As internet freedom declines for the 13th consecutive year, virtual private networks (VPNs) are fast becoming an essential security arsenal in people’s daily lives. What was predominantly an enterprise tool for their employees to remote access intranets in the past, VPNs are now finding their use case with the consumer for everyday cyber safety and online privacy. Used to secure and encrypt digital identities, location, and traffic, a VPN is one of the best tools to protect ourselves from oppression and exploitation.
Protecting our personal activity, data, and identity online has become far more critical than it used to be, as reflected in Forbes’ VPN stats and trends for 2024. Their findings reveal that more people now use VPNs to protect their online activity rather than to connect to their company intranet for work. VPNs are primarily used to increase personal security and secure access to services available in different locations, especially when traveling.
The big question is: why now? Society has been evolving towards the digital for a long time, and although we learn more about its risks and rewards as time goes on, the spike in VPN use happened in a comparatively short timeframe. So, what were the drivers behind this trend?
No single incident is responsible for the change; it is a combination of the worldwide increases in cybercrime, oppression, and censorship, coupled with the increasing accessibility and affordability of paid VPN services. Cybercrime is predicted to cost the world £7.6 trillion in 2024, with a 15% annual growth rate expected to reach £8.4 trillion by 2025. Even as enterprise cyber attacks are on the rise, and we see more data breaches and individual identities (PII data) compromised by corporations coupled with continued growth in enterprise cybersecurity spend, cybercriminals are also targeting individuals at an alarmingly increasing rate.
The increased availability and usage of unsecured public Wi-Fi connectivity have increased convenience but also expanded the attack surface from our homes to cafés, restaurants, airports, hotels, and more, leading to increased cybercrime incidents against individuals. The risks of accessing the internet without a VPN from these unsecured public Wi-Fi networks are real and here to stay.
Internet freedom has decreased steadily for over a decade, and corporations and governments are trying to reclaim control by creating digital borders. According to Freedom House, in 41 countries, people were attacked and sometimes killed because of what they said online. This comes on top of a rise in government-backed online manipulation campaigns, with at least 47 governments now actively using so-called commentators to manipulate online narratives - a doubling in the last decade. Additionally, a record number of governments (41) are blocking websites that contain content protected by international free speech laws. In some cases, these censorships may be beneficial to protect the integrity of a good and accurate narrative. However, freedom of speech and information is essential to a healthy society. People around the world are recognizing the decreasing freedom of speech as a sign of an unhealthy society.
The final reason for VPN adoption is accessibility and affordability. Consumer VPN offerings have adapted to become more user-friendly to non-technical individuals, and mass adoption has also helped lower prices. VPNs are becoming increasingly versatile and sophisticated, adding supplementary privacy features such as split tunneling, kill switches, and automatic connections. Some have also added security features to thwart tracking and malicious sites, and most top providers promise to keep adding protection features in response to the evolving consumer threat landscape.
This would not have been possible if people had failed to recognize the value of a VPN. That said, the increased protection can sometimes lead to a false sense of security. While an incredible tool, a VPN is not a one-stop shop for online security, and people are still vulnerable to human errors, social engineering attacks, phishing, and malware. Nearly 60% of respondents in a Forbes survey claimed they’d experienced a cyberattack while using a VPN. The false sense of security is exacerbated when people use free VPNs. Most of these service providers operate using the same version of the service-for-ads and data model as “free” Wi-Fi is known for, defeating the purpose of using a VPN in the first place. They’re also far less secure in general. In 2022, seven free VPN providers were responsible for around 1.2TB of leaked data. The year before, 21 million people had their data exposed when user logins from three free VPN providers were listed for sale on the dark web.
But make no mistake: it’s good that personal VPN use is skyrocketing. This means that people are starting to take the threat of cybercrime seriously and value a society where free speech is not hindered. Hopefully, we will soon reach a point where the trend evolves, and VPNs become a standard feature integrated into our devices in the same way as a firewall or an antivirus is today. Until then, people must continue to proactively strengthen their online security, and a VPN should be the cornerstone of their setup, keeping their data safe, masking their IP address, and protecting their online traffic from prying eyes. Fortunately, most paid VPN services are becoming affordable and comprehensive enough to help people start on that journey.
