Can VPN decrypt SSL? What's the best no-snooping VPN?

April 2023 · 5 minute read
Can VPN decrypt SSL traffic?

VPNs are these wonderful tools that can help you protect your online privacy without giving it too much thought. You download the service, log into your account, choose a server, and connect to it.

Upon connection, every request you make and response you receive will be sheltered by an encrypted tunnel.

Usually, your ISP can make out your online whereabouts without too much effort. One look and they can tell which website you’ve visited, what files you’ve downloaded, and how much time you spent looking at online videos.

One thing they can’t see, though, is encrypted traffic. So if you’re using an email client that offers encryption, your ISP can’t read your emails.

Furthermore, if you go to an HTTPS-encrypted website and post some content on it, your ISP won’t be able to make out the content you pass (since it’s encrypted). However, it can still see that you’ve been on that specific website.

BEST VPNS WE RECOMMEND

VPN prevents ISP snooping

You may have seen this coming for a while, but VPNs are extremely successful at preventing ISP snooping. Remember earlier when we said that your ISP can see the websites you access and files you download?

Well, it turns out that using a VPN can encrypt that information. Thus, your ISP won’t be able to see even those usually-unencrypted bits of information.

VPN becomes the middleman

Without a VPN, your ISP is essentially a middleman. It stays nice and cuddly between you and the Internet and makes sure you can access it. Sure, there are ISPs that never interact with you in ways they shouldn’t (i.e. snooping).

However, if something goes afoul and the need arises, your ISP can easily take a look at some logs and make you shine like a diamond on a virtual map of online activity.

What your VPN does is simply replace the middleman. Thus, you need to trust them more than you can trust your ISP.

However, even with that in mind, know that a lot of VPN providers swear by their zero-logging and zero-abuse policies. That’s a solid indicator you can follow if you don’t know which VPN to stick by.

In certain regions, governments have pressured VPN providers into installing backdoors on their servers, to facilitate monitoring. However, this would defeat the whole purpose of having a VPN, to begin with.

While facing this situation, many providers decided to cut their losses and relocate or remove servers from regions where they risk them to be seized.

Can VPN decrypt SSL-encrypted traffic?

To put it shortly, VPNs aren’t able to decrypt SSL/TLS-encrypted traffic. However, it’s worth mentioning that VPNs have access to your encrypted traffic.

In lieu of a VPN, your ISP usually has access to that traffic. Hence we told you earlier why you’ll need to trust your VPN more than you trust your ISP for this relationship to work.

On the other hand, since your VPN has access to SSL-encrypted data, they can plant a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack.

The principle is quite simple, but it should also be easy to detect, as well. All you need to do to avoid a MITM attack is carefully check the website’s certificate.

It’s rather complicated (if not downright impossible) for attackers to achieve a valid certificate for a domain that they don’t own. Even while using a fake certificate, your browser should warn you about connecting to an insecure host.

What’s the best VPN that won’t snoop on me?

Word of advice, if you’re still worried that your VPN might use a MITM attack on you, try choosing one that has a solid zero-logging policy.

Also, stick with the big names, not some sketchy nearly-free service that has a poorly-designed website and buggy client.

Here’s a list of the best VPNs on the market that enforce zero-logging policies:

Fact: VPNs can’t decrypt SSL traffic

All things considered, you can rest assured knowing that SSL/TLS-encrypted traffic can’t be decrypted even by your VPN. However, there are other risks you subject yourself to while using a VPN, one of those being MITM attacks.

The good news is that, if you stick by a renowned provider, it’s very unlikely that they’ll orchestrate such a heist. So put your mind at ease, and make the right choice when it comes to your online privacy.

Your connection is not secure - websites you visit can find out your details:

Companies can sell this information, alongside your location and internet provider name, and profit from it by serving targeted ads or monitoring your data usage.

We recommend Private Internet Access, a VPN with a no-log policy, open source code, ad blocking and much more; now 79% off.

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