What is Virtual Private Network ( VPN ) and How VPN can be used?

  

 

What is Virtual Private Network  and  is VPN  Ban in India?

 

A Home Affairs Committee has urged the Indian Government to ban Virtual Private Network ( VPN ) services in India for security reasons.  Let's find out why this committee is so concerned about VPN and also let's analyse, how VPN can be used .

 

VPN services have become a hot topic for discussion in India as it is believed that it might be ban across India very soon. It is speculated due to the fact that Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs have urged the Government to ban VPN services. You must be interested to know , why such a recommendation has been forwarded to the Government of India.

 

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In it's recommendation the committee has clearly stated that VPN services pose a security threat to the nation. Such services allows unsolicited operations thereby helping the cyber criminals and also enables them to remain anonymous. The fact that VPN services are easily available  has been another area of concern highlighted by this committee.

 

Owing to the reasons stated above , the committee has categorically stated and recommended the Ministry of Home Affairs that these VPN services in India must be permanently blocked. Since the committee after through check up has come up with some solid reasoning for banning VPN services so there is strong possibility Government of India will look into this matter and it will be given the necessary priority . It is obvious Government will never compromise with the security of the nation if it finds enough merit in the recommendation of this committee.

 

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In fact going by the report of MediaNama, it has been recommended that Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ( MeitY) and the internet service providers in India need to identify as well as block such VPNs in India.

 

 

 

 

We must be aware of the fact that VPNs are being used by a wide audience for various tasks . Now if VPNs are prohibited then it will impact lot of operations . So where lies the solution? How do we decide whether we need VPN or we can do away with it . It's a catch 22 situation . It's a fairly tricky scenario.

 

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Let's figure out what exactly is VPN or else it will be difficult for us to understand it in the light of this situation .

 

Virtual Private Network ( VPN) can be described as a way by virtue of which Private Network is created within a public network connection. The privacy of the user is never compromised with as such network is encrypted . Therefore, the privacy of the user is safeguarded ensuring anonymity.

 

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You might be wondering how does VPN work ? This question is significant in the context of this article therefore , we will simplify it for you as well. What it does is that, it works by masking your internet protocol ( IP) address on a public Wi-Fi network. Encryption is created on the data being transferred through local Wi-Fi network. The data is tunneled to an exit node in another location. This gives an impression that the user is situated at another place rather than the local network being used. So this is how VPN works .

 

Now since we know , how does VPN works so this leads to another relevant question, Why is VPN used for ? Now you know that a VPN can mask your presence smartly therefore , it's greatest value revolves around the fact that it is extremely handy for maintaining privacy. Since the data being transferred gets encrypted so it becomes unreadable to the prying eyes . So it is a way of safeguarding your data and this is precisely the reason it is used by the users extensively.

 

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Another benefit it brings to the table for the users is that since a VPN helps in masking therefore , our search history and online activities remain in hidden mode from our internet service provider as well.

 

A VPN service generates a fake IP address so it can be used to hoodwink the internet service provider into believing that the system is being used in some other region. You will be perhaps shocked to know that though Google is banned in China , but it can be accessed through a VPN.

 

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VPNs are also used by corporates for creating a closed network for their employees to work on. Unauthorised access or tracing of activities of employees is not possible when VPN is put to use . This helps the Organization to keep its data well protected thereby online threats are kept at bay in the process.

 

Conclusion 

 

This article has reflected the key aspects associated with VPN and why it is under scrutiny owing to the report submitted by the committee to the Government of India .

We have seen that VPNs are extremely helpful in keeping the data protected and maintaining the privacy online. So surely it is significant for lot of users, but it has a flip side to it as well which cannot be ignored or sidelined . It can be used by cybercriminals to carry out illegal activities in online mode hiding their identity. It could lead to a threat to the nation as well. When criminals remain anonymous surely it acts as a boon for them. They know they are protected . The law enforcing agencies will have a tough time in tracing such criminals as VPN acts as a shield for them . This has prompted the committee to recommend banning of VPN services across the country. Security cannot be comprised with. The committee must have felt very strongly that VPN can be used for carrying out activities against the interest of the country hence this report has been submitted to the Government of India.

 

 
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