VPN for Banking – Is it More Secure?
Online banking is ubiquitous in the modern world. Rarely anyone has to pay a visit to the bank for a transaction. Many countries have transitioned to cashless transactions. There is a growing reliance on online banking, and the push to make it more secure is ever so persistent.
The web today has kept pace with the growing need for security. HTTPS was developed to make internet data transfer secure through encryption. HTTP refers to web traffic, and HTTPS is an evolution that denotes security. It leverages encryption to convert data into an unreadable format that can only be deciphered using the web server’s private key—thus ensuring that data remains safe during transmission against theft or surveillance.
But there is another technology more robust in ensuring security, as well as privacy.
Why is VPN Popular?
VPN owes a significant chunk of its popularity to digital streaming services. The boom in the space began with Netflix and has since witnessed the inception of several new services that offer exclusive content to its users.
The only problem is that some services are either not available outside select regions or have curated content based on geographical censorship.
A VPN works as a proxy for your internet requests. It spoofs your IP address, so it appears that you are visiting from a different country. VPN has been a saving grace for those wishing to enjoy worldwide content from the comfort of their couch.
But more than that, a VPN is a tool for privacy. Recent developments surrounding privacy scandals and the repeal of Net Neutrality have sparked concerns if the internet will remain a safe and open place again. VPN’s encryption to protect data transmission gives users privacy on the internet against government surveillance and protection on unsecure networks.
Is VPN Better for Online Banking?
We talked about HTTPS and how it has transitioned much of the web, but the protocol is not the end to all your worries. Hackers can still steal your information with decisive methods. To understand how VPN helps elevate security while banking, you need to understand how HTTPS works.
HTTPS relies on public-key cryptography to secure communication between the user and the webserver. The server authenticates itself through a certificate that is issued by a Certificate Authority (CA). While communication is secure, it does not validate the authenticity of a website. Anyone can make a website and secure it with HTTPS.
With that in consideration, here are a couple of situations where VPN will help in online banking:
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Public Wi-Fi
Public Wi-Fi networks are vulnerable to exploits due to weak security. When a public Wi-Fi network is setup, security takes a backseat in favor of convenience. Someone with adequate knowledge can join the network and sniff the data packets on the network.
HTTPS packets are encrypted. But what if when the hacker has set up its device as a fake access point? As the traffic cop for your internet traffic, it can redirect you to fake login pages. If you visit Facebook, the hacker could redirect you to a webpage fabricated to reflect the original Facebook login page.
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Session Hijacking
Webservers use cookies stored on your web browser to identify you and provide a seamless browsing experience. HTTP is not persistent, so cookies were developed to keep the user logged throughout the session. Otherwise, refreshing the page or loading the next page in the website would require re-authentication.
Cookies store session IDs that are fetched by the web server every time a request to load a page is sent by the user.
It is possible for the hacker to steal the session ID if the entire session is not encrypted or through phishing emails that tricks a user into clicking a link with a predefined session ID. With a valid session ID, the hacker can impersonate you. The hacker can hijack a banking session or an e-commerce session.
Conclusion
In both scenarios, a VPN will play a vital role in ensuring that your data is safe. iProVPN leverages AES 256-bit encryption. It is one of the toughest encryption standards available. The next time you want to make an online transaction, open the iProVPN, connect to any VPN server, log in to your bank account, and proceed with the transaction.
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