It pretty common to use VPN for just the trip from your computer to the VPN provider who then passes it onto the site you select. It prevents you from being spoofed, that is from hooking up to wifi endpoint that isn't the one you think it is.
Bad actors will go to a location that has wifi with their own wifi endpoint hidden in a backpack or otherwise and configure it to look a lot like like the establishment they are in. A user mistakenly picks the wrong wifi name and then they are connected to the bad actors endpoint.
It's called a man in the middle attack and "sometimes" can be successful even you are are using secure connection. Even without the wifi in a backpack there are other ways to do a man in the middle attack by compromising DNS...
Search for get-cloak-go-dark-vpning-out-from-great to see an article by Troy Hunt about the problem.
As a general rule of thumb these days if you spend time on the road with your computer it's a good idea to use a VPN provider. For a home network it not a big an issue but it still provides an extra layer of security.
Quote:
Originally Posted by villagetinker
I will defer to the experts in IT, but I thought the to establish a VPN connection, the security software needs to be installed at BOTH ends, the user, and the server. If this is true, installing it on your computer does not get you anything. Experts, please weigh in and correct my if I am wrong.
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