NordVPN started out with a simple question: what makes you think you’re secure online?
You follow the news, so you know that cybercrime is on the rise. You hear of people getting scammed. And yet, you do nothing to minimize the risk of becoming a victim yourself. That was the argument NordVPN presented.
Their product is a VPN, which stands for Virtual Private Network. VPNs used to be something for tech geeks, inaccessible to the general population. But NordVPN was one of the companies that streamlined the technology and made it surprisingly easy-to-use.
You install it, click once, and your traffic is encrypted. And since it’s so simple, NordVPN’s strategy of educating the public about cybersecurity makes total sense. If the technology is here to protect us, then the only barrier is the lack of information about said technology.
But is it that simple? Can a VPN or any other tool make you 100% safe online? We discussed all things cybersecurity with Ruby Gonzalez, Head of Communications at NordVPN.
Q: Let’s start with the basics. What does NordVPN do? Both the company and the app?
NordVPN the app routes your internet traffic through a remote VPN server. Your traffic enters a secure VPN tunnel, where it’s encrypted, and your IP and physical location are hidden. We have both mobile and desktop apps for every major platform. You can choose from 5000 servers from all around the world to connect to. You click or tap, and in a few seconds, your traffic is secured.
The encryption we employ is AES with 256-bit keys, which means it has 2^256 possible combinations. That’s a lot. A successful attack against this encryption would require supercomputers and would take billions of years. What hacker would invest all those resources to get to your emails and cat photos? Well, maybe if the cat is really cute…
Our company develops the app, polishes it, does everything to make it flawless. We have over 12 million users — and we’re still growing quite rapidly. Part of our success definitely rests on the current trends. People want to be more secure online — and we satisfy that need.
But we’ve also done a lot of work in educating the public about cybersecurity issues. That’s how we expand our user base — we make people more aware of the dangers lurking online. Once they realize they aren’t safe, NordVPN provides them with encryption a click away.
Q: You turn on NordVPN, and you’re absolutely safe online?
Unfortunately, nothing’s that easy. You might ask: “Well, I bought a reinforced steel door, so am I absolutely safe at my home?” Not if your windows are unlocked, or if you keep your key under the mat.
It’s the same with NordVPN. It encrypts your internet traffic, so if anyone manages to intercept it, they cannot see a thing. Actually, they can see encrypted data, which looks like gibberish. It’s the same with your internet service provider — all they see is that you connect to a VPN server.
Let’s not forget apps. Most people don’t realize that the apps they use aren’t necessarily secure. The problem is that an app to an average user is like a black box. Data goes in, data comes out — can anyone grab it in the process? If the app adheres to the best cybersecurity practices, then no. But does it? How should a user know? Users don’t need to guess — they can encrypt traffic and be sure.
This is how NordVPN secures online activity. But online security doesn’t end there. If you leave the window open, the reinforced steel door won’t save you.
Q: And what are these windows? Which cybersecurity sins usually get users in trouble?
A lot of people use one password for everything — their social media, their email, their online banking. Imagine what happens when that password gets stolen.
It doesn’t have to be your fault. Cybercriminals may hack a website or a service you use and leak the data — including your credentials — to the web. And now a skeleton key to your online life is available for everyone online.
Weak passwords are even worse. You can’t imagine how many people use 123456 as a password. According to some data, it’s been the most common password for 6 years in a row. So if you use “123456” or “password” or “qwerty” to protect your accounts, you keep the door unlocked.
Other passwords may sound a bit more secure, but they are easy to crack with a brute-force attack. That’s when an attacker tries all possible combinations in an attempt to guess the correct one. Cybercriminals have automated this process — an algorithm works for them, and can crack a weak password in seconds. There’s also the dictionary attack — a form of brute-forcing. With a dictionary attack, cybercriminals try the most likely combinations to find the match.
So if your password is not random enough, like “dog123”, a brute-force or a dictionary attack will easily crack it. You want more randomness in your cybersecurity. That’s why a lot of websites and services require you to use a long password with symbols, numbers, and upper and lower case letters.
Q: Now I feel like I want to change all my passwords.
Oh, that means you’re on the right track! You can always use a password manager. Actually, we’ve just released our own manager — NordPass. It’s intuitive and simple to use. (See NordPass on SourceForge).
Q: What other common tricks do cybercriminals use?
Well, there’s malware — but by now it’s common knowledge. You may not know the difference between a virus and a worm, but you know that you need antivirus software on your laptop. And I hope you update your apps and operating system as soon as updates are available.
Phishing is the last big fish, pun intended (and also sorry for the pun). You click on a link, a familiar screen pops up on your screen. You enter your password and username, hit enter, and lose your credentials to a hacker. Why?
Because the link you clicked on was sent by a scammer. You entered a fake website, and you gave away the keys to your online kingdom. So the advice is not to click if you’re not sure it’s legitimate. And if a website looks fishy, well — maybe it’s phishy.
Q: So, can you be 100% secure online?
No tool can make you absolutely secure online — as no tool can do the same for you offline. The only way to be 100% secure online is never to use the internet.
If that sounds like a price too high to pay — and I believe it is — you can become more secure than most users. Make those cybercriminals work. Since they don’t like to work, they will move on to someone else. (Here’s a list of cheap VPNs)
The truth is, most cybercriminals do not choose victims — they are opportunistic. You may imagine a hacker like someone with a sniper rifle — mysterious, precise, meticulous. I suggest you forget that picture. Image hackers as thugs running around the web with cyber shotguns. They shoot at random, hoping for a hit.
If you have your shield ups, they won’t bother. Except, of course, if you’re some CEO with precious data on your laptop. But super valuable data shouldn’t be kept on an internet-capable device.
That’s why, at NordVPN, we say that cybersecurity starts with a click. But it doesn’t mean it’s the end of your journey. NordVPN is simply the easiest first step you can take.
About NordVPN
NordVPN is one of the largest VPN services in the world, providing online security and safeguarding the privacy of more than 12 million users worldwide. NordVPN can be used on 6 devices at the same time and is available on every major platform: Windows, Android, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Linux.