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The Truth About VPNs – What Works, What Fails, and What to Avoid

ByGuest Author

How VPNs Really Work (And Where They Fail)

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are often marketed as the ultimate tool for online privacy. But the truth is more nuanced. VPNs rely on three core components:

  • Encryption protocols that scramble your data
  • Proxy servers that reroute your traffic to hide your IP address
  • Network infrastructure that handles all the above

When working correctly, this system can hide your location and secure your data communication in transit. But here’s the catch: your privacy is only as strong as the infrastructure your VPN provider runs—and that’s where things often fall apart.

The Hidden Risk – Infrastructure Weaknesses

Many budget or even popular VPN services run on outdated or poorly maintained servers, which leaves users vulnerable to known exploits. For example:

  • Fortinet SSL-VPNs had critical flaws (CVE-2022-42475, CVE-2023-27997) allowing remote code execution—left unpatched for months.
  • Ivanti VPNs suffered a zero-day (CVE-2024-21893) that allowed attackers root access, even after a factory reset.
  • OpenVPN versions 2.6.0–2.6.6 exposed encrypted traffic through memory handling flaws (CVE-2023-46850).

These vulnerabilities weren’t theoretical—they were exploited in the wild. And most users had no idea.

What VPNs Can’t Hide – Browser Fingerprinting

VPNs only provide a secure link between your home router and the VPN hosting company’s server, which effectively only hides your IP and protects your data between these two points.

Even if your IP is hidden, your browser might still betray you.

Modern websites collect over 50 unique attributes from your browser:

  • WebGL & AudioContext expose subtle hardware details
  • Rendering behaviour can reveal your GPU/CPU profile
  • Typing speed and browsing habits build a behavioral fingerprint

This technique—called browser fingerprinting—can uniquely identify you among hundreds of thousands of users. This technique is commonly used by large companies such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Facebook (Meta).

Your IP address is no longer the primary method of locating you and law enforcement agencies also have no trouble locating you, based on this and many other digital fingerprints you leave when accessing online services and websites.

How to Defend Yourself:

Privacy browsers like Brave or Librewolf offer protections like:

  • Blocking trackers by default
  • Standardising fingerprints
  • Isolating cookies between sites

But no VPN can protect you from browser-level leaks alone.

Tor – Powerful, but Not Bulletproof

The Tor network takes anonymity to the next level by routing your traffic through three random, encrypted relays. It’s far more secure than most VPNs—but not invincible.

Weak Points:

  • Malicious Entry/Exit Nodes can correlate traffic timing or inject malware into insecure sites.
  • User Mistakes, like logging into accounts or downloading torrents, destroy anonymity.
  • Targeted Attacks from advanced actors (like state surveillance groups) can exploit browser flaws or flood the network with malicious nodes.

Tor is a powerful tool—but only when used with extreme discipline.

Behind the Curtain – The VPN Industry’s Dirty Secrets

Many top-rated VPNs cut corners in ways that harm user privacy:

  • Use virtual servers (fake location claims)
  • Share infrastructure with shady hosting providers
  • Delay security patches due to cost or complexity

For instance, equipment used such as:

  • Check Point’s Quantum Gateway had an 8.6 severity vulnerability (CVE-2024-24919) used to steal credentials.
  • Cisco RV340 routers allowed attackers to upload files without restrictions (CVE-2023-20073).

These aren’t obscure providers—they’re industry giants.

Building Real Security – What You Can Actually Do

If you must use a VPN:

  • Do not use free services. Providing a good VPN service is a costly business, as these companies must maintain and provide good hardware and keep the software infrastructure up-to-date.
  • Look for independent audits (e.g. Proton VPN’s Cure53 audit)
  • Choose modern protocols like WireGuard over older ones like IPSec/IKEv2
  • Run leak tests at sites like BrowserLeaks.com
  • VPN service providers that focus on offering video streaming are generally more focused on providing high bandwidth data transmission, than robust security. These services should only be considered if your goal is to bypass the geo-blocking applied to commercial streaming services.

Beyond VPNs:

  • Use sandboxed environments (Qubes OS, or separate devices for sensitive tasks)
  • Enable hardware-level security like Apple’s Secure Enclave or Windows Pluton
  • Monitor your credentials with HaveIBeenPwned.com

When to Avoid VPNs Altogether

For high-risk individuals—journalists, activists, whistleblowers—VPNs might actually create a false sense of security.

Instead, consider:

  • Tails OS, which leaves no trace and routes all traffic through Tor
  • Air-gapped devices that never touch the internet
  • Burner accounts and SIMs for anonymous registration
  • Encrypted USB devices sent by traditional postal services.

True anonymity requires more than a subscription—it requires operational discipline.

Looking Ahead – The Future of Privacy

New technologies are emerging that could one day replace VPNs entirely:

  • Multi-party computation: Process data without decrypting it
  • ISP-level onion routing: Bake anonymity into the backbone of the internet

But until then, the best defence is understanding the limitations of the tools you use. A VPN is not a magic cloak—it’s just one layer in a larger security strategy.

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