There is no clear definition of the concept of VPN either in programming textbooks or in administration ones. In some countries such connections are strictly prohibited or planned to be banned; nevertheless, leading IT companies that produce their own products in the form of routers, and also help configure this equipment, build VPN into their hardware.
To put it briefly, a VPN is a special technology that lets you do anything you want on the internet while encrypting every action and remaining unnoticed. In the era of «freedom» of speech, the Virtual Private Network has gained wide publicity. The most common example of transmitting and exchanging encrypted information — Telegram.
Virtual Private Network - secure access to the entire internet
Remaining unnoticed while browsing content on the global web — is far from the main purpose of a «private network». Beyond the negative publicity, this technology has quite a few positive sides. For example - information that requires protection.
There are plenty of portals, websites and servers on the internet distributing various kinds of information. Our website is no exception. The blog contains useful articles of both an educational and a technical nature. If we planned to restrict access to this information for certain people, we would place such pages in a virtual private network, and only those who were allowed would gain access.
The same goes for restrictions; under such conditions two things become possible:
- Blocking access to a web resource for people based on geographic location;
- Reducing the likelihood of people without a private communication channel penetrating the server.
Location, encryption, MD5
Using a home network, that is, classic Wi-Fi, is simple. If your printer is connected to the network, you can print the documents you need by uploading them from your phone. And with a VPN, for example, you can lay a «virtual» connection over the internet and use your home network from 10, 100, 1000 or hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
Some services that offer their VPN solutions for purchase deliberately determine your location; they contain a hidden, special tracking mechanism. Of course, the logic of «complete client confidentiality» is lost in that case.
If you plan to use a purchased VPN for your own purposes, carefully study its documentation and how it will be used.
A properly set up and configured VPN tunnel will, in theory, completely hide where you are; from that moment on, this information will be known only to you.
No one in the world will be able to determine or obtain information about your location. This is the main advantage of a VPN.
All that a person who wants to decrypt the data you transmit (which is encrypted with the MD5 algorithm during transfer) will see is a string:
67011245EFGY564814JG84THUR4686DB – given as an example, multiplied 100 times.
Large corporations also use VPN connections
Many companies try to protect data that could fall into the hands of fraudsters or other organizations (competitors). To this end, all activity on the company network is governed by the use of a private, turnkey virtual private network.
Another plus is the ability to keep everyone connected within a single closed and protected network.
Other advantages of your own private network
- Inside such a network it is easier to back up information and then transfer it to the server;
- Control and configuration in this case are handled by one or several trusted persons;
- Traffic flows within a limited area, which means additional security.