What is VPN

What Is VPN

VPN is a virtual private network. It can be used for many reasons. VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a secure tunnel between you and a safe server that encrypts and protects you and your information. Everyone needs this type of protection especially they using wireless hotspots, shared networks or any other internet access that is not completely controlled by the user.

Do I need VPN

The explosion of wireless hotspots and other forms of public internet access, the risk of hackers grabbing your data has become a major epidemic, driven by the sheer number of people out there using wireless hotspots, coupled with the ease of stealing your information. Software is easily obtained from various hacker web sites that allow even unskilled people to scan all the data across a network. Now, anyone who wants it can download a wireless hacking kit.

Do we really need a VPN?

‘I have nothing to hide'. May be you’ll be think like that. But the fact is, if you send email or use instant messaging, people can read every word you write. As reported in many newspaper and magazine articles, including the Wall Street Journal, the threat of people hijacking your data is very real -- and growing. The personal VPN is about protecting yourself from those who think nothing of doing you great harm.

What other benefits does VPN provide

When you connect through a secure VPN, your IP address becomes the one of the trusted server you are connected to. Therefore, as you surf the internet, the owners of the websites you visit do not know who you are and cannot collect information on you based on your IP address. When you connect through a personal VPN, you are able to unblock sites because all the requests are made from the remote server, outside the control of the local network owner. Many people living in foreign countries where their internet is limited use a personal VPN to unblock IP phone services and web sites. In example, many people outside of the USA cannot access certain video and other web sites that are only available from American IP addresses. With VPN USA IP based you can solve this problem.

A few types of  VPN security include:

Encrypted tunneling: utilizes SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption to authenticate users and send information between the remote client(s) and server(s). IP Security (IPsec): encrypts IP packets like SSL, but can also encrypt UDP (user datagram protocol) traffic, one layer deeper in the network model. UDP traffic accounts for only a small percentage of network traffic, but is used in some key applications like streaming media, and Voice over IP (VoIP). Point-to-point Protocol (PTPP): Microsoft's VPN protocol, not considered as secure as some others, including IPsec. Other VPN models include "trusted VPNs," which rely on the third party services of an established network provider. The provider handles all network traffic and guarantees the security of VPN communications. Trusted network structures might use multi-protocol label switching (MPLS), layer-2 forwarding (L2F), layer 2 tunneling protocol (L2TP), or later versions of these protocols, such as L2TP version 3. A VPN differs from a WAN (wide area network) in that the latter uses leased network lines, thus restricting all traffic to corporate business only. This is effective but costly, particularly when the network must span large distances.

Types of VPN

1. PPTP VPN

This is the most common and widely used VPN protocol. They enable authorized remote users to connect to the VPN network using their existing Internet connection and then log on to the VPN using password authentication. They don’t need extra hardware and the features are often available as inexpensive add-on software. PPTP stands for Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol. The disadvantage of PPTP is that it does not provide encryption and it relies on the PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) to implement security measures.

2. Site-to-Site VPN

Site-to-site is much the same thing as PPTP except there is no “dedicated” line in use. It allows different sites of the same organization, each with its own real network, to connect together to form a VPN. Unlike PPTP, the routing, encryption and decryption is done by the routers on both ends, which could be hardware-based or software-based.

3. L2TP VPN

L2TP or Layer to Tunneling Protocol is similar to PPTP, since it also doesn’t provide encryption and it relies on PPP protocol to do this. The difference between PPTP and L2TP is that the latter provides not only data confidentiality but also data integrity. L2TP was developed by Microsoft and Cisco.

4. IPsec

Tried and trusted protocol which sets up a tunnel from the remote site into your central site. As the name suggests, it’s designed for IP traffic. IPSec requires expensive, time consuming client installations and this can be considered an important disadvantage.

5. SSL

SSL or Secure Socket Layer is a VPN accessible via https over web browser. SSL creates a secure session from your PC browser to the application server you’re accessing. The major advantage of SSL is that it doesn’t need any software installed because it uses the web browser as the client application.

6. MPLS VPN

MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) are no good for remote access for individual users, but for site-to-site connectivity, they’re the most flexible and scalable option. These systems are essentially ISP-tuned VPNs, where two or more sites are connected to form a VPN using the same ISP. An MPLS network isn’t as easy to set up or add to as the others, and hence bound to be more expensive.

7. Hybrid VPN

A few companies have managed to combine features of SSL and IPSec & also other types of VPN types. Hybrid VPN servers are able to accept connections from multiple types of VPN clients. They offer higher flexibility at both clienbt and server levels and bound to be expensive.