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This sent me down a rabbit hole looking for alternatives to paying for a VPN. I used some web tools to create my own private network for free, it was not easy. But I also learned that many casual users may not even need a VPN anymore.

Here’s what you need to know.

What Has Changed in VPNs?

Not long ago, many websites lacked security mechanisms to prevent malicious people from eavesdropping on what people were doing as they browsed their sites, leading to their data being stolen. This has helped VPN services become a must-have security product. VPN providers have offered to help hide people’s browsing information by creating an encrypted tunnel on their servers through which all your web traffic goes.

But in the last five years, the internet has changed tremendously. Many privacy advocates and tech companies pressured website creators to rewrite their sites. support HTTPS, a security protocol that encrypts traffic and solves most of the problems mentioned above.

You’ve probably noticed the padlock symbol in your web browser. A locked padlock indicates that a site is using HTTPS; An unlocked one means it doesn’t exist and is therefore more susceptible to attack. It’s rare to come across a site with an unlocked padlock these days — 95 percent of the top 1000 websites are now encrypted with HTTPS, according to W3Techs, a site that compiles data about web technologies.

That means VPNs are no longer an essential tool when most people surf the web on a public Wi-Fi network, he said. lice print, a cyber security firm.

“It is very difficult to find cases where people are harmed by logging into the airport, cafe or hotel Wi-Fi,” he said. He added that the people who use VPN these days are those who work in high-risk areas and could be targets, such as journalists who correspond with sensitive sources and business executives who carry trade secrets when traveling abroad.

Simple Alternatives

So what to do? “Fortunately, most of us are able to secure ourselves online with basic protections that are free unlike VPN services,” Mr. Guido said.