Do VPNs Really Protect You From Hackers? An Expert Explains

As a Mac security expert with over a decade of experience, I‘m often asked whether using a VPN (virtual private network) will protect people from getting hacked. The short answer is that while VPNs are a useful privacy and security tool, they do not make you immune to hacking. In this in-depth guide, I‘ll explain what VPNs actually do, what they don‘t protect against, and what else you need to do to minimize your risk of getting hacked.

What a VPN Does for Security

First, let‘s be clear on what a VPN is designed to do. A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel between your device and a remote server operated by the VPN company. This has two primary benefits:

  1. It masks your real IP address and location from websites and services you interact with, since they will only see the IP address of the VPN server.

  2. It prevents your ISP and other parties from spying on your internet traffic, since all they can see is encrypted data going to the VPN server.

So a VPN hides your online identity and encrypts your traffic, which is great for privacy, avoiding censorship, and securing your data on public Wi-Fi networks. Most VPNs use secure encryption algorithms like AES-256, which would take a supercomputer billions of years to crack by brute force.

However, a VPN is not a magic anti-hacking forcefield. Let‘s look at hacking statistics to see why.

The Reality of Hacking Risks

A 2022 study by Security magazine found that hacking attacks occur every 39 seconds on average, and the volume of attacks is increasing each year. IBM reports that the average cost of a data breach reached $4.24 million in 2021.

But what methods are hackers using in these attacks? Verizon‘s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report provides some insightful statistics:

  • 82% of breaches involved the human element, including social attacks, errors and misuse
  • Ransomware was present in 25% of breaches, up from 13% in 2020
  • 62% of system intrusion incidents came through an organization‘s partners
  • 50% of breaches were caused by organized crime groups

What‘s notably missing from those stats? Anything about the victim‘s IP address being hacked. In reality, the vast majority of hacks either trick human users through social engineering or exploit software vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, regardless of IP address. A VPN alone does nothing to prevent a user from falling for a phishing email or stop a criminal from exploiting an unpatched software flaw.

Even major tech companies that assuredly use VPNs still get hacked all the time through methods like spear-phishing and malware. In 2014, a hacker was able to access hundreds of celebrities‘ private iCloud photos, despite Apple‘s systems using encryption. The flaw was in the "Find My iPhone" interface that allowed unlimited password guesses.

VPNs Don‘t Stop Most Hacking Techniques

Let‘s break down some of the most common methods hackers use and see how VPNs fare against them:

Phishing

Phishing is when an attacker sends a fraudulent message to trick the recipient into giving up sensitive info or downloading malware. Proofpoint reports that 83% of organizations experienced a successful phishing attack in 2021. VPNs do not prevent phishing emails from reaching your inbox or alert you that a message is malicious.

Malware

Malicious software or malware can infect a device when a user is tricked into installing it or visits a compromised website. Statista found 5.4 billion malware attacks occurred in 2021 alone. Once installed, malware can steal data, crypto jack, install backdoors and more. VPNs neither prevent malware delivery nor detect malware already on your device.

Password Guessing

If a hacker gets a hold of a database of hashed user passwords, they can try to crack them by "brute forcing" huge numbers of guesses very quickly. Weak passwords can be guessed in seconds. Using a unique, random password for each account is crucial for preventing this, but VPNs play no role.

DDoS Attacks

In a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, a hacker attempts to take down a server, site or network by overwhelming it with a flood of traffic, often from a botnet of infected devices. VPNs are of limited use in mitigating DDoS attacks. It can help hide your device‘s real IP address, but doesn‘t stop the flood of traffic.

Man-in-the-Middle Attacks

A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack is when a hacker secretly intercepts traffic between your device and another server to spy on or alter the data. This is one area where VPNs do help, since MITM attackers on public Wi-Fi can‘t snoop on or modify VPN-encrypted traffic.

