If you need end-to-end encryption, you need to use sites and apps that use HTTPS or other end-to-end encryption, such as a secure messenger. If it would normally be unencrypted, it still will be. If the traffic would normally be encrypted, it still will be. Your traffic beyond those exit nodes will traverse the Internet normally (the way it would if you weren’t using a VPN). Your VPN provider will have several exit nodes, which are the places that its servers connect to the public Internet. The VPN acts as a middleman, connecting you to the public Internet, giving you increased security and privacy. That includes other people using the shared Wi-Fi, the ISP, and other parties that are between you and the VPN server you’re connected to. What is a VPN?Ī VPN sends your device’s Internet traffic through an encrypted tunnel between your device and the VPN service provider so that no one can see the traffic. This is similar to what a VPN (Virtual Private Network) does. Even if your classmates look through the tube and see your note, it looks gibberish. When your friend gets the note, they pull out a decoder that allows them to read your message. You then drop it into a long, clear tube, and the note slides down the tube past your classmates, and lands on your friend’s desk. Imagine that this time you write your message in a secret code. Let’s go back to the second-grade classroom. Videos That Demonstrate Public Wi-Fi Dangers That means that here too your data could be seen by others using the shared Wi-Fi. You usually can’t tell if those are using encrypted connections, and many times, they aren’t. Think of the programs on your computer, or the apps on your mobile. I’ve been talking about browsing websites, but there’s a lot more we do online than browse websites. That will protect your username and password, but any data you send to and receive from the site after that will be visible to eavesdroppers. Also, some websites encrypt the login page, but not the rest of the site. For example, they can see that you browsed to, but they can’t see which pages you read. If you’re using an encrypted (HTTPS) website, the data you send and receive is encrypted, but your ISP (Internet Service Provider, such as Comcast or Spectrum) and others may still be able to see (and store) your DNS requests and other data, so they’d know that you browsed certain domains. Anyone of them could be monitoring, collecting, and maybe even altering network traffic. When you’re in a hotel, conference venue, or other large gatherings, you could be sharing the Wi-Fi with hundreds of others. When you’re sitting in a coffee shop, you’re sharing the Wi-Fi network with several others. This problem has become much greater with the massive increase in public Wi-Fi. If you browse to an unencrypted website (if the address starts with rather than the traffic you send and receive can be seen (and stored) by anyone between you and the webserver. That scenario is similar to unencrypted network communication. There are five kids between you and your friend. You write your message on a piece of paper, then fold it in half.
You want to send a secret note to a friend across the classroom.