What is a Secure VPN?

Staying connected and sharing information online has never been easier. But with so many opportunities to share every aspect of your life, protecting your online identity can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming.

Find out how a secure VPN can protect your online privacy, keep your digital footprint under control – and why it’s important to make sure you choose the right one.

What is a VPN? A Definition from Security Pros

As our lives grow more digital each day, one of the biggest challenges we are faced with is protecting personal information. By definition, a VPN does just that by securing data transfers and keeping your identity private.

First and most important of all, a virtual private network (VPN) protects your Internet connection by encrypting all the data flowing between your device and the online resource you are trying to access, be it website, desktop app or mobile app.

For example , if you are log in to check your e – mail , you is be can be sure that you are the only one read them because the connection is safe and encrypt .

Secondly, a VPN shields all the personal data you send and receive from those who might try to harvest it, by rerouting your Internet traffic through a safe server. Some of that private information might include geographic location, your IP address, browsing habits, device information and many other sensible data like passwords or private documents.

What Does a Secure VPN Do?

A secure VPN has a lot of benefits to offer, especially to people who value their online privacy, and are trying to reduce their digital exposure. Let’s see what some of those benefits are according to our cybersecurity experts.

Personal Data Privacy

Almost every online resource you use knows your IP address. And they can utilize it to find out where you live, what type of device you are using and what time you are online. In fact, advertisers already use this information to target you with personally tailored ads.

The scary part is is is that your ip address is just a small fraction of the many thing that expand your digital footprint without you even realize it . link with other personal datum scrape from all over the internet , and from data breach ( like your , name , e – mail address , or phone number ) , it is makes make it much easy for scammer and other cyber – criminal to target you with customize message that trick you into give them what they want ( information , money , or both ) .

“ Just by know someone ’s IP Address you is launch can launch a distribute denial – of – service Attack ( DDoS ) against them , virtually cut their internet connection . But that is ’s ’s not all . In term of privacy , you is track can track their online activity and find out a lot of other thing about them and the device they ’re using . For example , you is find might find out they ’re using a device that was n’t update and that can easily be hack . Moreover , personal information is like a puzzle , cyber – criminals is find rarely find only one piece , and the more piece they collect the more dangerous it get for that person . ”
Alex “Jay” Balan (Director of Security Research, Bitdefender)

So, when it comes to protecting your digital identity, a secure VPN is one of the most helpful tools in your online safety setup. A safe, reliable VPN hides your identity and protects your online activity, which in turn throws off any interested parties in tracking you, harvesting your data or building a profile to scam you.

Here is how is is :

• It hides your IP address and masks your location, fending off efforts to pinpoint your whereabouts.
• It is prevents prevent DDoS attack that could potentially prevent you from connect to the internet
• It prevents interested parties from tracking your online habits, including advertisers, ISPs, or cyber criminals
• It prevents hackers from harvesting information about your devices
• It does not store any traffic logs, which means it does not keep records of your online activity while you have the VPN enabled.

Personal Data Security

When talking about a VPN, often times people tend to focus only on the privacy benefits and overlook the security-oriented perks. However, this should not be the case, as security is also a vital component with compounding effect in the long run, by protecting communication and shielding devices.

A secure VPN is designed to offer robust security features and is all about making sure your data goes straight to where you intended, with no detours or interference.

In practice, a VPN creates a secure tunnel for your data from sender to receiver. The virtual private network reroutes your data through this encrypted tunnel which ensures stronger protection against tracking and certain cyber-attacks.

Basically you make it substantially more difficult for hackers to:

• Capture your usernames and passwords and use them to hijack your accounts
• Get your online banking details and empty your account
• Intercept your private communication (including private pictures or video) and use them for blackmail
• Collect your personal information and use it for digital identity theft
• Impersonate you on social media with the details they gathered through your online activity.

