A VPN is an online privacy and security tool, and yes, it can protect you from hackers. But it cannot protect you from everything, and there are certain boundaries you need to keep in mind.
A VPN is not a magic weapon against all hackers, viruses, or cyberthreats.
In fact, thinking that a VPN gives you total protection against everything is not only wrong, but it can make you more vulnerable than you think.
This is why you should use a trusted VPN alongside security tools and safe browsing practices to create the best possible shield against online threats.
In this guide, we’ll help you understand exactly what a VPN protects you from and how, and what it doesn’t protect you from and why.
How a VPN Actually Protects You From Hackers
The VPN’s job includes three main tasks: encrypting your traffic, masking your IP address, and keeping you safe on unsecured networks.
Think of your VPN like a secure tunnel. Everything that passes through it is protected, and outsiders can’t see what’s inside.
Encrypting Your Traffic
A VPN encrypts your traffic, but what does that really mean? Encryption is the process of converting your data into a coded format so that it’s unreadable to anyone who intercepts it. The AES-256 encryption standard is one of the most secure ways to do this. AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard, and the “256” refers to the size of the encryption key used.
The strength of AES-256 comes from the size of its key: a 256-bit key means there are 2^256 possible combinations to crack the code, which is astronomically large.
To put it into perspective, even with the fastest supercomputers in the world, it would take billions of years to break AES-256 encryption.
So, if someone were to intercept your data, they’d see nothing but a string of random digital characters, and without the key to decrypt it, they wouldn't be able to make sense of it. This makes the intercepted data useless to them.
Hiding Your IP Address
Masking your IP address is another way in which VPNs protect you from attacks.
Your IP address is like your home address on the internet. When it’s exposed, websites, ISPs, and hackers can use it to gather a lot of information about you, such as your physical location, browsing habits, and even your identity in some cases.
When you're connected to a VPN, your real IP address is hidden and replaced with the IP address of the VPN server you're using.
For hackers or anyone trying to track your online activity, all they can see is the VPN server's IP, not yours. This is a powerful way to maintain your privacy and prevent location-based attacks or profiling.
Unni Menon
Securing Public WiFi
We’ve all opened our bank app or worked on sensitive stuff on public Wi-Fi. Even if nothing happened, it wasn’t the smartest choice. Most public Wi-Fi networks are unsecured, which means it’s easy for hackers to intercept your data once you connect.
But when you’re connected to a VPN, it routes all your data through an encrypted tunnel, protecting it even if the network is unsecured. It also protects you from evil twin attacks (that’s when hackers set up a fake Wi-Fi hotspot that looks like a real one).
With a VPN, your data is scrambled and unreadable, so even if someone is trying to snoop on the network, they may be able to see it pass through, but they won’t be able to do anything with it.
What Attacks a VPN Can Stop?
What are the specific threats that a VPN can actively protect you from? Well, mostly from data interception and IP-based attacks.
When you’re connected to a VPN, it’s pretty much impossible for attackers to read or modify your traffic. So, it protects you from Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks (that’s when hackers intercept the communication between you and the website to steal your data), because attackers can’t read your data due to encryption.
Encryption also protects your session cookies during session hijacking, making it harder for attackers to steal them in transit.
On the other side, a VPN hides your real IP address, so it prevents Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, where attackers flood your network to prevent you from being able to connect (this happens a lot in gaming), and DNS spoofing, where they attempt to redirect your traffic to a malicious site by tampering with your DNS requests.
Okay, but what if the VPN connection drops? Well, if this ever happens, Windscribe’s built-in Firewall will block all non-VPN traffic, keeping your data sealed.
Where Does the VPN Protection End?
While a VPN can protect you from a lot of things online, it cannot protect you from everything. And that’s also why you should be aware of how your online habits can affect your security online. And use common sense when you browse.
The Encryption Boundary Explained
Yes, a VPN encrypts your data, but it only encrypts the data in transit, not the data that’s stored or at rest on your device. This means that while your data is securely encrypted as it travels through the VPN tunnel, once it reaches your device, it’s decrypted and exposed.
Think of it like an armored car transporting cash. The money is safe while it’s moving, but once it reaches its destination, it becomes more vulnerable. Since the VPN tunnel ends at your device, not inside it, you should always combine a VPN with other security measures (like encryption on your device or strong security software) for complete protection.
Already-Compromised Devices
If your device is infected with malware or compromised in some way, the VPN can't protect you from attacks happening on your device itself. For instance, two types of malware that can infect your device and tamper with your data are keyloggers and screen capture malware.
Keyloggers are a sneaky type of malware that tracks and records every keystroke you type on your device. So, when you type your password or other sensitive information, the keylogger captures it immediately and sends it off to the hacker.
The VPN won’t help because it only encrypts data that’s being sent after it’s entered on your device, and the data was already captured by the keylogger before it reached the VPN tunnel.
Screen capture malware is another type of malicious software that takes screenshots of your device’s screen. It can capture sensitive information like passwords, credit card numbers, or private messages, and send these screenshots to hackers.
Because the malware is operating on your device, it doesn't matter if you're using a VPN to encrypt your internet traffic. The data displayed on your screen is already visible to the malware, so encryption is irrelevant.
