How does it work?

We’re going to focus on consumer VPNs in this guide. A normal connection to the internet – whether over an Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi – sends data in packets that

aren’t subject to any additional forms of encryption on top of what may already have been applied (such as to data sent to and from a secure website over the HTTPS protocol). The data is requested, sent and received through servers supplied by your internet service provider (ISP), which can be used to identify you, your location and your internet usage.

A VPN effectively adds another, more secure layer to the process. Each packet of data is encapsulated, which basically means it’s wrapped in an outer packet that’s encrypted prior to being sent – think of this outer packet as the tunnel in which data is transferred securely.

It then passes through your ISP’s server to the VPN server, where the outer packet is decrypted, and the inner packet passed to the server to continue its journey to the internet.

When data is received back, the server encapsulates it prior to sending it back to you via your ISP. Your ISP knows data is being sent and received, but it can’t see what type of data it is.

Because the VPN server is responsible for decrypting the data and forwarding it on to the internet, it’s identified as the originator of that data. This means, by selecting a VPN server in another country, it appears you’re residing in that country and not your own.

The encryption-decryption process requires that both client and server possess the correct keys for encrypting and decrypting the data packets, which is why no one else can see the data inside. It’s an intensive process that can result in a slower internet connection when a VPN is being used.