A Wall Street Journal article “Why You Need a VPN – and How to Choose the Right One” prompted a discussion on the benefits of using virtual private networks, or VPNs. VPNs help protect online security privacy. But VPNs can cause issues, and other tools complete your toolbox for online security and privacy.
VPN Benefits
The graphic explains what VPNs do: prevent ISPs, hackers and governments from monitoring you by encrypting your Internet traffic, making it invisible to the network you’re using and to the Internet Service Provider. Most VPNs also provide alternate IP addresses, which allow you to circumvent geographical restrictions. For example, China requires VPN providers to be licensed by the government, and unlicensed providers get jail time when caught.
VPN Issues
Although VPNs are an important tool for online security and privacy, they can experience a number of issues:
- VPNs have a history of leaking DNS requests, which can compromise your privacy.
- VPNs may be influenced (funded) by governmental agencies or may provide usage logs under court order.
- Even commercial VPNs like Private Internet Access can have performance issues, and those issues are much more common on ad-supported VPNs.
- Websites sensitive to identity block the IP addresses used by VPNs.
Other Tools for Online Security and Privacy
Other tools address other parts of online security and privacy, including network isolation, secure HTTP, operating system add-ons, and DNS servers.
Network Isolation
Wireless routers often support guest networks that isolate users from other users. If so, even a public network might be safe from snooping by others on the network, but not from the hosting provider or network owner. And, you don’t know if isolation is turned on or not. Use guest networks with isolation on your home network (router) to prevent others from inadvertently impacting your network.
Secure HTTP
Recent changes in privacy laws like the EU’s GDPR and in browsers to warn users of insecure sites are driving an increase in secure HTTP (https). Secure HTTP serves as a “curtain” for your interactions with websites. Most financial institutions and online retailers have used https for years, but now it’s free, so most websites have it now.
Operating System Add-ons and Improvements
Security has significantly improved as operating systems have matured. For example, built-in firewalls and antivirus tools in Windows are as good as 3rd party tools. They don’t have the issues associated with 3rd party tools: degraded performance and incentives to compromise privacy or sell additional tools and services. Ad blockers use your hosts file (HostsMan) or work with your browser (uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger) to block access to sites that host malware. But beware of fake copies of these tools.
DNS Servers (the Internet phone book)
Domain name servers (DNS) that link a web address to a web server are an often overlooked component of privacy. Unless you change them, your devices use the DNS server from your hosting provider, who can use it to track and sell your usage. Even if you use a VPN, your Internet requests might still go through your ISPs DNS server, so it’s best to choose your own. You can define the DNS server on your device or in your router for all devices using your network. A number of public DNS servers (or Lifewire’s list) are free, but may sell usage info to advertisers. Most DNS alternatives perform better than the ISP’s by having better infrastructure. OpenDNS offers web filtering to control access to harmful sites. How-To Geek explains how to choose the best and fastest alternative DNS server. Tools like DNS Jumper (Windows) and Namebench (Mac OS, Windows) compare actual DNS Server speeds on your computer.
Should You Use a VPN? Yes, But…
VPNs help protect your security and privacy. They should be used with an awareness of the issues common among VPNs and with other tools for more complete online security and privacy.