Phishing and Social Engineering
A VPN is great for protecting your data from being intercepted, but it can't help you spot fake websites or phishing attempts. If you enter your credentials on a malicious site, the VPN will encrypt your mistake, but it won't prevent you from making it.
You should always double-check URLs and be cautious about where you input sensitive information.
Same-Network Attacks
If an attacker is on the same local network as you, a VPN tunnel won’t protect you.
ARP spoofing (Address Resolution Protocol spoofing) allows attackers to intercept traffic before it’s encrypted by the VPN. This means that data can still be exposed while it’s in transit to the VPN.
To help with this, Windscribe has a powerful Firewall, which blocks all non-VPN traffic, so no unencrypted data leaves your device if you're on a public Wi-Fi network.
The Internet of Things Problem: Your Smart Devices Can't Use VPN
Hackers aren’t just lurking on your computer or phone. They can also target smart devices like cameras, speakers, thermostats, and more. It may sound like something from a sci-fi movie, but IoT hacking is a very real threat.
By infecting these Internet of Things (IoT) devices, hackers can manipulate them and do all sorts of things, including unlocking your door with your smart lock or voice hacking your Alexa to order products with your credit card.
The problem is that these devices typically don’t natively support VPNs. You can’t just install a VPN on your smart fridge or camera. This creates unprotected entry points into your home network. Even using a router-level VPN doesn’t always protect against vulnerabilities in the device’s firmware.
Take the 2016 Mirai botnet attack, for example. It hijacked over 600,000 IoT devices in just two months, using their vulnerabilities to launch massive DDoS attacks.
To help secure your home network, Windscribe offers a router-level VPN setup. While it’s a bit more technically involved, it’s the best way to make sure that all your home devices, from laptops to smart thermostats, are protected under one secure network.
What to Look For in a VPN for Hacker Protection
A VPN can protect you from many threats, but only if it’s high-quality. So, what should you look for in a VPN to ensure the best protection from hackers and other online threats?
First, you need strong encryption. Look for VPNs that use AES-256 encryption with modern protocols like WireGuard and OpenVPN. You’ll also want a VPN with a powerful kill switch feature that will stop the traffic flow if your VPN connection ever drops, and a built-in DNS leak protection to prevent ISPs from seeing your DNS queries.
Also, choose a VPN provider with a strict no-logs policy. A no-logs policy means that the provider isn’t logging and storing any information about you that can tie your online activity to your real-life identity. But not every provider that claims they don’t log anything is telling the entire truth, so look for ones with court-tested, independently-audited policies. At Windscribe, we don’t keep logs, and we can prove it (like in our 2025 Greece course case).
How to Maximize Protection Beyond a VPN
Relying only on a VPN for full protection from all Internet threats is like driving a motorcycle without a helmet. You won’t necessarily crash, but if you do… well. For maximum protection, you should pair the VPN with other security software and good online hygiene and habits.
At minimum, you should properly store all your passwords in a secure password manager (like 1Password or LastPass) and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on all important accounts. This will make it way harder for hackers to intercept your passwords.
Also, keep all software updated to patch vulnerabilities and well… use common sense when you’re browsing. Be skeptical of all links and attachments in emails, don’t click on sketchy-looking links, be suspicious of all popups, and so on. And remember: if it looks too good to be true, it isn’t.
FAQs
Can a VPN protect me from all hackers?
No, a VPN is great for protecting against network-level attacks, like when hackers try to intercept your internet traffic or spy on you over unsecured networks. However, it won’t protect you from hackers who target your device directly, such as through malware or social engineering.
Does a VPN protect against malware?
Most VPNs don't protect against malware on their own, since malware typically operates on your device rather than over your internet connection. However, Windscribe includes built-in malware protection through R.O.B.E.R.T., our DNS filtering system that blocks known malicious domains before you even visit them. This means you're protected at the network level from malware sites, phishing attempts, and trackers.
While R.O.B.E.R.T. prevents you from accessing dangerous sites in the first place, it can't remove threats that are already on your device. You can customize R.O.B.E.R.T.'s blocklists and see all available filters in your account settings to tailor your protection to your needs.
Can hackers see what I do with a VPN?
When you're using a VPN, hackers can’t see your online activity since your traffic is encrypted. However, they can still attack your device directly, bypassing the VPN's protection. If malware or spyware is already on your device, hackers can still access your personal data, even if your connection is encrypted.
Is a VPN enough for security?
A VPN is a great start for online security, but it's only one layer. To fully protect yourself, you should combine it with other tools, like password managers, enable two-factor authentication (2FA), and maintain safe browsing habits, like avoiding suspicious links or using a password manager. A VPN alone won’t keep you safe from every threat.
Does a VPN protect my smart home?
A VPN can't directly protect your smart home devices since they don’t natively support VPNs. It can encrypt the traffic between your phone and a device like your smart thermostat, but that’s as far as it goes. The VPN only protects the data in transit, not the smart device itself. To protect your smart home devices, you’ll need a router-level VPN, and even that won't protect your devices from flaws in their firmware.
