Are you aware of the different ways your information could be stolen through VPN services regardless of the gadgets you could be using? There are lots of VPN software today, Cisco VPN, Windows VPN, VPN Mac, VPN iPhone, VPN android and so many other open VPN. It has been proven lately that no matter how safe you protect your information on your phone, laptop or tablet and you are still using VPN network for your connection, you are not safe at all. Hackers have learned about the need for VPN software today and have revived their new hacking skills through VPN server.
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What is VPN?
A VPN in full is termed as a virtual private network. It is a secure tunnel between your device and the internet. VPNs are used to protect your online traffic from snooping, interference, and censorship.
Express-VPN can also act as a proxy, allowing you to mask or change your location and surf the web anonymously from wherever you want.
Who can use VPN Services?
There has been a great load of people using VPN services across the globe nearly in every country. Iraq, Somalia, and Uganda to mention a few; It is a free service for anyone; I hope you have heard of VPN free. Most of the countries relying on VPN services are those with a problem of global connections. We have realized as well that there are countries that fully base their internal communication through VPN access, while people in other countries are only using it to access online services that are globally out of reach to their regions of residence.
Uganda was ranked as one of the countries where VPN proxy services are mostly used for now a year ever since the passing of the Social Media Taxi on all commonly used sites in the country. Among the load of Applications and social media sites that were taxed in 2018 in Uganda are, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and they are about to include Telegram since a big population shifted to using it as a way of avoiding these taxes levied on them.
What can VPN services to for you
I cannot exhaust everything that went on, plus the wrangles that exploded as a result of the passing of the bill. It was a lot. However, there were a few people who had known and used the VPN service. They had obviously used one of the best VPN, Psiphon Pro that had been offensively used to cipher Social data bundles to free data that could access Google and other sites earlier excluded. This part of the population continued to enjoy all social media services on a free run that were meant to be payable.
The government however threatened to block all VPN client software and distribution in the country which was still far off their efforts since new VPN service software were being released, and updates were coming with anti ban features. The number of VPN proxy software available on the internet, including Google pay store kept Ugandan government away from their intentions and many people still downloaded these new versions of the anonymous software.
That was it. Until today, there are big numbers of Ugandan citizens who have never paid social media taxes despite being online 24/7. That was all possible because of VPN service. And it is believed that the country has lost a lot of money as a result of uncontrolled VPN downloads. They claim that the money would have been used for the development of the country at large.
Are VPN services safe to use?
Uganda, however, isn’t the only country relying on VPN services. Lots of other citizens in more developed countries have VPN software installed and used frequently. VPN services do a lot of incredible wonders on the internet; they create a passage (tunnel) that is believed to be secure from boundaries and internal or external service barriers. However, I am not sure if such safe tunnels are really safe for anyone. Hackers use VPN services for malicious acts. These include breaking into government database since the tunnel cannot be traced back; of course, it is safe to some extent.
VPN applications also enable internet users to cross the border and use online services that are specifically not meant for their global regions. For example, you can use a proxy connection, another cool VPN service to download online movies that are meant for USA citizens or sign up for PayPal if your country is not eligible for this online money transaction service.
What Hackers have for you
Despite the good side of VPN services, they have a bad side that could be costly as well. I mentioned earlier on that hacker have invented new forms of hacking through such services that make them anonymous. With such anonymous tunnels that VPN create, you can by any chance exchange a tunnel with a hacker and your information may be in total danger
The good news is that Banks and some online services that transfer money do not accept connections that pass through VPN proxy services but as well, if someone can access your information through a VPN service, then don’t you think he or she can as well dive into the safe chamber of your device or into a network of a corporate company and steal any information he finds?
VPN anonymity assigns a duplicate location, Mac address and a fake IP to a machine such that this information cannot be traced once that computer is involved in any malicious activities over the internet. If this is possible, then imagine a well-equipped hacker establishing an anonymous connection to your company’s intranet connection and hijacks all your information and data exchanged over that connection. Such malicious actions cannot be traced and you will never get the person behind this.
Conclusion
Whereas all this is said, there may be more to read. Russia as a country has taken a step to ban specifically nine VPN software. The country has announced that it will be blocking nine pieces of VPN software within the next month. Back in March, Roskomnadzor – the country’s telecommunications regulation agency – wrote to ten VPN companies, informing them that they had to link their servers to government-run IT systems. This would allow the Russian government to block out sites it’s not a fan of.
In the same line, Firefox is working on a built-in VPN for its Firefox browser as the company prepares to differentiate its offering in an increasingly Chromium-dominated marketplace.
A hidden page spotted by UGTECHMAG shows an advert for the service, entitled “Firefox Private Network” which would cost a penny but clicking the link takes you to a survey page, where it’s explained that the service isn’t available but that your views are being collected ahead of the launch.
This simply means we may be exposed to VPN services without our consent. Like it or not, if Firefox goes on and implements an inbuilt VPN service, we shall connect through VPN proxy in any way. But what of the security of our information? That remains a question unanswered.