Understanding VPN's, conforming 10 terms before choosing one

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. A VPN is a way of connecting to the internet in a more secure or private way, by sending your data through an encrypted tunnel and hiding your true IP address, making it harder for someone to track your online activity. 
when deciding on a new VPN service, keep in mind the following terms which will help you to navigate the field and understand what a provider offers:
1. Encryption:
Provider uses an algorithm to securely encode data (using a secret key) so that it appears like random, digitally illegible information. Once the encrypted data reaches its destination, a key is used to decrypt it. There are multiple types of encryption used by VPNs, which varies in strength. Advanced Encryption Standard(AES)-256 (usually called as "military-grade encryption") is the industry standard. If a website address begins with HTTPS, rather than HTTP then it is using AES. 
2. Five Eyes:
The name of mass surveillance and intelligence-sharing agreements between nations is Five Eyes. It's members include the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Other international surveillance cooperatives expand on this membership, including 9 Eyes and 14 Eyes, whose existence was revealed in documents leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013. If a VPN provider is headquartered in any of the countries involved in these surveillance groups, it generally follows the data-sharing policies of that group, so it is recommended to select a VPN headquartered outside of these nations.
3. Geoblocking:
The process of blocking access to online content, or restricting that content to certain locations. One of the key measurement of a VPN's strength is its ability to circumvent the geoblocking practices of streaming services like Netflix so you can access the content you've paid for, no matter which country you travel to.
4. Logs:
There are two kinds of logs a VPN provider might keep:

  • Connection logs
  • Usage logs. 
Connection logs are generally kept for a short amount of time by a VPN provider to compute the wider maintenance needs of its server network. Connection logs include information that is extremely unlikely to identify a user, such as general server-connection type, the length of a connection time and whether a VPN's desktop or mobile app was used to create a connection. 
Usage logs include personally identifying information like your IP address and a record of the websites you visit. On the other hand these should never be kept. 
If a VPN is caught keeping usage logs, we won't recommend their services. 
5. Proxy:
Many services which advertise themselves as VPNs are actually proxy services. A proxy service can hide your real IP address by getting in between your IP address and the website you're trying to access and making you appear as though your IP address is one of its own. Proxies are usually not encrypted. Often used to get around content geoblocking. They're considered lightweight, temporary workarounds that offer less privacy.
6. IP Count:
The number of IP addresses used by a VPN provider. VPNs that have a larger supply of IP addresses can offer higher speeds to individual users. Those with a smaller number of IP addresses may offer slower speeds to users because of that, but it may also indicate a greater percentage of users on the network are sharing an IP address. Sharing an IP address with another user makes it more difficult for others to distinguish your personal internet activity from that of the user you're sharing with. 
7.Server Count:
The number of servers maintained in the VPN's network. A larger number of servers in a larger number of geographic locations is a strong indicator of increased speeds. 
8.Split-tunneling:
Creating two kinds of VPN tunnels at once, sometimes using different methods. Often, one VPN tunnel will be used to protect the internet activity you create in your browser, while another will be used to protect the internet activity created by internet-connected apps on your phone or computer. Some VPNs offer this feature, some do not. Split-tunneling is unnecessary for most people's needs but can be exceptionally handy for those with heightened privacy concerns about potential leaks.
9. Kill Switch:
A must-have feature offered by most VPNs that kills your internet connection if your VPN connection is dropped for any reason, in order to prevent your data from suddenly becoming visible to others.
10. Leaks:
When a VPN service fails in some way, and exposes what could be personally identifying information or unencrypted user data to either a website, network members or an internet service provider. During the review process we test for the following leaks: IPv4, IPv6, WebRTC and DNS. 

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