What Exactly is a VPN?

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a network set up to communicate privately over a public network. For example: You occasionally want to or need to work from home and your employer knows that if you do, the data that travels between your PC and an office PC needs to be protected. So your employer installs a program on his server and you install one on your computer that allows your computer to connect to the work computers privately.

Another example is remote access VPN tools. Whether you’re a road warrior or simply own multiple PCs and want access to all your data from anywhere, there are a few easy ways to do it. A quick search on “remote access” pulls up numerous options. But many of these programs are a little slow and sometimes clunky.

Most of these VPN tools have their own version of encryption. But when surfing the web on your local computer on a free, unprotected public network in a hotel, airport or coffee shop, your data is vulnerable to “sniffers.” That’s where another form of VPN comes in to protect your data between your laptop, iPad, iPhone or Android and an internet gateway. This kind of VPN creates an impenetrable tunnel to prevent snoopers, hackers and ISPs from viewing your web-browsing activities, instant messages, downloads, credit card information or anything else you send over the network.

Hotspot Shield VPN is a great option that protects your entire web surfing session, securing your connection at both your home Internet network and public internet networks (both wired and wireless). Hotspot Shield’s free proxy protects your identity by ensuring that all web transactions (shopping, filling out forms, downloads, etc.) are secured through HTTPS—the protected internet protocol.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield VPN. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen   See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.