Tips to Secure Your Privacy Online

A CEO of a popular video hosting website mentioned that every minute, around 400 hours’ worth of content is uploaded onto its servers. In an age of continuous information and data, your privacy is at stake. Your internet traffic data might leak, which is a clear infringement on your privacy. How do you ensure that your data is not in the wrong hands? Here are a few tips on how to protect your data.

Use a VPN

A VPN is a virtual private network. Any website that you go to has a domain name and an IP address. An IP is known as the internet protocol address, which is a numerical label assigned to a device for using the internet for communication. A domain name functions as a link to an IP address. Whenever you search for anything on the internet, you can be tracked back to your IP address. A VPN serves to address this issue.

VPN began when businesses who were working remotely had to coordinate huge data. They ran the risk of their data being hacked or stolen. When you use a website, there is a risk of your data being misused due to a visible IP address. A hacker can then intercept this data and steal your information. This is dangerous when doing payments online or sending personal information. VPN creates a tunnel between the user and the host server of the website. It redirects your IP address and if someone is trying to hack into your account, they end up at a dead road. VPNs also create an extra server for the user, which sees the data first going through the VPN server and then coming to you.

A VPN service is essential and helps you from hackers and data leakage. Privacy is an important feature of our day and age where everything is visible. VPN services, such as NordVPN, offer protection on various fronts. They even have a no-logs policy, which means that Nord doesn’t track or collect your data.

Protect Your Devices

You use your phone for work, watching movies, and gaming. Ever heard of such a person? No, right. If you use a VPN for a single device but ignoring the rest, you are at risk. Nowadays we have multiple devices for separate use. Phone for communication, a laptop for work. Most VPN services offer protection on multiple devices. NordVPN offers as many as six devices in their services. Running a business also has the risk of data leaks and hacking. Using a VPN would be helpful to protect your data.

Probably the most important device to protect from hackers is your wifi-router. If you use Wired Equivalent Privacy(WEP) security, this means that the router is outdated. A cybercriminal can walk into your network and steal your information. You need to upgrade to a Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) or WPA3 to protect your data. The first method would be to turn on your network’s firewall. A firewall is a security device that monitors all traffic and permits or blocks data based on the settings you choose. Many routers have a stealth mode to reduce your network’s visibility. This means that a person driving by your house cannot see your network on their phone.

The second method would be to avail of a VPN. Most VPNs cost less than 10 dollars a month, with an annual payment being lower. A VPN then disguises your true address with a fake IP address. This can be explained from a scene in the first Harry Potter film. Harry wears an invisibility cloak and uses a personal map to get around the castle. The cloak is the VPN and the map is the VPN’s server.

Protect Your Data

Perhaps the most important function of a VPN is protecting your data. Whenever you use the internet, your IP sends a request to your Internet Service Provider(ISP). Though this takes milliseconds, imagine the number of times you have done. The ISP is now tracking and logging your online behavior, without your knowledge. The ISP can then sell your data to advertisers, who then send you personalized ads.

You are sitting in a coffee shop and using public wifi. Work is getting done, with some somber music being played. Public wifi is open, thus dangerous and a hotspot for hackers. A common attack made on public wifi is the ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack. This is when an attacker secretly relays and alters the communication between two parties without their knowledge.

A VPN would immediately solve this problem. It creates a separate tunnel, which leads the attacker to an altogether new location. This is done when it alters your IP address. A VPN connection is private, which ensures your privacy and data safety.

Mask Your Location

Your Internet Protocol(IP) address can be easily tracked and misused. This can be used to hack into your devices, which sees you lose all your data. A VPN would help you to mask your location. How does this happen?

It virtually places you in a different location. It will make it seem that you are in the same place as the server location. For example, your IP is that of Denver. If you use a VPN, the encrypted tunnel will give you an address of Amsterdam. NordVPN has an excellent hide IP feature.

Block Malware

Malware is any software that is designed to infiltrate and steal information without the users’ consent. In 2017, a certain ransomware hit millions of computers all over the world. Installing a VPN on your work laptop might go some way to solve the problem. It can block known malware websites, phishing scams, and ads that contain malware. Besides, they also remove the annoying ads which pop up quickly when you are browsing.

NordVPN has an advanced cybersecurity solution called CyberSec, which ensures your device will be safe from DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks. A DDoS attack is when an attacker makes multiple attacks on the bandwidth or the resources of a system, rendering services unavailable. These services are mainly ones which are connected to the internet. Cybersec will directly cut any communication between your device and the command center of the attack.

Conclusion

You might have heard of proxy servers. The difference between a proxy server and a VPN is that a proxy server doesn’t encrypt your connection. It is vulnerable to attacks, especially when using a public Wi-fi connection. A VPN connection, on the other hand, shields your IP address and encrypts the connection. In these connected times, it is easy to stay connected but staying safe is a different challenge altogether, unless you have NordVPN by your side!