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While holidays, sun and days of leisure are most likely what comes to mind when you think of summer, there are plenty of reasons online security and privacy should, too.
Just when you think you’ve gotten your head around the main concerns and best practices of being online at home, there’s a whole world out there; and plenty of opportunities for bad actors, profit-seeking companies and media to interfere with your relaxation with personal data they’ve nefariously accessed from your browsing.
Fear not; there are plenty of ways you can protect yourself online, and one of the best ways is to start using a virtual private network (VPN). VPN services will encrypt and reroute your data through a secure pathway, making it harder for observers to track you and your personal information and allowing you to continue browsing, streaming, and adventuring more privately and securely.
To make sure you can really let your hair down and let go of life’s stressors this summer, here are five reasons you should be using a VPN.
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While VPNs don’t offer you complete protection, that can be said for almost every service out there. Still, they go a long way to help make sure it’s a lot harder for bad actors, advertisers and ISPs to identify and track your online activities.
By encrypting and re-routing your traffic through a VPN server, you can reduce the chances of observers gaining access to information like your approximate location, IP address, device usage, and browsing history. Plus, you won’t have to see as many targeted ads - bonus!
1. Maintain your privacy overall
Especially when travelling, using your mobile phone or tablet can be a real pain. If you don’t want to splash out on data roaming while on holiday, you’ll end up relying on public Wi-Fi more often than not; and that’s where the danger begins.
Cybercriminals are known to target public Wi-Fi as a means to spy on unsuspecting web-surfers’ activities, from your network traffic to identifiable data; some will even set up ‘honeypot’ hotspots that can trick you into downloading malware or using phishing sites.
A good VPN with modern encryption protocols will mask your IP and encrypt your data traffic, helping to protect you - and some, like the new Norton Ultra VPN even come with specific cybersecurity tools to help protect you further.
2. Stay secure while using public Wi-Fi
Depending on where you’re travelling to (or, indeed, where you live!) certain governments heavily censor online activity, including communication channels you might be relying on while travelling abroad.
The same can be said for bans on different media in certain countries; especially if you’re travelling for a while, you might want to access news media sites or publishers that are blocked. With a VPN, that’s no longer an issue.
It’s worth highlighting many countries are proactively working to detect VPNs, so it’s worth checking if your VPN of choice offers obfuscation technology.
3. Avoid censorship or biassed media
We all know advertisers can track us while we’re shopping online, but did you know retailers also use your location for their own benefit? This practice sees businesses adjusting their pricing depending on the location of their consumers, but using a VPN’s location-spoofing abilities to mask your IP address and location can allow you to get the great deals you were looking for.
4. Get great deals when shopping online
Easily the most popular use-case for VPNs outside of online privacy and security, and probably the one that comes to mind foremostly, streaming content online can be a more global experience thanks to VPNs.
Whether you were midway through a season of your favourite show before jetting off to warmer climes, or you want to sample what’s on offer in regions around the world from the comfort of your home, a VPN can allow you to appear as though your browsing a streaming site’s library from wherever you please - and grant you access to content you might not have available to you otherwise.
It’s worth highlighting many streaming services are actively working to prevent many VPN providers, so it’s worth checking different service’s terms of use
5. Stream content from anywhere
So, you know why you need a VPN now, but the matter of which VPN is a whole different story.
Thankfully, Norton has your back. In addition to its existing Norton Secure VPN service, the well-known online security brand is launching two new plans; Norton Ultra VPN and Ultra VPN Plus.
Norton Secure VPN is an easy-to-use VPN, offering a variety of locations for you to choose from as well as the ability to auto-select the best region for your needs without compromising on speed.
For a real full-service approach, Norton UItra VPN also offers powerful antivirus protection against malware, phishing, ransomware and viruses for your devices - plus, it will even help you manage your passwords and credentials online, and notify you if your info has been found on the dark web. The Norton Ultra VPN Plus plan throws in parental control*, making it excellent for peace of mind while travelling with or without the whole family.
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*Parental Control features are not supported on Mac or Windows in S mode.
to use a VPN this summer
5 reasons
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