Five of the first six of Forbes' 9 reasons why you should use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) are security related:

1. Security on Public Wi-Fi
2. Data Privacy From Your Internet Service Provider
3. Data Privacy From the Apps and Services You Use
4. Data Privacy From Your Government
5. Access to Any Content in Any Place
6. Security When Working Remotely

The bottom line for all of these reasons is that hackers, ISPs and governments can see unencrypted traffic. Banks, retailers and others who collect or provide sensitive personal information use secure HTTP (aka HTTPS) to protect the data you enter or view on those sites, but your usage of those sites is still visible. This includes information about your location, your device, and your browser. And unless you've changed the default DNS server (and you should, even if you use a VPN), you're using an unknown DNS server on public Wi-Fi.

Image by Stefan Coders from Pixabay

Encrypt your Internet traffic with a Virtual Private Network (VPNs)

Encrypt your Internet traffic on all devices with a Virtual Private Network (VPNs) - especially on hotel, retail, restaurant and other public networks. And treat every network as a public network.

How VPNs work

VPNs protect you by encrypting your Internet traffic and by changing your IP address to the IP address of the VPN server to which you are connected. Encrypting Internet traffic hides your web activity from hackers, ISPs and governments. Changing your IP address limits (but doesn't prevent) hackers, ISPs, governments and advertisers like Google, Facebook and Amazon from tracking your activities. But using a VPN adds another connection to your Internet usage, and this can impact performance, especially if the VPN server you're using is overloaded.

Some VPNs offer the ability to use multiple VPN servers for additional privacy. This capability is called "double-hop" or "multiple-hop," depending on how many servers are involved (the most is 4). Note that reviewers found performance with some double-hop services to be similar to single-hop services.

Which VPN? Beware of free and freely recommended...

There are many available VPNs, including both free and paid services, so it can be difficult to choose. Most VPNs use the same level of encryption (AES 256-bit), so the level of protection is generally equal. However, if you're concerned about privacy and performance, paid services are generally better. Some offer unlimited devices, while others limit the number of simultaneous connections. You can easily find VPN comparisons and VPN recommendations, but be aware of sponsored reviews. Many VPN services offer huge discounts during the week of the US holiday, Thanksgiving and on Black Friday.

SwampGeek recommends (without affiliate or any other compensation):

• ProtonVPN (https://protonvpn.com) - offers free VPN with decent performance and minimal constrains, but paid plans are expensive (look for deals on ProtonMail and ProtonVPN combinations)
• ExpressVPN (https://expressvpn.com) - good combination of price, performance and features
• MullVPN (https://mullvad.net) - another good combination or price, performance and features
• NordVPN (https://nordvpn.com) - one more good combination of price, performance and features
• Perfect Privacy (https://perfect-privacy.com) - expensive, but has excellent privacy options
• SurfShark (https://surfshark.com/) - inexpensive without sacrificing performance or features