How to stay safe from NSA Prism by using VPN

Over the past 2 years, the rise in the demand of VPN has caught even the vendors by surprise. Even the most optimistic VPN provider who was betting his cards on there being such a hike in the demand of VPN in the near future would have been amazed to see the statistics as more and more people took to using VPN for their daily usage. In 2013, something happened that got people rushing towards VPN vendors for online protection. That something was the spreading of a news article in the Guardian about a report leaked to it by whistle-blower Edward Snowden. The contents of the report? NSA Prism.

What is NSA Prism?

NSA Prism is a surveillance program operated by the National Security Agency, USA. The program focused on monitoring and recording each and every text message, instant chat message, phone call, email, or any other form of interaction between two people in the United States of America.

All the websites that people visit, what they search on the internet, where they are using a service from, what are they doing on any website, what data they share with one another; everything was monitored and stored by the NSA. The data of major organizations like Microsoft, Google, Skype, Apple, and Facebook was monitored and accessed by the NSA as and when they pleased.

Although these big shots claim to have no involvement with the NSA in handing over user data to them whenever they would ask for it, Edward Snowden firmly stated that the NSA, with all its resources, cannot run such a major operation on franchises of such stature without the latter having the slightest clue of what was happening.

How can VPN help?

VPN creates a secure and encrypted tunnel between your system and the VPN server through which you are connected to the internet. All the data packets exchanged between the websites you visit and your system is encrypted by the VPN. This renders your ISP or any other tracking agent to eavesdrop on your connection and monitor your online activity.

Although they can see that you are connected to a VPN server, are using an encrypted connection, how long you use that connection and how much data you share within that time, they cannot see what it is that you are doing. Therefore, VPN can help you in your quest of protecting your online privacy and staying safe from the prying and ever-watchful eyes of the NSA. However, if your VPN itself keeps logs of your activity or personal data then it makes things not at all difficult for the NSA to gain access to your data.

Here are some things you can do:

• Use most secured protocols to connect, like OpenVPN and SoftEther. This will improve your security to maximum.
• Opt for VPN that allow you to make anonymous subscriptions and pay via cryptographic currencies like Bitcoin
• Last but not the least, opt for a VPN that does not keep any logs.

Conclusion

The NSA Prism is an outrageous violation of an individual’s privacy on the internet. Although anonymizing agents like HideIPVPN can help you to a certain extent, there is no guarantee that they will protect you forever from the NSA. If they find you interesting, then it is almost certain that the NSA will find a way to know all they can about you. You can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst by using a VPN.

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