Starting a few years back, VPN services started gaining popularity, and the trend never stopped.
Nowadays, our online privacy is at stake more than ever, and it seems that VPN is one of our best fighting chances.
A VPN has a broad usability range, as it can not only protect our online privacy and secure our connection.
It can also help you circumvent geo-restrictions that might keep you from enjoying your favorite online content or accessing censored websites.
Last, but not least, if used right, it can help you curb packet loss, and even reduce in-game ping. Therefore, you can use a VPN in several, various connection-related situations.
But there are a few concerns that haunt the mind of end-users all around the world. We’ve already established whether or not VPNs can access your data, and if you can get hacked through VPN apps.
However, there’s one theory that, if proved correct, would shatter the whole purpose of getting a VPN in the first place. And that’s whether or not you can be traced while using a VPN.
How does a VPN work?
The way a VPN works is that it encrypts all of your network traffic, from the device you’ve installed it on to the exit point. The exit point is usually within the VPN network.
Therefore, a VPN could only protect you from MITM (Man-In-The-Middle) attacks, where the perpetrator is located somewhere between you and your VPN provider. If the attacker intercepts your Internet traffic, there’s pretty much nothing they could do about it.
For instance, when you access a website through a VPN, you’re most likely to use a VPN client for this.
Thus, all of your requests go through the client, which encrypts them, and forwards them to the VPN server through a secure, encrypted tunnel.
The encrypted data reaches the VPN server, which hides important details about you such as your geo-location and IP address. While inside the server, your data gets decrypted and forwarded to the website you wanted to access.
The website generates a response, which follows the same path, only backward. The response gets encrypted by the VPN server and forwarded back to the VPN client, through the same secure tunnel.
Upon receiving the encrypted data, your VPN client decrypts it once more and lets you access it.
Although this process might seem lengthy and tedious, it happens in a few moments. You might not even be able to notice any slowdowns, either, since the process execution time is near real-time.
🔍 Can you be traced through a VPN?
If you’re wondering whether it’s possible to be traced through a VPN, then the answer is yes. There are a lot of factors to take into consideration, and some of them are strictly related to your online behavior.
Therefore, if you’re using a VPN in an attempt to hide your online identity and post details about your real identity on various websites, not only can you be traced, but you also made it extremely easy for anyone to trace you.
The same goes for VPNs who, upon being pressured by government agencies, agree to deploy backdoors within their service, to facilitate monitoring.
Last, but not least, even non-compromised VPNs can leak your DNS or IP address from time to time. The leak might be a matter of nanoseconds, but for someone who tries to figure out your real identity, it’s more than enough.
So, to recap shortly, here are some cases where you can be traced through a VPN:
- You reveal your real identity (or even just details) by yourself while using VPN
- The VPN provider agrees to install backdoors in their service, which facilitates tracing
- Your VPN might leak your IP/DNS address, which also leads to uncovering your location and possibly your identity, too
- If your machine is compromised (malware is installed on it), your real IP address is revealed to the attacker
That being said here, you must be cautious when you choose your VPN client and assure that provides DNS leak protection and hides your traffic with the latest encryption.
🛡️What is the best VPN that can’t be traced?
Actually, there’s no such thing as a VPN that can’t be traced if you’re careless about your digital footprint. Shortly, any VPN can be traced.
However, there are a few VPN services that go out of their way to keep your online privacy intact by avoiding IP leaks and not installing backdoors in their service.
For instance, ExpressVPN is an excellent service offered by Kape Technologies. It did great on all of our tests, security- and speed-wise, and yielded zero IP/DNS leaks during our advanced security assessment.
- Download ExpressVPN software.
- Install it on your PC.
- Launch it and log into your account.
- Connect to the server of your choice.
- Enjoy browsing the Internet privately.
Hence, this short time process should help you eliminate the chances to be traced by different institutions or actors that require your personal data.
Connecting to other servers from around the world gives you the advantage of masked IP addresses that tunnel your traffic and hide your real location.
ExpressVPN
Navigate and perform online tasks without being tracked by different actors using this 100% secure VPN.Can VPN be tracked by the employer?
Yes, it is certainly possible that your employer tracks your VPN activity when you’re connected to the remote account of the VPN.
Basically, you can be tracked if you’re connected to the internal business network and use the VPN to navigate online or perform other activities.
Can VPN be tracked by the government?
Practically, the government it’s not able to see your VPN online data, and thus track your personal information.
In any case, this is not happening every single time. You can be tracked in specific circumstances if the VPN companies are required to offer your data to a court order or warrants in the US.
So you should worry about the government tracking your VPN data unless you’re performing forbidden activities online.
Yes, you can be traced through VPN, but it’s not likely
To wrap it up, it’s not impossible to be traced through a VPN. However, the odds of that happening are slim, and you can help keep them that way. For instance, never post your real identity online if you want to keep it hidden.
Additionally, try not to access any shady, malware-ridden website. Malware can easily compromise both your privacy and your device.
More so, it will also render your VPN useless, as it won’t be able to hide you from potential attackers if your machine is compromised from the inside.
However, you must remember not to engage in any reckless behavior that would jeopardize your privacy and/or security.
Not even all the VPNs combined can help you if you’re handing out your private details freely online.
Hence, you can check out the best VPNs that are less likely to be traced.