A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that creates a secure, encrypted connection over a less secure network, such as the internet. It works by routing the user’s internet connection through a private VPN server rather than their internet service provider (ISP). This masks the Internet user’s IP address, making their online actions virtually untraceable.
VPNs are widely used to provide privacy by encrypting internet traffic and shielding users from surveillance and data breaches. They offer security, especially on public Wi-Fi, to defend against cyber threats.
In the corporate world, it extends the internal network to, say, an employee’s home so that they can access work files in a secure manner.
Legitimately, VPNs enhance privacy and security (although many free VPNs functions have the potential for privacy abuse). However, in the wrong hands, VPNs can be tools for cybercriminals to hide their identities during hacking, fraud, or illegal content access.
Evolution of the VPN Market Over the Last 20 Years
Advances in larger bandwidth of data over the internet and streaming media were one of the key reasons for the growth in usage of VPNs.
This created a market for people who want the ability to access video content over the internet in regions outside of their own country; VPNs allow consumers to circumvent geo-based restrictions. Driven by the pandemic and lockdown orders, consumers globally signed up for a VPN service to access content that was otherwise off-limits to them. These use cases helped mature the VPN marketplace.
Today, some 1.6 billion people — about 31% of the world’s internet users — rely on a VPN to surf the web and access apps anonymously. That enormous pool of users is an irresistible draw for entrepreneurs, consumers, and nefarious actors who see an opportunity to cash in on the trend.
There are hundreds of VPN services (though most are owned by the same subset of parent companies). Obviously, a great deal of VPN usage is benign, but not all of it is. For instance, the credentials of 21 million VPN users were stolen from just three VPN apps — SuperVPN, GeckoVPN, and ChatVPN — and are now up for sale on the dark web.
Maturity of the VPN Market
To grow in a maturing marketplace, VPN providers have also differentiated themselves with various features to enable different types of obfuscation for anonymity. These features range from simple privacy-focused features and DRM circumvention, to highly sophisticated features the average user isn’t likely to use.
The latter were built and are meant for people with a high interest in evading detection. Security and compliance teams need a nuanced understanding of the VPN market so that they can make smart decisions about which VPN traffic to allow, which to investigate, and which to ban altogether.
To make those distinctions, however, teams need context and insight. VPN intelligence data is essential. But not all VPN data is equally valuable; critical differences exist, and those differences can spell the difference between a hack that is cauterized quickly, and one that makes national headlines.
VPNs on a Spectrum of Benign to Malicious
Not all VPN providers offer services that are friendly to nefarious players. The maturation of the VPN market has created a spectrum of benign to sophisticated VPNs. For example, both Google and Apple offer a built-in VPN service with their paid subscription offerings. These generally have simpler logging policies and publish the IP address ranges they use for their services.
Many users may not consider the implications of using this VPN when it’s turned on. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are VPNs that offer specific features, such as bulletproof hosting. Bulletproof hosting is a type of web hosting service that allows users to host any type of content, including illegal or malicious material, with little to no oversight or regulation.
These types of hosting companies tend to originate from US-sanctioned countries. Given the number of people across the globe who now use a VPN, it isn’t practical to block all traffic stemming from VPNs. It increases the danger that real customers or employees are mistakenly labeled as crooks or cyber criminals.
To mitigate risks and protect real users, companies must find the means to separate the bad guys from the good guys― and one of the tools for accomplishing this is the incorporation of IP-based VPN and proxy data into your platforms and technologies.