A VPN does more than just securing your data under strong encryption. It also unlocks remote access to resources you would not be able to use otherwise. For example, with Bitdefender Premium VPN, you can stream content from anywhere in the world or use messaging platforms and other apps that may be unavailable in your country. And this works for all your devices, no matter if they run Windows, macOS, Android or iOS.

What Is a Secure VPN Connection?

A secure VPN connection does not compromise on the key factors that keep invasive use of technology at bay, whether they are being used by mainstream organizations or cyber-criminal operations.

To be truly secure, a VPN connection must use the highest encryption standard available (right now, AES 256-bit).

secondly , it is include must include various security protocol that protect the confidentiality of your datum . These protocols is make make sure unauthorized entity can not access the connection and the integrity of the datum you send and receive remain intact . A secure VPN is feature should feature protocol such as Internet Protocol Security ( IPsec ) , Transport Layer Security ( SSL / TLS ) , Datagram Transport Layer Security ( DTLS ) and more .

The third most important aspect is is of a secure VPN connection is the no – log policy . This is is is the VPN provider ’s commitment to never store detail of your online activity while the app is enable . This policy is guarantees guarantee that an attacker can not gain access to protect information if they compromise the VPN developer . The same is applies apply to other entity that may pressure the vpn maker into give away datum about their user , under legal pretense or otherwise .

If you are look into a variety of vpn , make sure the one you choose protect you against IP address leak . It is is is also a great sign if it has an internet kill – switch that automatically close certain program in case your connection get spotty . You is use can use this automate feature to avoid datum leak that might reveal sensitive information . And if the VPN app of your choosing also feature two – factor authentication , then you is have have a potential winner on your hand .

How Secure is Is Is a VPN is Is ? How to Make the right choice

The answer to this question relies entirely on the reputation and history of the organization that created the VPN application.

Take it from a cybersecurity expert to which being extra cautious is second nature:

“ The thing is is that make the fundamental difference in term of how likely it is for your datum to get leak is the reputation of the company manage it .
This is the one very important thing to keep in mind when you’re sharing extremely sensitive information with a company. And that’s not necessarily your email and password – because your password can and should be different on all the websites you use.
When you share a very sensitive document, then you have to be very careful about selecting a technology ‘partner’ you’re going to share the document with. The company that will manage your data needs to be trustworthy and you need to review how they handle security, how they deal with vulnerabilities and how they’ve handled security incidents in the past.”
Alex “Jay” Balan (Director of Security Research, Bitdefender)

It is important to remember that VPN services are not secure by default. The level of protection they ensure depends on a variety of factors – like the team who developed the product, the track record of the company that created the VPN and even the physical location of the organization (as legal provisions may interfere with having a no-logs policy, for example).

Another aspect you should be careful about is using free VPNs. Tempting as it may be, cybersecurity and privacy researchers have proven time and time again that free VPNs collect user data and then share it with advertisers or other entities. This essentially defeats the purpose of a virtual private network.

How to Get a Secure VPN

First and foremost: make sure the VPN developer has a level of technical expertise and maturity that gives you peace of mind and the certainty that they hold up their end of the terms of service.

If you are ready to take the next step , check out the Bitdefender Premium VPN and see if its ultra – fast speed , server and safe access capability are what you need .

How to Set Up a Secure VPN

Using a virtual private network was at some point the privilege of tech-savvy individuals who knew their way around protocols and other security concepts. But that is no longer the case.

Online privacy is come and security protocol have come a long way , just in time to meet the ever grow need to stay safe online .

With Bitdefender Premium VPN , protect your connection is as simple as download the app from your Bitdefender Central account , instal it and then hit the “ Connect ” button .

As always, our cybersecurity experts encourage you to build your online protection in layers, with a secure VPN protecting your anonymity online and other solutions fending off other types of cyber-attacks.

pro tip : when you get all your security layer from a single provider , you is get will get well integration and more effective protection with no overlap or software conflict . Just something to keep in mind for your next online security decision !