So VPNs, or virtual private networks, have been in the news a lot recently so you may
be wondering what it is, how it works, and whether or not you should be using one.
So let's take a look at what they are and what they get for you and then we'll look
tomorrow at an example of using one on your Mac.
Here's what happens when you're using the internet with no WiFi security and you're
not using websites that are secure.
No HTTPS or secure socket layer connection.
So a typical website that doesn't have high security and you're not using VPN.
You're trying to send characters to the website and they are sent pretty much in the clear.
You send ABC from the computer.
It goes to the WiFi router as ABC.
It goes from there to your ISP, your cable modem provider, your DSL provider, whatever
it is as ABC.
Then from there all the way to the website or server that you're using as ABC.
It's all in the clear.
Anybody intercepting any of that to record it, to log it, to spy on you, anything will
just see exactly what it is that you sent or received from the website.
Now if you have WiFi security, which is typical for most people, you have a password set on
your WiFi or you're using a secure WiFi server in some public place, then things are actually
encrypted from your computer or device to the WiFi network but from there on it could
be in the clear depending upon, you know, if there is any security from the website
end.
But if there is no security on the website, no HTTPS, or there's no VPN, then everything
is sent in the clear and anybody at the ISP level for instance or between your ISP and
the site can see what's going on.
So, how about if there's HTTPS.
You're on a site like say your bank or Amazon or Facebook, or any site where you see that
it's secure.
There's a little lock up in the address bar.
That means it's secure and anything between you and the website is going to be encrypted.
Basically when you start using the website encryption begins between your device and
the site and what you're sending, the ABC in my example here, it what is going to arrive
at the other end but it's encrypted everywhere in-between.
That's really nice and it provides a great level of security although not complete security
as we will soon see.
Now here's a VPN.
What a VPN does, is it creates a secure connection between you, your device, and the VPN is something
that's between your ISP and the website you're visiting.
So it secures everything you're sending between you and the WiFi router, the WiFi router and
the ISP, and the ISP and the VPN.
As long as you trust the VPN, which of course is the whole idea of having a VPN is having
something you can trust, then the only place where you may be unencrypted if there is no
use of a secure website is between the VPN and the site itself.
But your ISP is out of the loop.
They can't know what it is that you're sending back and forth to the website.
So this is a really nice secure way to handle internet and it doesn't matter whether or
not the WiFi is encrypted because you are encrypting everything between you and the
VPN.
So this is a great way to not worry about WiFi security and it's a great way to prevent
your ISP from logging what you're doing and knowing where you've been and what you've
sent back and forth.
Now, what about HTTPS.
Well as I showed before that seemed to provide a more complete solution because it secured
everything from the website all the way to you.
However, it's only securing your data.
Your ISP still knows where you're going because you're typing in say you know Facebook.
Facebook.com and your ISP knows that you're contacting Facebook.com it just doesn't know
what you're sending.
So between your ISP and the server that you're visiting it knows where you're going and if
that is a concern for you, having that logged knowing what website you're going to, that
you use gmail for your email, that you use a certain bank for your banking, that kind
of stuff is still available.
It's just the data that is encrypted.
However, with VPN it doesn't know where you're going as well as what you're sending.
So to complete secure connection past your ISP.
So it provides more security as far as encrypting everything that you're doing.
It's just basically encrypted data being sent between you and your VPN.