The gym is a relatively safe place, right?
It's still an open wifi spot for me,
so yes, I turn on the VPN.
The good news is, VPNs have gotten a lot easier to set up.
Most services have installer packages
that will help you through the process,
whether it's on your computer or on your phone,
but the gist is this, you're gonna have a new username.
You're gonna have a password, and you're going to connect
to a server somewhere, and that's how the VPN works.
Then it's just up to you to remember to turn it on.
Phones often have always-on VPN options at this point
but I generally just turn it on when I need it.
So which VPN should you use?
That is the $75,000 question and I'm not gonna answer it.
The thing, again, you have to do your homework.
I want you to read up on these services
before you fork over any of your money.
And you're gonna have to compare prices, right?
They all cost different things.
Some have lifetime pricing.
Others, you pay per month.
Some are free, but remember this about free services.
If your not giving them money,
they're making money off you some other way,
and don't be married to a single VPN provider, right?
If it slows down or otherwise does anything that you
just aren't quite sure about, stop using it.
Go use a different one.
Alright, fine, fine, which one am I using?
There're actually a few out there
whose names I will through out.
Private Internet Access, PIA,
that's a big one you hear a lot about.
Pure VPN is another.
I've been beta testing Proton VPN,
which is from the Proton mail people in Switzerland
and so I like them a lot and that's what I've been using
for awhile now and I'll probably be paying for that,
but again, do your homework, please.
Read up on it yourself.
Now I'm just a regular user like you guys out there,
so if there are any other tips and hints about VPNs
that I haven't covered here,
let us all know down in the comments.
Be sure to subscribe to the channel if you haven't already.
Sign up for the newsletter if that's your sort of thing.
I'm having a lot of fun with that.
Do your homework, please, VPNs.
Stay safe out there.
See ya next time.
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