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Glossary Networking

VPN

A VPN (virtual private network) creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and another network, so traffic crosses the internet privately.

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In more detail

Companies use VPNs to give staff secure access to internal systems. Consumer VPNs route your traffic through their servers, which hides it from your local network and shows websites the VPN's address instead of yours. A VPN does not make you anonymous: the provider can see your traffic, and sites can still identify you by logins and cookies.

See also

  • Glossary Proxy
    A proxy is an intermediary server that passes requests and responses between a client and the destination.
  • Glossary Encryption
    Encryption is the process of scrambling data with a key so that only someone with the right key can read it.
  • Glossary Firewall
    A firewall is a system that allows or blocks network traffic according to rules about addresses, ports and protocols.
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