VPN stands for the Virtual Private Network, and it is in the media because of the growing suspicion that the Government might ban its use in the country.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has presented a petition demanding the ban of VPN services in India.
The Committee has shown concern towards the technological challenge posed by VPN as a severe security threat for the nation.
The committee has asserted that due to these services, cybercriminals continue their unsolicited operations and remain anonymous online. Moreover, anyone can easily access these services online.
As per the reports presented by the Committee, the Ministry of Home Affairs has permanently blocked the VPN services in India.
The ministry needs to cooperate with the internet providers and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to identify the VPNs across India.
Like the other services provided by the Internet, netizens also use VPNs to carry out different types of tasks.
VPNs imposes a hurdle in deciding whether they are good or bad for people. This ban would eventually lead to damaging operations which somebody cannot repair.
How does VPN work?
Virtual Private Network is the same as the term signifies as it creates a private network within the public internet connection.
The web is encrypted and prohibits any external interference. In this way, the privacy of an individual remains secured, maintaining his anonymity.
VPN’s work and Functions
VPN works by hiding the IP address of the user on the public wi-fi network. Data gets tunneled to an exit node at a quiet, distant location. As a result, it confuses the user’s actual location, showing it at far off place despite being used locally.
VPNs are used to mask the presence on the Internet, and in this way, it helps maintain privacy during online operations.
The most significant advantage of VPNs is that it provides encryption to the transferred data and makes it unreadable to the prying eyes.
Individuals are therefore threatened free on the same public wi-fi network from eavesdropping on your internet activities.
VPN protects in one more way as the browsing history is secured fully with the internet security provider and IP address helps track it.
VPN hides the IP and, in this way, search history also gets hidden from the internet security provider.
Besides VPN’s create fake IP addresses for the system which might confuse the internet service providers that the system is operating from other locations in the world.
They also provide access to the banned services in the region. For example, China has forbidden google, but it can still be easily accessible through a VPN.
The corporate sector uses VPNs so that its employees can work in a closed network. It is beneficial for them as it avoids any unauthorized tracing of employees’ activities and protects the integrity of the company’s data from any online threats.
The suggestion of the Committee
The Committee has suggested that the Government coordinate with the other Internet security Providers and MeitY to ensure whether VPNs are blocked permanently or not.
The hiding of the IP addresses by the VPNs had me it very difficult to trace the actual offender or Cybercriminal.
