On Thursday, December 5th we learned what a VPN (Virtual Private Network) was, and what Club members use them for. It’s difficult to assess if the average user needs one because a lot of the articles about them are written by affiliated techies. We watched this informative video.
Most members who subscribe to a VPN, use it to make it look to websites as if their computer is in the UK so they can watch UK TV streams such as BBC iPlayer which are not available overseas. VPNs also hide your location when torrenting. Peter uses one to enhance his online privacy.
There are downsides to using VPNs which are summarised in this article: Top 12 Disadvantages of VPN That You Should Know About . The most significant seem to be slow connection speeds and the increasing cost of subscriptions. This article gives links to current subscription fees: Best VPN services December 2024. VPN providers are adding additional security features such as anti-phishing tools, and of course, charging for them! Free VPNs may actually be selling your browsing data (via advertising) rather than protecting privacy and some VPN apps have been identified as Malware. The VPN bundled with the Opera browser is no longer free.
Peter noted that not using a VPN could slow your internet connection if you are downloading (say a movie) from a torrent site. This is because your ISP could detect the torrenting activity and throttle back your bandwidth. A VPN would circumvent this problem and also hide your location from the authorities. Chris remarked that using a torrent for movies was not illegal in Spain so long as the movie file is for private and not commercial use. It is illegal in Germany, however – so you’d be advised to use a VPN when torrenting on the move!
This discussion on Reddit demonstrated how polarised opinions are! : https://www.reddit.com/r/VPN/comments/1g5kiow/do_i_really_need_a_vpn/
Chris looked back on last week’s notes to share her research on cases of Man in the Middle attacks on the general public . She noted that a VPN would not have protected a victim in a recent case in Australia in which the hacker lured users into logging into a fake WiFi network using their Facebook login and password. i.e. it was a simple phishing technique. https://javeacomputerclub.com/2024/12/01/online-risks-its-not-their-technology-its-our-gullibility/
We also took a fresh look at HaveIbeenpwned and the huge number of data breaches which have taken place over the years.
The conclusion was that as far as individual users are concerned, VPNs are now less important as security tools than they were, but they do protect your privacy. These days bad actors focus on phishing and tricking users into installing malware on their devices to steal personal information and identities. We, in turn should be looking at up to date methods of protecting our passwords and online accounts.
,Christine Betterton-Jones – Knowledge junkie