“I’ve been using various VPNs for at least 15 years, maybe longer. Everyone should be on a VPN,” John C. Dvorak writes for PC Magazine. “Especially now that they have been perfected and commoditized.”
“In a nutshell, a VPN allows you to use an IP address other than your own and appear to be somewhere other than where you are,” Dvorak writes. “The idea was originally dreamed up so work-from-home users could tunnel in to the workplace network as if they were in the office.”
“It turned out that this idea was a good one for other reasons. The most important is that it is difficult, if not impossible, for advanced worm-style malware that can self-install via open ports to ever target your computer,” Dvorak writes. “As people chat up privacy in the mainstream media you will begin to hear about the VPN and its importance. It’s time to begin to take it seriously.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: On this, we agree with the ol’ bloated gas bag.
If you use public Wi-Fi, it’s best to use a VPN. You can even easily turn an old Mac into an inexpensive personal VPN.
SEE ALSO:
Why you should avoid free VPNs – January 29, 2016
How to easily turn that old Mac into an inexpensive personal VPN – November 19, 2015
How and why you should use a VPN to protect your data’s final mile – January 16, 2015
#InTheMorning
Goodness:
1) Excellent when you’re stuck at an open Wi-Fi node using something other than HTTPS and don’t feel like broadcasting your data to everyone else on the Wi-Fi network.
2) You can ‘be’ in a location where you can bypass the stupid marketing location customer abuse. ‘Be’ Japanese and access Japanese Internet media, etc.
Badness:
1) Sloooow bandwidth. Some IP exit nodes are better than others. Some VPN services are better than others. You do NOT want to watch high bandwidth media on a slow exit node. No you don’t.
2) You have to pay if you want a decent VPN.
Hope: Several VPNs are now offering incredible deals for ‘lifetime’ premium membership. Problem: What does ‘lifetime’ mean? It is a common term among scammers and incompetents. However, some VPNs are worth the bet. I bought into ProXPN’s ‘lifetime’ deal and am most pleased. These ‘lifetime’ deals are offered via the usual deal web services. I use MacAppware Deals. Buyer beware using any deal site. Shop around.
I wonder just how cold it got in hell?
Same as usual, -273.15°C.
Here’s a potentially stupid question: How is using a VPN different from a product like, say, GoToMyPC?
products like gotomypc let you remotely access your own computer.. basically you are “VNC”ing into your own home computer.. screen sharing with it.. so you can use it…
Thats as private as it gets, it still goes out onto the internet as normal… as does your remote connecting machine…
I thought the whole John C Dvorak brand was discredited/tarnished beyond repair and thereafter abandoned as toxic. Did someone mistakenly reanimate the corpse?
If you really have critical file data to protect, it shouldn’t be anywhere near a network unless it is encrypted before it hits a network device or network connected computer.