0 sats \ 3 replies \ @nullcount 13 Aug 2023 \ on: Fact Check - VPNs encrypt your data: False tech
Also, don't conflate a VPN subscription service with a self-hosted VPN. If you host your own VPN and use it to access other self hosted services on the same LAN, the encryption benefit is much stronger since there is no man in the middle from when the VPN packet is decrypted to the final handshake with the destination.
Self hosting a VPN to set up secure access to to servers you control is a perfectly reasonable use case for VPNs, and is not how most people use them, or how they’re advertised to most people. Most people think VPN = hacker at Starbucks can’t see my password. But putting a server or API or web app behind a VPN different, and perfectly legitimate
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What's the difference in security with a self-hosted vs hosted VPN server?
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The purpose of using a VPN you control is to restrict access to an app or data. You have to be authenticated into the VPN to access whatever you’re putting behind it. Companies do this kind of thing all the time - they’ll built an internet app, or store client data, and put it behind a VPN so that you have to be logged into the VPN to access it.
Technically, you can do the same thing with a hosted VPN server (a lot of companies do this as well), it just requires trust in the third party.
In other words, it’s a way to put something on the internet for you to access from anywhere as long as you’re on the VPN.
A personal use case for this would be setting up your own backup drive that you can access from anywhere via the internet. Putting it behind a VPN allows you to do this. You could also use your VPN while traveling abroad to stream services that might not work in other countries.
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