Safety Net: How VPNs help you avoid identity theft

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Due to its large population, large number of companies, and integration of new technology, the United States has the highest number of identity theft cases. In fact, its stolen identities number more than double those of the rest of the top nine countries combined (read more here).

Most Americans aren’t aware of how to protect themselves from this happening a second time, as 1 in 5 victims experience this crime more than once.

So how can you protect yourself?
Besides the usual tips of monitoring your credit cards, and never sharing personal info with unfamiliar contacts and strong passwords, a virtual private network (VPN) can protect you from hackers in most cases.

A VPN may not be able to protect you from clicking on malicious links or installing malware, but it can save you from a few specific techniques used by hackers. It disguises your data traffic online and protects it from external access.

While connecting to public Wi-Fi on your device, a VPN protects you from cybercriminals who are known to look for others connected to the network.

It is pretty common for your personal data to be stolen when you’re connected to public Wi-Fi, or become infected with malware.

Know those “Free Wifi” networks? They may be what is called honeypot networks. It tricks wireless users into connecting their devices to these fake hotspots, once the victim has connected, the cyber attacker may launch man-in-the-middle attacks which enable recording your Internet activities in an effort to steal your information, such as bank details, by using a spoofed websites.

BrightVPN protects your privacy by preventing the disclosure of your real IP address, so you remain 100% anonymous. 100% free!
It secures your Internet connection by encrypting your data so that no one else can read your messages and activity but you. With a hidden IP address, DDoS attackers can’t locate your network, making it much harder to target you.