What is a VPN?

A Virtual Private Network creates an encrypted tunnel across a public network, giving secure remote access and hiding traffic from eavesdroppers.

VPN = Virtual Private Network

A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel over a public network (like the Internet).

* A VPN wraps traffic in an encrypted tunnel across the untrusted public Internet to reach the corporate network. *

How it works:

Your Device ═══[Encrypted Tunnel]═══ VPN Server → Internet

Benefits:

• Encrypts all traffic
• Hides your real IP address
• Secure remote access to corporate networks
• Bypasses geographic restrictions

Common protocols:

• IPSec
• OpenVPN
• WireGuard

Memory tip: The Private in VPN is the point — your traffic rides through a public network but stays hidden inside an encrypted tunnel.

Go deeper:

• Virtual private network (Wikipedia) — encrypted tunnel over a public network; covers IPSec/OpenVPN/WireGuard.
• WireGuard (Wikipedia) — deeper dive on the modern lightweight VPN protocol (Curve25519/ChaCha20) vs. IPsec/OpenVPN.