The global VPN market is predicted to reach over $107.5 billion by 2027

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are used all over the world to provide people with encrypted connections to the internet. A VPN is a piece of software that creates a secure (encrypted) internet connection – also known as a “VPN tunnel” – between your device and the website or app you are trying to reach. When you use a VPN, your standard internet connection is redirected via a secure VPN server before connecting to the wider Internet. Once you connect to a secure VPN server, your internet traffic goes through an encrypted tunnel that nobody can see into, including hackers, governments, and your internet service provider.

Consumers use VPNs to keep their online activity private and ensure their internet experience is free from outside interference and most of the enterprises are using VPNs to connect far-flung employees as if they were all using the same local network at a central office, but with fewer benefits for individuals than a personal VPN. Using a VPN, changes your IP address, the unique number that identifies you and your location in the world.

This new IP address will make you appear to be in the location you select when you connect: the UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, or virtually any country, if the VPN service has servers there. Changing your IP address with a VPN helps shield your identity from websites, apps, and services that want to track you. Good VPNs also prevent your internet provider, mobile carrier, and anyone else who may be listening from seeing your activity, thanks to a layer of strong encryption.

VPNs can help secure data, since, encryption is a way of scrambling data so that only authorized parties can understand the information. It takes readable data and alters it so that it appears random to attackers or anyone else who intercepts it. In this way, encryption is like a "secret code''. The Virtual Private Network (VPN) – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics predicts that the VPN market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17.2 percent over the next five years. After seeing above-average growth in 2020, it is on track to reach more than $107.5 billion by 2027.

This is a sharp increase over a previous estimate by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. of $88 billion by 2027. The country with the highest use rate was Indonesia (61 percent) followed by India (45 percent) and the UAE (42 percent). The country with the highest growth rate in VPN usage since the last study (conducted in 2017) was the Netherlands. Making a strong pitch against the rise in cybercrimes, the Parliamentary Standing committee on Home Affairs has blamed the VPN app, an easily available online tool for allowing “criminals to remain anonymous online.”

The committee has also proposed to put a check on the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) and the dark web. “The Committee notes with anxiety the technological challenge posed by VPN services and Dark Web can bypass cyber security walls and allow criminals to remain anonymous online. As of date, VPN can easily be downloaded, as many websites are providing such facilities and advertising them.

Deepak Sahu, President & CEO, VARINDIA