Although Virtual Private Networks have been around for quite some time, there is still confusion about its function and, in particular, about its difference from antivirus. Many people still do not know why they need to install a VPN and whether a good antivirus program is a substitute for the former.
They still ask whether they need two of these types of software to protect their computers and, if one of them can suffice, which is preferable?
Knowing about the common confusion between VPNs and antiviruses, this article intends to set the record straight and explains differences and similarities between these two protectors.
In the space below, we concentrate on the functions of the two programs, talking more about the types of VPNs than the kinds of antivirus you need to choose to increase the security of your computers. But you can read our article about various antiviruses if you are looking for the best antivirus software. It will help you make the right choice.
The Need for Security
All of us know that the internet is a perilous place. Digital dangers await us everywhere and come in a large variety of shapes and sizes. There are different types of malware that put the security of our computers at risk. Our computers can be infected by such malicious software as adware destroying your browser, spyware obtaining covert information from you, and different viruses.
The best-known viruses currently infecting our computers are as follows: Trojans or programs camouflaging themselves as useful apps but hiding destructive weapons inside themselves; Worms or harmful programs that infect devices by self-replicating; and Boot Sector Viruses or viruses contained in external storage devices.
The damage this malware can cause your device range from erasing files to slowing down it’s processing. In the worst-case scenario, the malicious software can destroy your hardware for good.
As if this were not bad enough, there are other dangers that we face browsing the internet or downloading. We can fall prey to DNS attacks. This happens when hackers access your server by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Domain Name System.
The most common type of such an attack is a Denial of Service attack (DoS), which disconnects your computer or any other electronic device from the internet. The disconnection the DoS attack causes can be temporary or fatal.
Other dangers abound your data can be harvested or simply submitted to governmental surveillance. Your identity can be stolen. You can also experience restrictions when trying to access certain content. And of course, there is a lot of spam and scams landing in our inboxes that, if opened, can wreak havoc with our documents, files, and devices.
The good news is that antiviruses and VPNs can protect you from all these perils. What you need to understand, however, is that these two software programs are not interchangeable. They safeguard you against different types of dangers.
Why Antivirus?
Antivirus software that you install in your electronic device constantly scans it for the danger to which you expose yourself when you open an email, file, website, or new application and in so doing introduce a new code in its processor.
What antiviruses do is they compare your running programs to known types of malware. They assess your computing activities and ascertain that nothing suspicious is going on there. In case your antivirus does find a suspicious code, it removes the treat automatically.
Why VPN?
A Virtual Private Network allows you to browse the internet anonymously and, in effect, become invisible to attackers. You gain invisibility when the VPN conceals your true IP address and connects you to some secure private server.
What you also gain with the VPN in addition to invisibility is access to websites that are blocked by your government or access to content restricted by, say, Netflix or other TV moguls.
Another bonus is that your identity and the data you transmit through the internet remain safe. The VPN encapsulates and encrypts your data by tunneling it both hides it and makes it unreadable to cybercriminals and even governments. What you need to remember, however, is that although the VPN protects your online presence from being detected, it does not shield you from malware and viruses.
To compare between antiviruses and VPNs is, therefore, similar to comparing apples and oranges. The two programs safeguard you from different types of danger and should be employed together for stronger protection of your data and devices where you keep it.
Paid or Free VPN?
A combination of good antivirus and preferably paid VPN is what will give you the best security on the internet. The paid VPN is considered to be more secure than its free version because it provides better bandwidth, better speed, and better customer support.
But paid VPNs also require people to give their personal information such as name, surname, address, and credit card details in order to process payment for their services. Collecting your personal information obviously runs counter to the idea of VPN as software that preserves your full anonymity.
On this count, free VPNs win. Yet while it is entirely up to you to decide which version of the VPN to choose, you always need to remember that the strongest security you achieve not from the VPN and antivirus software separately but when the two of them join forces.
Leave a Reply