If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear?! Or do you… 

We are living in one of the most surveilled countries in Europe and our every move is watched whether through cameras on the streets or through our Internet Service Provider online.

Why are VPN no longer just used by larger businesses or by people that want to access blocked content?

Just what is VPN?
VPN stands for “Virtual Private Network” and basically creates a private network of computers using a private tunnel on the public Internet network. It’s been used by businesses for years to establish a secure connection for their employees to the internal network.

You either install a VPN client on your computer or use a specially designed website portal with your credentials to establish an encrypted connection and all your emails, browsing etc. will then go through this secure tunnel.

There are also hardware solutions out there where you set up the VPN directly on your router providing all your devices with VPN.

Main Benefits of VPN
– encrypted internet connection secures your communication from prying eyes
– hides your IP address (your router’s address – a bit like your postal address) and location
– increased anti-malware protection

Your Internet Service Provider (i.e. BT, Virgin…) hold a record of all the websites you visit, every file you download… but are you happy with that?

Drawbacks of VPN
– cost
– delay and lack of speed
– potential logging of your data by the VPN service

Which VPN to choose?

It’s a bit like choosing the right Antivirus package – it’s a balance of cost and speed and your personal needs and preferences. For more info on what is on offer and what PC Advisor considered to be “good” have a look at their article Best VPN 2017 UK.

Things to consider when choosing a VPN provider:

– where are they based: i.e. are they part of the “14 Eyes” alliance of countries that are compelled to release data to the government – do you mind?
– are they collecting any data themselves (raising further privacy concerns)
– what devices are supported, i.e. PC, Mac, Kindle, iPad
– permittable purpose of usage, i.e. P2P
– bandwidth, speed, data limits
– cost and payment methods

Need help setting it up?
Don’t worry, once set up it’s actually really easy to use but it can be a little tricky to get set up and get right.
If you need help, just get in touch!

Have PC Harmony,
so you can concentrate on the more important things in life…