Is a VPN needed when you have an antivirus ?

[Looping79]

Hi guys.

I hear more and more about VPNs for online security. Yet, I'm not sure to really understand what it's for and if it's really useful when you already have an antivirus on Windows. I've just read this article : https://the-bestvpn.com/antivirus-or-vpn/ and apparently, the 2 solutions are complimentary.

The issue is that I'm not really willing to pay something like 5 to 10$ / month for a VPN if my antivirus already does a good job at protecting me. What do you think ? Should I use a VPN in addition to my antivirus (Bitdefender), or would it be a waste of money ?

Thank you for your help

Looping

 

[ClippyBeer]

VPN (Virtual Private Networks) is exactly as the name implies - for privacy. It's most commonly used when accessing public WIFI because ALL traffic is encrypted. Public WIFI is notorious for being sniffed for logons, passwords etc which is why VPN has grown in popularity. There even used to be a Firefox extension called Firesheep that would allow anyone to sniff login data while connected to public WIFI.

VPN WILL NOT protect you from any kind of malware you may get from a dodgy website, that's what your antivirus and quite frankly, your common sense is for.

That article is somewhat misleading - while your ISP can't track you the VPN provider certainly can so you aren't truly anonymous.

You need VPN if you:

a) Use public WIFI hotspots
b) Want to access Geo-locked content (Netflix, etc.)
c) Want to mask your IP address (remember the VPN provider knows your actual IP address)

If none of these requirements apply to you then you don't need VPN.

 

[Looping79]

All right, clear enough for me ! Thank you for the clarification

 

[SmilinDoug]

I've heard many people in China have to use a VPN because the government blocks a lot of sites to the public.

 

[echidna]

I've heard many people in China have to use a VPN because the government blocks a lot of sites to the public.

This is common practice in a lot of countries, unfortunately.

 

[Computer semi-expert]

If you use Windows 7 or newer, Opera browser has a built in VPN.

 

[SmilinDoug]

Instead of a VPN I have downloaded and installed the Tor web browser. I've installed a messenger called Ricochet that uses the Tor network, and that works fine too.

 

[priscus]

If you use Windows 7 or newer, Opera browser has a built in VPN.

They call it a VPN, although it is not a true VPN. No encryption of the comms between you and their server providing this function, so really more of a Proxy Server, which might suffice if all you require is to hide your identity (ip)