davidra wrote:
OK, those are all helpful. I'll see what I can remove. I need my Cisco VPN for work purposes, but it's never caused problems before.
That sounds like a different type of VPN than the ones the others are advising against.
There are two basic types of VPNs. One connects your computer to a private network, such as your employer's network. Your traffic goes across the public Internet, but typically it is encrypted, and you cannot connect to the private network unless you can satisfy some authentication requirement. Think of that type of VPN as a drawbridge connecting a secured outside area to a castle behind a moat. It is, in essence, extending the private network (such as the work network) to include your machine.
The other type of VPN connects your computer to some random spot on the public Internet somewhere. People use this type of VPN to try to hide their location from movie streaming services, financial institutions, etc. (Many of those know it, and will reject connections coming from known public VPN outlets.). Once your packets leave that type of VPN, they still have to go through the public Internet without any extra protection. Also, some of the providers of this type of VPN have been caught snooping on the data that people send through the VPN. Even if you are visiting https sites, and the connection is end-to-end encrypted, they can still gather information about who you are talking to – so instead of extra privacy, you get the exact opposite.
