We have a whole section on VPNs for mobile devices, but why would you need one? After all, if you’re on your 4G connection, it’s already secure, so isn’t a VPN just adding an unnecessary complication, not to mention the extra money a VPN will cost you?
Using a VPN on your mobile device, it turns out, is actually a very good idea.
Sloppy Habits
If you were really concerned about privacy–and had a great memory–you’d turn off the Wi-Fi connection on your mobile device every time you left the house. If the device hooks up to an open network, or a honeypot of some sort, you could be vulnerable.
If you were extra cautious, you’d avoid hooking up to any public Wi-Fi network, whether it was at a coffee shop or on a campus. There is always a risk of having your security breached when you do.
However, most of us are not going to remember to turn off the Wi-Fi on our mobile devices every time we leave the house. No matter how clever we are, there’s always a chance that we’ll unwittingly hook up to a phony public WiFi hotspot and end up being taken advantage of because of it.
A VPN can provide a great deal of protection against being exploited. Many security breaches come down to sloppy habits, whether that means not knowing your device is seeking out connections to Wi-Fi hotspots or hooking up to the wrong one by accident.
More Powerful Devices Mean They’re More Desirable Targets
Mobile devices are getting more powerful all the time. That means that people are using them not only for casual browsing and checking their email; they’re also using them for business purposes. There could very well be data on your mobile device that would be highly desirable to a hacker or identity thief and that means you have to keep that data safe.
Today’s powerful mobile devices, however, offer more options for security than did their predecessors. Most VPN providers have clients for mobile devices these days, and hooking up to an encrypted server–and verifying that your connection is still good-requires no more than using an app.
If you’re going to use your mobile device on strange networks, or just want to make sure you’re as hard a target as possible, using a VPN is your best bet.
Leave a Reply