Not a game related question - but ...

[Rath Darkblade]

... I was reading earlier tonight that it may be a good idea for me to download and install a VPN, to protect myself while I'm online (which is more or less most of the time). I'm thinking of protecting myself from hackers and other no-goodnicks.

I'm not too concerned about protecting my forum passwords - after all, even if someone hacked my password for this forum, all he could do is pretend to be me. But I am concerned about things like passwords to banks, credit card companies etc. (I'm pretty sure that my bank now uses three-layer authentication to protect me from being hacked).

I also know that a VPN will work by hiding my real IP address. With that information hidden, it'll be much harder for your online activity to be monitored, restricted, or sold to advertisers. (Here's one VPN service I came across: Proton VPN.)

So I'm just wondering: is it a good idea? Do you use a VPN? What do you think?

Thanks!

[Tawmis]

I don't use VPN. Not to hide or protect myself. I just use the VPN for my work laptop because it's required (the few days I get to work from home) to connect to our network.

[notbobsmith]

VPNs are really only necessary for when you are using public WiFi. If you are using your home network, it's not necessary unless you have another reason to conceal your location (e.g. watching media not available in your home country, doing something really shady...). If you are using your home network and the webpage is secured (uses https), passwords and other information are secure.

[Rath Darkblade]

Fair enough. I also get to work from home a few days a week, so there's a question - do I need a VPN for my work laptop? - but that's probably a question I need to ask our IT people at work.

Oh, and no -- I'm not doing anything shady. =P I just thought I might need extra protection - after all, I know that the credit card company I'm with got hacked, one of our largest airlines (Qantas) got hacked, etc... and they all use secure webpages (i.e. with https). *shrug* So how can you protect yourself?

Thanks!

[Tawmis]

So how can you protect yourself?

If a hacker wants your information, they will get it, one way or another, no matter how many walls you put up.

[notbobsmith]

Fair enough. I also get to work from home a few days a week, so there's a question - do I need a VPN for my work laptop? - but that's probably a question I need to ask our IT people at work.

Oh, and no -- I'm not doing anything shady. =P I just thought I might need extra protection - after all, I know that the credit card company I'm with got hacked, one of our largest airlines (Qantas) got hacked, etc... and they all use secure webpages (i.e. with https). *shrug* So how can you protect yourself?

Thanks!

You should get a VPN for your work computer if you use public WiFi, like at an airport.

Using https encrypts your information when you send it to a website, so anyone trying to intercept it will be unable to read it. But it does nothing if a website that already has your information gets hacked.