You might have heard of VPNs, but do you know how they work or their different types?
Perhaps you are a regular VPN user, and you use it for your home or work purposes. Maybe, you used it a couple of times while traveling abroad. Either way, using a VPN is a great way to secure your data and privacy online.
It allows you to access the web securely without being identified by third parties or your local internet service provider (ISP). Besides this, they can’t see your online activity or gain access to the data you exchange over the internet
Let’s discuss how VPN works and the different VPN types to give you a better understanding of this incredible tool.
How VPN Works
A Virtual Private Network or VPN works by simply hiding your Internet Protocol or IP address.
VPNs do this by redirecting your IP through a remote server specially configured and run by your VPN host or provider. The benefit of browsing the internet using a VPN is that its servers become the source of all your incoming and outgoing data automatically.
Any passing of information or data between your device and the VPN host is protected, and no one (apart from your VPN host) can track your online movements or see your data. The websites you visit, your ISP, or any other third-party can’t identify you as the user or see the data being exchanged.
VPNs essentially creates a safe filter between your device and the internet by using encryption. This means if anyone manages to get access to the data being exchanged, they will only see unreadable code that needs a decryption key to become understandable.
Gaining access to your data becomes a moot point for anyone because making sense of it or deciphering the code is impossible.
The Different Types of VPN
There are many types of VPN, and there are also many different types of VPN protocols. We will not discuss them all or dive into VPN protocols. However, we will discuss the three main types of VPN.
- SSL VPN
SSL VPN is mostly used by companies to give employees remote access to business data without compromising on cyber security. It ensures that the connection between the company’s database or server and the employees’ devices are safe and protected from peering eyes.
Oftentimes, many employees do not have a company-issued device, like a laptop or a phone. Employees may use their personal devices for work, and this can create problems for the company’s data security.
Additionally, when the pandemic hit in 2020, work-from-home became the norm, and many companies could not provide enough laptops for all their employees. They had to rely on employees’ private devices to get the work done.
This is where SSL VPN is a great solution. Its implementation is carried through a corresponding hardware box, and employees only need a browser with HTML-5 capabilities. Today, almost every internet browser running on any operating system has HTML-5 capabilities.
Employees simply use their browser to connect with the company’s page and use their username and password to protect data exchange through the SSL VPN.
- Site-to-Site VPN
Site-to-site VPNs are designed to create a private network that works by hiding connected intranets. Users within these networks can securely access and exchange each other’s data and resources without any outside interference.
Site-to-site VPNs are also very useful if you have two separate intranets and you want to send data between them without users from one end openly accessing the other. This VPN type allows for a safe exchange of data without the other party gaining any access.
The vast application of site-to-site VPNs is implemented in large enterprises.
For example, if your company has multiple locations, they will all have their local area network (LAN) connected to the internet. Here, a site-to-site VPN can help you securely connect your company locations.
Site-to-site VPNs are not as flexible as other types of VPN and quite complex, which makes implementing them all the more difficult. Due to this limitation, only large enterprises utilize them for connecting different locations or departments within their organizations in the most secure way possible.
- Client-to-Server VPN
While most VPNs require users to have an existing internet connection from an ISP, client-to-server VPNs do not. This is because they create a direct connection between the VPN host and the user. The internet first connects to the VPN host, and this connection is provided to the user.
This type of connectivity allows the VPN host to encrypt the data before providing it to the user instead of creating an encrypted tunnel to hide the existing internet connection. The only prerequisite for client-to-server VPN to work is that the user’s device must be preinstalled and preconfigured with the VPN client.
You can think of connecting through a VPN client as directly connecting your home computer to your office or company using a very long and safe extension cable.
Client-to-server VPNs have become increasingly popular because they provide superior security by encrypting data the entire way to the provider. It also provides superior security from ISPs in places where access to the internet may be controlled or restricted.
Client-to-site VPNs provide greater efficiency, anonymity, and security in every sense.
Conclusion
VPNs provide immense privacy and protection in a world where privacy is no longer sacred, and your data is collected from every possible outlet. Websites, ISPs, and hackers alike want to capture your data to take advantage for any number of reasons, like showing you annoying ads, change your perception, restrict information to you, or take advantage. Your privacy and data are invaluable, and you should use VPNs to protect them regularly.
If you want to learn more about VPNs, how they work, and their different types or want to implement and utilize a VPN for your business, please Contact Us today!