Every computer/mobile device is assigned a numerical label called the Internet Protocol (IP) address by your Internet Service Provider. When accessing any website online- the web host can see where you are located and can track your activity while you visit their site, and even after you leave to browse something else.
The Internet is not what it used to be- several limitations and dangers lurk online.
1/ Browse websites without leaving a trace of your identity.
Hiding your real IP address via encryption, allows you to be anonymous when browsing online.
2/ Access to streaming, wherever you are.
Missing a favourite show on vacation? Hide your IP using a VPN and connect to the desired country server to enjoy streaming as if you never left home.
3/ Stay safe from snoopers looking to access your information.
Hiding your real IP address gives you a great layer of protection online, because you disguise your real location.
4/ Protect yourself when using a Wi-Fi hotspot.
Hotspots are unsecured and open to everyone. Using a VPN service allows you to hide your IP from unprotected networks, where hackers could be lurking.
5/ Access websites that are not available to IP address’s geographic location.
Hiding your IP Address and using an IP address generated by a VPN service would allow you to access content not available in your location.
6/ You can by-pass school or workplace restrictions.
If you switch to an IP address provided by a VPN service you can by-pass school/business network restrictions to access the information you need.
7/ You can by-pass surveillance and national internet censorship.
Hiding your IP address allows you to hide your internet activity from companies and organizations who might wish to track your activity online.
8/ Hide your activity from your Internet Service Provider.
Often your internet service provider is obligated to track and hold on to data you generate online. You might want to keep that information to yourself by hiding your IP address.
9/ You get to keep your private searches private.
Hide your IP and hide your activity from search engines who track and store data on your activity. Don’t forget to clear your cookies after every browsing session- even while using a VPN service.
10/ Access to internet freedom.
The internet was envisioned as a platform for all to use and modify as they wish. Creativity, innovation, education, communication and exchange of ideas are inseparable from the freedom the internet offers. Hiding your IP would guarantee the privacy and right to expression online.
There are a number of country specific regulations that are constantly changing. If the websites you wish to access are blocked, information you want to keep private is at risk to being exposed, or if you need a secure gateway to access information – Hiding your IP is the key to your internet freedom.
How can you Hide your IP online?
Get a VPN. Protect your network from third parties, stay anonymous, and access any content you want on the Internet. NordVPN creates a secure connection between your computer and the Internet, guarding your data and devices, your privacy, and your freedom online.
Why Anonymous browsing is required
In today’s world, online privacy is a dwindling privilege as people’s identities and personal information are hijacked and misused more and more frequently. From stealing your personal or financial information to tracking your location and monitoring all your internet activity, there are individuals as well as organizations who would have no issue with prying into your internet activity or personal life.
Stealing someone’s personal information is so easy that there are links which, when clicked, gather all your personal information like your name, phone number, address, and device information. This is quite a cause for concern as one can never know how this might be used by the thief. Where hackers look to steal your identity and personal data, government organizations look to monitor your internet activity in order to keep your activity in check in the name of national security.
Since nobody would like their activities monitored, let alone their personal information being stolen, anonymous web surfing is essential in today’s world.
How to surf anonymously
Anonymous surfing can be achieved by the help of anonymizers, which are relays that connect you to your destined web address. Anonymizers are commonly referred to as web proxies , VPNs or other online anonymity enhancing services. Anonymizers help you hide your identity while on the internet. This is because they act as relays for all the traffic between your system and the internet.
In case of a proxy, the web address you are browsing thinks that the IP address of the proxy server is your address, making it harder to track your location or monitor your activity. There are a few things you need to know about proxies first:
They do not guarantee access to all websites as the proxy for a website might be blocked as well (countries like China where heavy bans of internet usage of users are present employ such methods)
Although a tracker cannot simply look at your internet activity, the proxy server can. It is important to check if the proxy server is secure (it should have an HTTPS url). One must also be wary of fake proxy servers which act as centres for collecting users’ personal information.
Proxies are generally free to use as they only provide a relay but do not encrypt your online data.
Using a VPN is another method to surf anonymously on the internet. VPNs connect you to the internet through an encrypted tunnel. The IP address visible to others it the address of the VPN server through which you are connected to the internet. They offer another functionality which makes them superior to proxy servers in that they encrypt all the packets exchanged between your system and the computer. So not only do VPNs hide your IP address, they also keep your data safe.
Related: Proxy Vs. VPN.
A third option to increase one’s privacy online is to use anonymous browsers. Tor Network Is an example of such browser. Tor Network is a privacy network designed to hide information of which computer actually requested the traffic. Routing traffic through different nodes, it makes it difficult to say whether your computer initiated the connection or it may just be acting as a relay, relaying that encrypted traffic to another Tor node.
