IVPN is a VPN provider that supports a host of different security protocols. The main thrust of this, and other services like it, is that it provides a layer of anonymity between the user and the servers they connect to on the Internet.
How IVPN Encryption Works
IVPN uses various encryption protocols so that the data cannot be intercepted in transit. You connect to the server provided by the company, not directly to the server you're getting information off of. For example, if you were in a nation where Internet traffic is censored and wanted to read a US or UK newspaper site without being blocked, you could connect to the IVPN server, get the newspaper through that server and read it without any of the content being censored.
The encryption is an additional feature that prevents your traffic from being intercepted and decoded by snoopers. The encryption basically encodes every piece of data in a way that makes it indecipherable to anything except your computer and the server you're getting it from. In this way, intercepted traffic cannot be read and, more importantly, the destination and origination present no red flags for anyone watching. Oftentimes, the traffic is routed over innocuous ports that don't attract any attention.
Is it Expensive?
Like most subscription services, IVPN offers discounts to customers who buy longer commitments to the service. Some users choose to buy a month of services such as these to see if they really need them and others go for longer subscriptions if they know they're going to need them frequently.
Who Does Need these Services?
Though encrypting all of your Internet traffic in a nation that doesn't censor traffic might seem a bit odd, many people do it for simple security reasons. It's very useful, for example, for people who log onto their work networks for their home and who need to make sure that any information that could be sensitive is transmitted over a secure connection. Some users simply get annoyed with the amount of prying sites run by advertisers and other perfectly legitimate, but very intrusive, services. This type of service allows such users to log onto those sites without revealing their actual IP address.
How Does it Hide my IP?
IVPN uses several different protocols. They have names such as OpenVPN, IPsec and freeRadius. They're all basically just ways of making the traffic to and from your computer anonymous. When you log onto a site, the site thinks you're logging on from one of the servers on the IVPN network instead of your own ISP's. For example, you could be located in Meridian, Mississippi and log onto a site with an IP address that showed you were in Ireland, if the company happened to have a server there and you logged on through it. The destination site only sees the traffic from Ireland, not from the original server that you're coming from, which is a big benefit of services such as these for users who want privacy when they surf.
