Advantages and Disadvantages of VPN
Advantages of VPN
- Hiding identity. People may find it increasingly essential to protect their privacy in different circumstances. VPN helps to protect personal information from hackers or government surveillance by encrypting traffic and hiding user IPs.
- Bypassing geo-blocks. Some websites restrict users from viewing content from certain geographical locations. Users can bypass the restriction by using a VPN with an IP address from the white-listed countries.
- Securing connection. Public and home networks may be vulnerable to attacks of cybercriminals. VPN can help to protect logins, passwords, and credit card details.
- Secure torrenting. When a user downloads a torrent, the IP address becomes available to all people who download it. Using a VPN can help to hide the real information from open access.
Disadvantages of VPN
- Decreased speed. In certain cases, VPNs can decrease the speed of the internet connection. The speed usually depends on the type of the VPN server, encryption power, and VPN protocol.
- Privacy Concerns. Some VPN providers may expose the users to malware or steal private information.
- VPN costs money. Good VPNs will cost the user between $50 and $100 a year, which may be significant for some users.
- Not all devices support VPN. Some devices, such as ones based on Linux, do not support VPN, which makes its use limited.
Advantages of Zero Trust
- Faster access. The increased use of VPN and cloud computing complicated the security landscape, as often traffic generated by cloud computing is processed through the local data center and then passed on via VPN creating latency issues. Zero Trust security helps to avoid such latency.
- Reduce the effectiveness of phishing attacks. VPN assumes that the user and device on the other end are secure. However, due to numerous attacks, this assumption may no longer be true. Zero Trust security assumes that no user can be trusted, which is crucial for improving security.