Five years ago, if you had asked someone if they were using a VPN when going online, you may have been greeted with a blank stare. While internet usage was huge back then, as it is now, there simply wasn’t a great deal of concern about privacy, save for perhaps hiding your browser history from your spouse. Yes, you can simply click Shift+Ctrl+N to get into an anonymous browsing session while online, but you are still not full protected from those people who would love to get their hands on all your sensitive information.
Nowadays, those same folks who knew nothing of virtual private networks a few years ago are now unable to go online without first making sure that their VPN is activated. In any 30-day period, 25% of people who went online will have done so will using a VPN. What is interesting about this, besides the incredible number of people using the software, is that the reasons you will hear for a VPN being put to work may very well vary depending on where the person you are talking to resides. All the reasons given are valid and are a contributing factor to why VPN usage is on the rise.
In certain parts of the world, specifically in the Middle East and Asia, people are not able to visit the websites that those of us in the western world take for granted. Imagine not being able to get on your social media sites or be able to catch your favorite TV show online. That is what everyday life is like for a lot of people in the world, but they can get around the regulations and get to those previously blocked sites by using a VPN that makes it seem as though they are accessing the internet from a completely different part of the world.
In North America, as well as in other parts of the world, we get to hear about data breaches and identity theft on an almost daily basis. If you are intent on remaining anonymous whenever you go online, then you really need to be using a VPN. There is also the fear that the government is watching every single keystroke that we log on our computers, looking for any little sign that we might be up to no good. People don’t like the idea of Big Brother watching and monitoring our every move online, so keeping them out via a VPN is making many people look at using some protective software.
It’s a bit easier to be protected when you are online at home than it is when you are out and about, which is perhaps why the number of people using a VPN on mobile devices is on the rise. With that in mind, it’s perhaps not that surprising to learn that roughly half of the people who use a mobile VPN do so every day. VPN’s are very much here to stay, so we can expect usage to continue to rise on a daily basis.
Info-graphic
