New
#1
Why is using unsecured wifi so DANGEROUS that a VPN is necessary?
I'm sorry but I didn't go to school for this so I’m still trying to understand all of this. It's been months and I still haven't gotten the hang of it. I'm sure this goes for many people like me.
The question today is:
Why do I need to access my own VPN when I'm accessing the internet outside using someone's unsecured wifi (eg. coffee shop)?
Doesn't SSH encrypt the data between you and the website you're accessing? So, doesn't everything you communicate with the website get encrypted? How does the host that offers the free wifi get access to your data?
Now say you're outside again but this time, you are in the same coffee shop but first access your own VPN server and then start going to other websites on the internet. How does doing this make you more secure? You access your own VPN server via SSH so that the data is encrypted like before. But, now all data goes through the VPN server first and then back out to the internet. How is this safer?
I guess I just don't get it. I'm missing something here.