What a VPN Tunnel Provides

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a secure, private connection across a public network like the internet. It lets devices communicate as if they were on the same private network, even when they are far apart.

The VPN protects your traffic from eavesdroppers on the untrusted network in between, which is why remote workers and travelers rely on it daily.

A VPN works by building a tunnel: your data is wrapped inside other packets and sent across the internet to the VPN endpoint, which unwraps it. To everyone in between, they see only the outer wrapper, not the protected content inside.

This wrapping is called encapsulation, and combined with encryption it hides both the data and often its true source and destination.