A VPN encrypts your data and hides your IP address by sending your traffic through a VPN server before it reaches the internet. The encryption protects your data from snoopers and intrusive third parties, while the changed IP makes it seem like you’re visiting from the VPN server location rather than your home.

Creates a secure connection

By connecting to the internet with a VPN, you establish a secure virtual tunnel between your device and the internet via a VPN server. This tunnel is then used to transfer all your internet traffic.

Changes your IP address

Once your internet traffic goes through the VPN tunnel, your IP address changes. Instead of seeing your IP address, the websites and services you visit see the IP address of the VPN server.

Encrypts your data

A VPN encrypts all your traffic to make sure the tunneling process is secure. The encryption hides your data under a code so that no third parties can access your sensitive information.

A VPN tunnel is a secure connection between your device and the internet. Tunneling relies on encapsulation, which hides VPN communications on the public internet. So, if someone were to check your internet connection, they’d see that you are using a VPN, but not what you’re doing.

Want to hide the fact that you’re using a VPN on top of protecting your activity? You can use an obfuscated servers for that extra bit of privacy.

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a digital label used to achieve communication between networks. It’s used to identify you and your location in the network.

A VPN hides your IP address, which prevents websites from gathering information about you.

VPNs use encryption to encode and secure your data. The VPN client and server generate a key when you connect to a VPN. The key is used to encode and decode your data every time it travels through an encrypted tunnel. No third parties have the key, so your encrypted data looks gibberish if they try to intercept your connection.

The security of the encryption depends on the cipher that’s used. The AES 256-bit cipher is considered the best encryption algorithm and is used by the US government, the NSA, and reliable VPN service providers, including Surfshark.

A VPN hides and encrypts all your internet traffic. This includes your IP address, location, the websites you visit, and what you do on those websites.

That said, a VPN cannot hide any information that you choose to show, such as social media posts or the information you voluntarily provide to register on websites.

No, a VPN does not make you totally anonymous. In fact, there is no way you can be fully anonymous online.

However, you can significantly enhance your online privacy by using a VPN. While it doesn’t hide all the traces of your internet use, it encrypts your data, hides your IP, and protects you from trackers.

A VPN is very secure if it uses the best encryption and connection protocols, as Surfshark does.

Most security measures are made to be too tedious to crack. Depending on the computer used, an encrypted session could take trillions of years to decode. Needless to say, that’s far longer than any VPN session lasts.

Even if someone managed to crack the encryption, many VPN providers like Surfshark have implemented something called Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS). This means that a VPN client generates a new key every 7 minutes or so. This keeps your private data out of bad actors’ reach.