Related: Tor Network Browser Anonymity
There are many threats to your personal data being exposed while you are surfing on the internet. Your location, identity, personal information, including interests and behaviour patterns can be ‘sniffed’ online. That information can be exploited without your knowledge. Therefore, you are encouraged to use a combination of anonymity services for desired security and privacy level.
What can you do to minimise personal data breach?
Change social media settings – Make sure you change your privacy settings so that not everyone can see your posts.
Use a VPN – VPN stands for “virtual private network,” which is masks your online identity. It comes in particularly handy when using free wi-fi in coffee shops, hotels and airports, where more and more hackers are using simple “man in the middle” attacks to trick people into logging onto their fake networks.
Know the risks of using cloud services The rule of thumb is to never put something on the cloud that you wouldn’t mind being stolen.
Bypass phishing attacks Scammers often will use emails that look like legitimate companies in the hopes of tricking you into clicking on links and providing them your password, social security number and more. These are called “phishing” attacks. The best way to avoid this is to simply bypass the email and go directly to the website by opening a browser.
Beware Suspicious Emails and Attachments A lot of malware is hidden in an attachment that is downloaded by accident. Also bad links can lead to spoofed website. You should never open an email from an untrusted source and always question emails that ask for your personal info.
Don’t forget anti-malware software Almost everyone is familiar with antivirus software. Less common is “anti-malware” software. Many anti-virus software includes the ability to scan and prevent malware, but not all of them. To be safe, supplement your existing antivirus software with quality anti-malware software such as Malwarebytes. Remember to always keep your security software up to date with the latest versions.
Due to popular demand among our clients and the changing internet user behaviour, we have enabled NordVPN Service on 6 simultaneous devices.
Global average of devices used per user currently hovers around 3.4 mark. We wanted to make sure NordVPN reflects this trend and chose to offer an appropriate number of simultaneous connections our VPN allows. We want to make sure our clients are secure at all times – thus, we introduced a feature of being able to connect to 6 devices at the same time.
Online Security is the promise we deliver daily and if you need to protect more devices – we are eager to help.
almost all hotels provide wireless Internet to their residents. And no wonder why – Wi-Fi is more important to guests than parking, good location or even continental breakfast, a research in the US shows.
Wi-Fi connections usually require you to enter information like the room number you are staying in and a password that has been provided for your particular room. Smaller hotels tend to have one password for all the rooms. Most often, authentication step before establishing a connection is avoided, making the internet connection completely open.
In both cases, even if the authentication is put into place, the connection can be easily intercepted and breached. Since hotels usually have a lot of people staying in their rooms at any given time, this makes you vulnerable to data snooping and/or serious hacking by someone else in the hotel.
Hotel Wi-Fi security is pretty lax. Open Wi-Fi connections makes them really open to attacks, such as identity thefts and data snooping. Anyone can monitor your Internet activity when you are using an open network. One does not even have to be really knowledgeable in hacking to snoop on your Internet activity as there are software like Wireshark that makes it absolutely easy to spy on someone’s online traffic on an unsecured network.
Open networks do not use any kind of encryption for the data you receive and send on the Internet. The usage of plaintext messages, i.e. messages without any sort of encryption, makes it really simple for anyone snooping your activity to read those messages. This makes open Wi-FI networks of hotels hotel susceptible to hacking attacks. Most websites on open networks do not use a secure protocol or an ‘https’ URL, which makes monitoring one’s activity on those websites a piece of cake. So, sending sensitive information over such Internet connection is a recipe for disaster as anyone can intercept and read that personal information.
How to protect yourself?
Since hotel Wi-Fi security is pretty much non-existent, it is responsibility of a guest to protect himself or herself from possible data snoopers. There is a simple encryption method that can be used by anyone: using a VPN. VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks, connect you to the Internet through an encrypted tunnel. A connection between your system and any website is established via an alternate path than the Internet service provider would take you through, namely, the connection is made through a VPN server which encrypts your data.
This VPN server acts as a relay between the Internet and your system. The website interacts with the VPN server, and the server interacts with your system. Since the interaction between the VPN server and your system in encrypted, nobody can see which website you are browsing or what data you share online. All they can see is that you are connected to a VPN server. VPNs provide security and privacy thanks to their encryption functionality. Both of these are required when using a public Wi-Fi network in a hotel.
A VPN service is a great tool for travellers in general: by choosing a different server location, your IP address is hidden and new one is assigned, so you can bypass geo-blocked content and access restricted online services wherever you are.
