How Private Is The Internet
Safe internet access with VPN?
Hi, I haven’t been able to find a good answer on the internet to this question–can VPNs provide safe internet browsing access? Say you have a safe, private internet connection at home. Say you are in a cafe with unsecured wireless. Could you connect to your home network with the VPN and then use your home network’s internet access with VPN from the cafe?
Or would you need remote desktop software to use your home internet connection from the cafe? Can anyone point me to an article that answers this definitively, because there are lots of articles on VPNs that claim they allow safe browsing, but don’t mention how.
I thought in general VPNs can allow you to safely connect to a home or office network for file access, but that doesn’t mean you can safely access the general internet…unless you can use your home or office network’s internet connection, right? Thanks!
There is no need to connect to your home computer. In fact, your home computer is probably less secure than the VPN providers servers. For example if you are on a cable modem at home you are on a shared connection. Anyone can see your stuff on the network who is on the same share as you.
Nobody is going to break the encryption of a good VPN on the fly. People at the hotspot will not be able to see anything you are doing as all traffic will flow through the encrypted tunnel. There is no risk of anyone getting to you from the hotspot once you log into the VPN.
Since you exit the VPN on a server somewhere far away your data is as secure as it’s going to get. However, remember that once it exits the VPN server it continues across the internet unencrypted. So this is an answer to prevent hackers at the coffee shop from getting your stuff. This is not end to end military grade security but since you’re not using any encryption from home and consider that OK then you’re not looking for this level of security.
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