The Differences between VPN and Firewall

What is a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and a Firewall in the network context? How can they protect you from getting harm online? Well, many of us should have heard of VPN and Firewall but do you know their main differences? In terms of security, both have their roles to protect users at the right time. But, which are you more familiar with, VPN or Firewall? In today's article, we will introduce you to the difference between a VPN and a Firewall.

Some of us may ask, do we need both a VPN and Firewall in our device system at one time? The answer is Yes! Although they serve different purposes, both of them defend your devices from cybersecurity threats.

Firewall

Let’s start off with a Firewall, the most popular and basic security known as the first layer of defend shield pre-installed in your computer device. A Firewall is a foundation of a network security system that monitors and verifies all the incoming and outgoing traffic on the network. In short, they act as a barrier to identify whether the traffics comes from a trusted network or not.

Likewise, if a Firewall detects an incoming threat, it will automatically warn the user and block the traffic until the user has made a verification. Thus, the whole purpose of a Firewall is to prevent unauthorised access to a network.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Next, let’s talk abou the VPN. Instead of becoming the first layer security defense between your device and your network, a VPN create a secure tunnel that allows you to encrypt all your network traffic communication. Sometimes, VPN is also known as the second layer of security defense right after the Firewall. VPN encryption helps to hide all your online activity and personal information by converting all readable data into unreadable data for everyone else on your network (including your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the government). This is to ensure that you cannot be identified and tracked by others on the internet.

Conclusion

Overall, we need both VPN and Firewall to protect our computer from cybersecurity threats. Although there seems to have huge differences between a VPN and Firewall, they share the same objective. For users who are using MacBook and Windows PC, we recommend you to install a VPN client on your device. Even if your place of residence does not require you to bypass any geo-restricted content, you still need to connect your device to a VPN for privacy purposes. Ultimately, both VPN and Firewall can prevent you from falling into the trap of a hacker.

Want to find out more about VPN? Check out the two link below:
VPN for Mac, visit here.
VPN for PC visit here.

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