Learning something new means that you’re going to make mistakes. When you’re learning how to walk, you fall down, brush it off, and try again. When you’re learning how to code, you could accidentally let a hacker take control of your device and lose all of your sensitive information.
That’s why you should always use a VPN. However, using a basic version might feel like a nuisance since they’re super slow. That’s why it makes sense to go for the fastest VPN.
Let’s look at a super popular scenario. You’re fresh into programming, and you decide to take your laptop and go to the nearest Starbucks to order a coffee and code a few lines for your new killer app idea.
You connect to the public Wi-Fi and start reading a few answers on Stack Overflow to see why your code isn’t working. Suddenly, you receive a notification on your phone that you’ve made a transaction, even though you didn’t do anything. You’ve been hacked, and you didn’t even notice it.
What happened?
Since you connected on the public Wi-Fi, your device was vulnerable to a MITM or a
man-in-the-middle attack. A person was there waiting for an unsuspecting victim to come in and steal all of their money. Hackers can access the link between your device and the internet server by using a MITM. It’s like talking to a friend while someone else eavesdrops from the table near you.
Since there’s only one available public network, the hacker knows you will connect to it. The encryption standards on free networks are easy to exploit, and there’s no way to notice it. That’s what makes it scary. Hackers could steal all of your sensitive information, such as login credentials and credit card details, without hinting at what’s going on.
What if you had a VPN?
If you had a VPN, the hacker would have to look for another unsuspecting victim. Virtual private networks make it impossible to crack your device since they’re bouncing your IP all around the globe. Since the IP is changing, the hacker can’t figure out the real one. Additionally, they won’t be able to see which websites you’re visiting, which means that they won’t be able to redirect your connection. VPNs make it impossible to track your IP and eliminate the possibility of getting hacked.
Are there any other attacks that VPNs can protect you from?
Remote hacking and DDoS attacks are two of the most popular alternatives to MITM. Remote hacking is the oldest trick in the book. Since websites are tracking your IP address all the time, the hacker could have access to your IP. If the website itself gets hacked, they take the address and use it as a backdoor mechanism to log into your Wi-Fi at home, including your TV, PC, smartphone, tablet, or laptop. This is a danger present, even when you’re not connected to a public Wi-Fi.
Again, there’s no knowing when the site you’re browsing will get hacked. When you’re learning how to code, you’re clicking on all sorts of links to figure out how to keep your code from crashing. One of those links could be trying to abuse your inexperience and do harm.
Using a VPN eliminates this worry since it will mask your IP address constantly. Every site will receive a different IP, which means that even if hackers know about it, their attacks won’t work.
DDoS attacks
The second attack is called a distributed denial of service. Hackers try to flood your device with unwanted traffic and requests in this scenario. It’s a method mainly used to crash websites, forcing you to go offline. You could start an attack in a few minutes by watching a 5-minute video on YouTube, which is why it’s the easiest one to do. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s not annoying.
With a VPN, you’re completely protected from DDoS attacks since the hackers and attackers won’t know which IP to target. Even if they think they have the right one, they’ll just send empty requests to another location. However, someone knows your real address if you notice something like this happening even while using a VPN. If that’s the case, you need to contact your internet service provider.
A few final words
Using advanced protection when browsing the internet is a must if you want to secure your private information and sensitive data. The fastest VPN could even help you browse faster with all the security perks. Don’t let a newbie mistake cost you more than your programming course!
I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.
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