What a VPN Can and Can't Do for You

Most VPN ads promise total privacy. The reality is narrower, and knowing the limits helps you use one well.

Three takeaways

1. A VPN hides your traffic from the local network. On café or airport Wi-Fi, it stops people on the same network and your ISP from seeing which sites you visit.
2. It does not make you anonymous. Logged-in accounts, cookies and browser fingerprinting still identify you, and the VPN provider itself can see your traffic.
3. It won't stop phishing or malware. A fake login page works just as well over a VPN, so updates, passkeys and a password manager still matter more.

For the full breakdown of when a VPN is worth it and how to pick a trustworthy one, read what VPNs actually protect you from (and what they don't).

Related reading on Guru X Blog

• Is public Wi-Fi safe?
• Cybersecurity basics everyone should know in 2026

Originally published at Guru X Blog.

This article was written with the help of AI and fact-checked and edited before publishing.