Other Cases Where VPNs Have Value

Beyond public Wi-Fi security, there are a couple other specific scenarios where VPNs can help against hacking threats in a limited capacity:

IP-Based Attacks & Tracking

If a hacker knows your real IP address, they could potentially exploit vulnerable ports to hack into your device or use geoblocking to restrict what content you can access. A VPN masks your real IP so it‘s harder to target you specifically this way. VPNs can also prevent your IP address from being tracked across websites for profiling purposes.

ISP Surveillance

Without a VPN, your internet provider can see and log all the websites you visit, which hackers could access by breaching the ISP. A VPN prevents your ISP from snooping on your browsing. However, your VPN provider can technically still see your activity, so you must trust their logging policies.

Risks of Free and Shady VPNs

It‘s important to note that not all VPNs are trustworthy. There are thousands of "free" VPN apps out there, but remember that if a service is free, you‘re likely the product. Many free VPNs have been caught logging user data, injecting ads, and even containing malware.

As a software expert, I strongly recommend sticking to paid VPNs from reputable companies and avoiding free ones altogether. Even then, a VPN is only as secure as the company behind it. If their servers get hacked, your data could be exposed.

Why People Overestimate VPNs

So why do so many people believe a VPN will make them immune to hacking? I think there are a few reasons:

  1. Marketing hype: Many VPN providers oversell the security benefits of their products with hyperbolic claims about "military-grade encryption" and "complete anonymity". In reality, VPNs are primarily a privacy tool, not an impenetrable shield.

  2. Conflating privacy with security: People often mix up online privacy, which VPNs help with, and device security, which requires other tools. Just because your ISP and websites can‘t see what you‘re doing doesn‘t mean your actual device is protected against malware.

  3. Lack of awareness: Many users simply don‘t know much about how real-world hackers operate and what defenses are actually effective against them. There‘s a lack of practical cybersecurity education.

  4. Wanting a quick fix: We all want easy solutions, so the idea that simply installing a VPN app will protect you from hackers is appealing. But real security is a multi-layered process.

A More Complete Security Approach

To reiterate, VPNs are a valuable privacy tool, but not sufficient to prevent hacking by themselves. For a more comprehensive security setup, I recommend layering VPNs with these other key defenses:

  • Antivirus & firewall: Keep your devices protected with reputable antivirus software that blocks malware and includes an active firewall. I recommend Bitdefender or Malwarebytes.

  • Password manager: Use a password manager like 1Password or LastPass to create strong, unique passwords for every account and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever you can.

  • Update software: Always keep your operating system and apps updated with the latest security patches to prevent exploits. Enable auto-updates or check regularly.

  • Secure your router: In addition to using a VPN on your individual devices, you can install a VPN on your router to automatically encrypt all incoming and outgoing internet traffic.

  • Backup data: Regularly back up your important files to an external drive or secure cloud storage. This protects you against ransomware and device loss/failure.

  • Safe browsing: Be extremely cautious about opening email attachments, clicking on links, or downloading anything from untrusted sources. Verify website security before entering sensitive data.

  • Principle of least privilege: Only grant apps and services the bare minimum permissions they need to function, not carte blanche access to your data. Remove unused browser extensions.

  • Compartmentalize: Consider using separate browser profiles or even separate devices for different types of online activities, such as work, personal use and sensitive transactions.

In the future, hacking techniques will only continue to evolve and grow more sophisticated, especially as we put more of our lives online and connect more smart devices. Defenses like AI-powered threat detection, machine learning antivirus and better security automation will become increasingly important. But the fundamentals of digital hygiene–strong authentication, encryption, backups, patching and vigilance–will always be key.

The Bottom Line

So while VPNs alone won‘t make you hack-proof, they are an important layer in a larger strategy. I use a VPN daily myself as a Mac security professional. But I don‘t expect it to be a magic bullet. I combine it with other tools and a big dose of common sense.

Don‘t get caught up in marketing claims or fall for the myth that any single app is all you need to stay safe online. Instead, take a thoughtful, multi-pronged approach to protecting your digital life, with a VPN as part of your toolkit. Stay alert, keep learning, and remember that no one is ever 100% invincible in our connected world. But with the right layers of protection and good habits, you can reduce your hacking risks significantly.

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