Virtual private networks, or VPNs, have been widely used in the business world because of the high level of security that they can provide. Essentially, a VPN can be thought of as a tunnel, a private and secure connection within the public network. Private and anonymous Web surfing may not mean much to the average Internet user in America, but in a country like China where the Internet is heavy monitored it certainly proves to be a valuable tool. Being a newcomer to this technology myself, I was pretty surprised at how effective VPNs really are.

VPNs are especially useful for overcoming the restrictions of the so-called Great Firewall. Web sites that are blocked or restricted by the Chinese Government can all be accessed using a VPN, and usually with no noticeable difference in speed as you would see with a proxy server solution. While most VPNs can be purchased for a certain monthly or yearly fee, typically, that fee is a little too expensive for the average user in China. Including yours truly...

Enter AnchorFree, a company based out of California which offers a free VPN service called Hotspot Shield. By developing an ad-based revenue model, it's made the technology available to those who previously might not have been willing to opt for a fee-based solution. According to its Web site, Hotspot Shield is the only free VPN solution in the world. Its software requires no special knowledge to configure; it's a simple install that requires no advanced computer skills (see my how-to video here). However, AnchorFree does serve banner ads at the top of your Web browser. And while it is somewhat intrusive, it's a small price to pay for a free private network.

AnchorFree COO Mark Smith says the company's foremost concern in choosing this model was user privacy: "The primary reason for choosing an ad-supported model was to differentiate ourselves from our competitors who required their users to disclose their names, addresses and payment information. Our product is completely anonymous which is extremely important in heavily censored markets such as China."

Users in China have jumped onboard, and the company had over a quarter of a million users in China as of June 2008. While those aren't huge numbers in China, they are impressive when considering that AnchorFree has not done any real marketing on the ground for Hotspot Shield. At present, there is no Chinese download page, but the fact that Chinese users are managing to get the software anyway underscores the need and interest for such a product in the Mainland. AnchorFree is currently working on a Chinese translation for its Download page, and that will certainly increase its visibility exponentially.

Of course, with increased visibility comes an increased risk that its Web site could be blocked by Chinese censors. But Smith says AnchorFree has a variety of global distribution partners, and that would certainly help in the event that the site is censored. He adds: "I don't believe it's a matter of 'blocking us' as much is a matter of our collective and continued efforts to navigate global issues to really understand the developments at hand.

"Our value proposition to international consumers stands--we offer encrypted access to our Internet gateway in exchange for a nominal amount of advertising... Of course, we seek to to operate in an environment of global compliance. I'm sure challenges will present themselves; but to date, we have not encountered any variance."

Public accessibility to VPNs is bound to get better in the future if this is any indication. Once the major barriers of price and ease of installation are overcome, then virtual private networks will certainly become a favored security option for many Chinese netizens.

 

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