Each one of us is being tracked while we are online for any length of time. The most obvious evidence of that is online advertising on social media forums like Facebook.
No matter where you are, you’ll see online ads promoting services or products in your area. In many cases, they’ll be closely based on your taste.
Of course, this isn’t a coincidence. And we all know how Facebook abuses user data. But lately, they hardly even try to hide it. In countries like the USA, where Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have already been given an A-okay for selling user data, there isn’t much hope left for online privacy.
But that’s where Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) come in. VPNs protect your online privacy by encrypting your internet traffic and your connection.
It’s like your data passes through a protected tunnel to your VPN server from where it reaches the website or portals you visit. As your traffic is only visible when exiting the VPN server, your IP address appears to be that of the server address.
That’s how a VPN masks both your identity and your location. So, no third parties or even your ISP can track your internet activity or your location.
However, many people tend to confuse the boundaries between an antivirus program and a VPN. The two are entirely different. Many premium antivirus programs offer VPN as part of their package. But VPNs alone don’t provide all the different layers of protection that your antivirus software provides.
The main objective of a VPN is to offer online anonymity for the users and protect your information against prying eyes. But there are other benefits to a VPN as well, which we’ll discuss further ahead in the article.
Why are VPNs gaining popularity?
Data and privacy breaches are taking place at an alarming rate. As upsetting as it is for both individuals and organizations, data protection is becoming that much harder.
As technology develops further, online privacy becomes more difficult to protect. On the other hand, bad actors have found more ways to access your personal information.
But VPNs help block online tracking and make the users feel safer on the internet. That’s why more and more people are turning towards VPNs to protect their privacy.
According to Global Market Insights, the VPN market is expected to receive a tremendous boost in the coming years and exceed $54 billion by 2024. This figure was only $17 billion in 2018.
VPNs were already gaining demand before the COVID-19 outbreak, believed to achieve continued growth at 12% CAGR, reaching a market size worth of $70 billion by 2026.
But the post-pandemic world has seen an enormous increase in internet activity with millions of people working from homes, which has given a sudden boost to the VPN industry.
With its demand has risen to 41% in the second half of March, the VPN market now continues at a 22% higher rate than the forecasted pre-pandemic levels.
Factors contributing to VPN Popularity
Privacy protection and post-COVID conditions are not the only reasons to propel the VPN industry’s growth. This growth is a sum of several other factors. Let’s see what those are.
1. Safeguarding Privacy
As discussed above, online privacy and information leaks are among the top concerns for internet users today.
Your ISPs log your data, and they can see everything you do online. And then, of course, there are hackers. Both these parties sell your data to third parties and make money off of that.
These days governments and law enforcement agencies are also turning towards citizen surveillance using data logging. Moreover, after the US Senate approved for ISPs to sell user data without their approval, the concern has further risen among citizens.
Another trend that adds to the incidents of privacy leaks is the increasing number of connected IoT devices. Many smart devices are both eyes and ears for the hackers inside people’s homes.
Since VPNs encrypt all the data traffic from your computer, including your location, they help protect personal information and prevent leaks.
Many VPN providers now offer an automatic kill switch, which is a useful feature and automatically turns off your internet if there’s a lag in the VPN connection. This ensures that your personal information is never compromised.
2: Remote Work Culture
Post-COVID millions of people are working from home, and this trend is expected to continue even after the COVID situation clears up. Many employees use personal devices to work from home, and of course, they use home Wi-Fi networks.
Another trend that’s becoming common is for employees to bring personal devices into work called bring-your-own-device or BYOD.
This is cost-effective for employers and convenient for employees as well when they have to work from home. A study has revealed many benefits of this new trend, including increased productivity and improved mobility.
These and other benefits have given a steep growth for the BOYD industry, expected to reach $366.95 billion by 2022, compared to just $94.15 billion in 2014.
Both these trends mean a similar growth for the VPN industry since companies need employees to encrypt their connection to ensure the safety of sensitive information.
Almost 74% of remote employers already ask workers to use VPN to carry out their tasks in a secure environment.
