Virtual Private Network Security – Is it a myth?

VPN may not be as secure as you think. If you are targeting overall VPN security, it is not difficult, and the best option is to add an extra security layer to your network. A certified network defender has the ability to plan and secure an organization’s network that includes VPN too.

If you are on a virtual private network (VPN) and think that you are playing safe, then you may not be aware of may network security facts on VPN. IPv6 is a new protocol as the internet has exhausted IPv4 addresses and many VPNs have not adopted the change.

What is VPN?

Before we talk about how secure a VPN is, let us first understand what a virtual private network is. The following video by Android Authority explains what is a VPN is and how it works:

Is your VPN safe or not?

VPNs are expected to protect the user’s privacy and they do by rerouting traffic through a secure communication protocol. The secure protocol hides the communication and flow of traffic. It helps users in bypassing the geographic restrictions of a few internet services and blocks from getting censored by intruders. According to researchers, of 14 VPN service providers that they researched, only four had partial protections. Only four VPN service providers are upgraded to IPv6 and able to provide security from getting exposed.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a vital element for online security. It develops the trust that no one is able to find your internet access. For example, if you access your bank account to make any payment, VPN assures security. But as we are seeing, VPNs are not totally secure and here we have listed a few reasons supporting our statement.

Anonymous nature cannot be fully true

You spend so much monthly on VPN to keep your online identity anonymous and to maintain the privacy of your internet browsing. Well, you should understand that there is no such thing called ‘anonymous’ when you are online. Though your VPN provider promises to have an anonymous service without logging, it cannot be verified. It is just blind trust without any tools to prove the ethnicity of the VPN.

What is expected from a VPN provider – transparency or anonymity? Important is your VPN should appreciate your anonymity and keep your browsing private. Whereas, such networks are in short supply.

No logging status is a myth!

Though VPNs promise of not asking you to log-in to your activities, it is sadly a myth. The servers cannot be engaged without logs and a VPN provider cannot handle DNS requests. With no logs engaged, the VPN server cannot troubleshoot connections, or restrict the access of the VPN accounts based on their subscriptions. If VPNs don’t ask for signups and share the collected information, then probably they are of low quality. VPNs without logins are unreliable servers that can risk the privacy of your web browsing and responsible for data leaks.

When concerned about the handling of logs by VPNs, consider their usage terms to understand the information that they retain. In case of the absence of information on the handling of their log files and retainment of information, it is good to move on over another option.

Verify privacy

Checking the policy about the VPN’s logs is not the only way to ensure the privacy of the network. Many a time, for the sake of marketing, the VPN providers mention the feature of privacy on their website, but it may not be the case in reality. In general, your IP address, username, operating system, session start, and end timings, are a few of the basic data that is recorded by the VPN system. This recording of conflicts with your anonymous belief.

Using rental cloud services may ask you to login

VPN’s are of two types – those that use their inhouse servers and those that hire cloud servers. As we have already seen that it is a server cannot be performed without using logs, and a subscription-based online account also need the logs to access the server. In case if the VPN providers are dependent on cloud servers then it is not possible to run their server without collecting logs. Even though VPN providers do not collect any logs, the cloud servers been rented do require.

VPNs secure your connection, but they are not completely safe. The cyber attackers can infiltrate a VPN server and can initiate a men-in-the-middle attack. Concerned about the privacy of your VPN? It is worth adding another layer of defense to your network security.

How a Certified Network Defender can secure VPN connection?

It is the responsibility of a network administrator to ensure the effective performance of the network. Whereas, a network defender has the potential to defend and secure the working of the network. EC-Council offers Certified Network Defender (C|ND) certification program that focuses on transforming network administrators from identifying, protecting and responding to the threats on the network. C|ND covers the “Secure VPN Configuration and Management” and is always the first choice of network professionals among other network security courses as it is a skill based, lab-centric comprehensive program based on job-task analysis and is also mapped to NICE framework. The certified network defender will gain a real-life experience on network defense including VPN connection. Their technical prophecy ensures secure network in your organization.

Source: eccouncil.org