The Top VPN Trends For 2022

Not much stands still for long in the tech world, and when you think you’ve got the hang of things, a new trend comes along. This rapid evolution very much includes VPNs, and, in this article, we’re going to shine a spotlight on some of the top VPN trends for 2022.

What is a VPN?

Virtual Private Networks provide private access across a public network – essentially creating a virtual and encrypted tunnel between users who can then safely send and receive data to other members of the VPN. A significant benefit of a VPN is that it hides a user’s IP address, thus shielding their identity and allowing them to safely use public Wi-Fi. This also enables users to access websites in a different country if a particular kind of site is banned or not available in their location. 

The VPN Trends For 2022

The uptake of VPNs has been growing exponentially over the last few years, and by the end of this year, it’s estimated that the industry will be valued at a staggering $35 billion. As we head into summer 2022, a few trends are beginning to emerge in the VPN market, and some of these are: 

VPN for BYOD

Since the COVID-19 pandemic blew into our lives in March 2020, the number of employees working a remote or hybrid model has been higher than ever before. While this is excellent news for employees and their work/life balance, it can be bad for network and system security, particularly within a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) culture. Because of this changing landscape, VPNs are geared toward the BYOD culture to ensure that systems remain safe and secure even when staff is working in different locations and using their laptops or tablets. 

Getting personal

When thinking about Private Virtual Networks, people immediately think in business terms. In actual fact, the current trend is for VPNs for personal use, and figures show that the majority of VPN customers use it for personal use, such as streaming and social media. 

Behind closed doors

Even in 2022, not all countries are equal in permissions for internet access and usage. For example, some countries ban users from accessing sites for gambling or those which contain information of a sensitive nature. In 2022, there’s a growing trend for using VPN as an anonymity tool – this essentially ‘hides’ the user’s ID, including location, thereby allowing them to access sites in different regions. As well as helping to circumnavigate the dreaded ‘access denied’, this can also help users save money on products and services bought online – particularly with purchases of hardware and software where significant savings can be made. 

Zero logging

In keeping with the previous point, an increasing number of users are choosing zero-logging VPNs. As the name suggests, this is a VPN service that does not store any information about the user’s online activities or connections. This essentially means that it’s not keeping hold of any info such as banking details – making it completely safe and anonymous. 

Getting ‘appy

These days, most of us live on our phones – which means that we’re carrying around a lot of personal information and data in our pockets, which we’d prefer to keep to ourselves. It should come as no surprise then that VPN apps are on the up and up. Unlike the VPN installed on your computer’s server, VPN apps can usually be activated with just a couple of clicks for fast and easy security. While these apps are incredibly convenient, you should always ensure that you’re downloading yours from a reputable provider. They can otherwise cause problems, including tracking your online activity and compromising your security rather than protecting it. 

Conclusion

Security has never been more critical as cybercrime continues to soar for laptops, PCs, tablets, and mobile phones. For users, this means that a VPN is now an essential piece for our business and personal devices to keep our information safe. As well as security, top VPN services offer a whole host of other benefits, as mentioned in this article, such as accessing overseas sites and even saving money on our purchases.

Anton Tkachev, CEO at browsec.com