VPN (Virtual Private Network)

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) wraps your network traffic in an encrypted tunnel to a VPN endpoint. Remote sites then see the endpoint's IP address, and anyone between you and the endpoint sees only encrypted data.

Why it matters

Organizations use VPNs to give staff secure access to internal systems, and site-to-site VPNs link offices over the Internet. Consumers use them on untrusted Wi-Fi or to change their apparent location. A VPN does not make you anonymous: the VPN operator can see your traffic, and HTTPS is still needed end to end. Common protocols include WireGuard, OpenVPN and IPsec.

Example

$ curl -s https://ifconfig.me
198.51.100.20        (before VPN: your ISP address)
$ curl -s https://ifconfig.me
203.0.113.77         (after VPN: the VPN server address)

The change shows traffic now exits through the VPN endpoint.

Common mistakes

• Assuming a VPN makes you anonymous or fully secure.
• Forgetting DNS leaks, where queries still go to the ISP resolver outside the tunnel.
• Whitelisting a shared VPN exit IP and unintentionally trusting every other user of it.

Related

• Proxy server
• SSL/TLS
• IP address
• MTU
• टूल: What is my IP

यह पेज सामान्य जानकारी है, जिसे हमारी संपादकीय टीम ने लिखा है और दस्तावेज़ीकरण बदलने पर अपडेट किया जाता है। सर्वर और प्रदाता अलग-अलग होते हैं, इसलिए बदलाव पहले सुरक्षित तरीके से जाँचें। देखें: संपादकीय नीति और अस्वीकरण.