5 Reasons to Use a VPN Service

There are so many benefits to using a VPN service when browsing the Internet, it shocks me that so many people do without. If you’re one of those wondering whether you should sign up with a VPN provider, let me convince you to do so with the following five reasons – I’m confident they’ll help you make up your mind!

Privacy

Any VPN service worth its salt will come equipped with tough encryption protocols that’ll give you greater privacy and security when surfing the Internet. Look for services that offer OpenVPN and use 256-bit AES encryption – by far the strongest on the market! Using this will allow you to hide your online activities from your Internet service provider (not to mention any data-collecting governments).

Geo-location spoofing

Many people use VPNs to spoof their geo-location. That is, to make it appear as if their IP address is originating from another country. The primary reason for doing this is to access geo-restricted content, such as the wildly-popular US Netflix library, Hulu and BBC iPlayer, or to access sites restricted to their home country when on a vacation, academic exchange, or business trip.

Censorship evasion

Using a good VPN service allows you to easily hop over any bans or censors. I’m not just talking about government censorship like China’s infamous “Great Firewall”, either (although they are able to do that!). Many schools and workplaces ban certain websites (such as Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms) to keep their students and workers from getting distracted. Using a VPN on your desktop or mobile allows you to bypass these annoying blocks.

Safe torrenting

No matter what you call it – torrenting, downloading, P2P, or file-sharing – obtaining content via BitTorrent is risky business. Copyright holders routinely scrutinize P2P downloads of their property to catch and take legal action against those who do it. That said, there is some good news: if a provider permits P2P file-sharing, you can use a VPN to protect yourself while torrenting. This is because VPNs change your IP address to that of their VPN servers, therefore keeping copyright holders and Internet service providers from being able to track you.

Protection from hackers

Many people think that Wi-Fi hotspots are a godsend, and connect to them whenever they find them available in a coffee shop, restaurant, airport, or the like. However, what many people do not know is that public Wi-Fi is incredibly dangerous. This is because cyber criminals can easily set up fake Wi-Fi hotpots (for example, setting one up at the airport and calling it “FREE AIRPORT WI-FI”), which they can use to access the devices of unsuspecting individuals who connect to them. To protect yourself from this cyber threat, only access public Wi-Fi via a VPN.