VPN stands for the Virtual Private Network. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a technology that creates a safe and encrypted connection over a less secure network, such as the internet. A Virtual Private Network is a way to extend a private network using a public network such as the internet. In short, users can be part of a local network sitting at a remote location.

Why use VPN?

Imagine a scenario,

-> You are living in the U.S. and traveling to India for some reason. While reaching India you want to watch a movie on Netflix. But the movie is exclusive to the U.S.

-> You open Netflix on the TV and search the movie name but the movie is not shown.

-> This is because you are now in India, that is, you can only watch what Netflix offers in India.

This is where VPN comes in.

-> You go to app store in your device and download a VPN.

-> Then you open the app, set the country to U.S. and click connect.

-> Now if you try to launch Netflix and watch that movie, Netflix will show you the movie.

What happened here is, when you connected a VPN, it masked the IP and location of your device and temporarily changed it to US, so that Netflix thinks you are in the U.S.

This is just one example. VPNs are used by banks, MNCs etc. because they need to have secure connections.

What does VPN do?

-> VPN also ensures security by providing an encrypted tunnel between client and VPN server.

-> VPN is used to bypass many blocked sites.

-> VPN facilitates Anonymous browsing by hiding your IP address.

-> SEO can be done by the data provided by the VPN providers for country-wise stats of browsing a particular website.

Legality

VPN is legal in most countries as they are essential in establishing secure connections and cannot be hacked very easily. A person can use VPN, but using it for illegal purposes like online fraud, cyber theft, or downloading copyrighted content can land them in trouble but it's easier said than done.

Most VPN providers don't save any logs of any IP addresses so when a cybercrime happens and the police ask the VPN provider for necessary details, there is nothing to be shown and this makes it almost impossible for the law enforcement to catch the criminal.

For this reason, some countries are looking to ban VPNs (along with other reasons) like India. Some countries have already blocked VPNs because of security issues. I can't say the country name but it uses “The Great Firewall” for blocking information from leaking out.

NOTE: The Netflix example is only an example. Netflix is infamous for blocking VPNs. So if you use a VPN and could not see what you were looking for, please read this note again.

I hope that helped you in understanding the basic idea about VPN.

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