A VPN ensures safe access to the company’s internal networks and resources and protects your home network from serious digital threats such as man-in-the-middle attacks.
A VPN ensures safe access to the company’s internal networks and resources and protects your home network from serious digital threats such as man-in-the-middle attacks.
3: Geo-Blocking
Another reason people use a VPN is to enable access to geo-restricted content or websites. Many governments block certain websites or services for the general public, for political or other reasons.
A VPN is a handy tool for people wanting to access blocked websites. It is especially useful for researchers, reporters, and even students. As VPN masks your real IP address and thus your location, you are safe in accessing the restricted information.
However, governments like China and Russia have banned VPNs that don’t comply with government censorship policies. But many VPN providers with stealth capabilities may be able to offer a work-around for that.
Similarly, many service providers like Hulu show different content to users in different countries. That’s why people use a VPN to stream videos or access other content of their choice by connecting to the VPN server in a location where that content is allowed.
4: Benefits for Travelers
VPNs also have many advantages for travelers. For instance, when you travel to a different country, you may not be able to access the same content (videos or websites you’re familiar with).
Or you can’t access websites in a familiar language. However, just by connecting to a VPN server back in your home country, you can access those sites in your language.
A VPN also helps travelers get cheaper airfare and shopping rates as listed prices differ from region to region. You can use a server from a location where prices are cheaper and buy your tickets or other products at lower rates.
Travelers also need to frequently connect to public Wi-Fi or poorly protected private Wi-Fi at airports, hotels, and cafes. In both cases, a VPN is their best friend. We discuss ‘how’ in detail below.
5: Use of Public Wi-Fi
Public Wi-Fi hotspots are a bit of heaven for hackers. They are usually unprotected or inadequately protected. Don’t think that the password-protected ones are any better.
Hackers use the same Wi-Fi name and password as, say, a coffee shop and so customers can easily connect to the fake Wi-Fi.
If that happens, it’s very easy for hackers to access personal information on an unsecured device, such as photos, messages, financial details, and online account credentials.
But because a VPN encrypts your connection, you’re protected even when connected to a public Wi-Fi. The VPN will bypass the coffee shop ISP and hackers won’t even know that you’re on the same network as them.
6: Private or Professional Collaboration
VPNs come in handy when you want to have a private or professional online meeting. Many chat apps offer end-to-end encryption, but voice-over-IP (VOIP) apps don’t provide any such protection.
But by using a VPN, users make sure that their conversations are kept private, and “eavesdroppers” don’t get to intercept their calls. They help protect work-related virtual meetings and ensure that no sensitive information or novel ideas leak out.
However, all members in a meeting must protect their connections with a VPN to ensure maximum security.
VPNs also allows you to use chat apps, even in countries where they are banned. Additionally, VPNs help when employees travel to other countries where they may have restricted access to certain portals or strict regulations for data exchange with other countries.
VPNs are useful when you need to bypass such regulations. They ensure a secure connection where employees can easily connect back to their company resources and networks without issues.
What does the future of VPNs look like?
The future of VPNs is closely related to the future of privacy. In all certainty, online security concerns and privacy issues are going to keep rising in the future. The growing number of smart devices, as well as IoT devices, also poses risks of information leaks.
As per the Global Web Index, 35% of internet users around the globe already use VPNs. That means that the VPN industry will grow bigger and become more affordable for common users as well as adaptable for potential future risks.
Just like many other features that come built into the devices now, we might also see devices with built-in VPN features. This is certainly something to look out for as the demand for integrated security features is already rising.
Which VPN should I choose?
Here is a video covering the best VPN providers out there.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ly6NPTRIZQY
(If you use WordPress, you just need to paste this URL for the embed to appear.)
Author Bio:
Hajra Khan is an article writer, blogger, and Environmentalist. Hajra has extensively researched the field of emerging information technologies, and she is keen to see how they shape up the realm of information technology in the future.
Email address: khan.hajra@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hajra-khan-34249539/
