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What is double VPN?

What Is Double VPN And How To Use It

Written By: author image Raymond Kenney
author image Raymond Kenney
Raymond Kenney, a master's graduate in Cybersecurity from Boston University, is a seasoned IT professional and expert in VPNs and online privacy. With over ten years of industry experience, Raymond has produced multiple authoritative articles on network security and data privacy. Renowned for his meticulous approach, he conducts comprehensive reviews on various VPN services, assessing their features and security protocols. His expert advice is based on extensive research and practical knowledge.

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Without a VPN, whenever you browse the internet, your traffic flows via the servers of your Internet Service Provider. That implies that your ISP may monitor whatever you do online and share that information with the authorities. Hackers having access to your ISP’s servers, which aren’t always secure, could be able to get this information as well. 

IP addresses are often used as identification and location tags. You can’t use the Internet without one since they help the web establish your digital ID and physical location. You won’t have to worry about any of that if you use a VPN. VPN is a cybersecurity technology that protects your online privacy, it routes your traffic through its private servers. It also encrypts it, making your activity untraceable by ISPs, government agencies, and hackers. Then it offers you a different IP address to fool websites into believing you’re in another location.

In short, VPN services, above all, provide private and encrypted connections, providing better anonymity than a supposedly secure Wi-Fi hotspot.

See also: What Does A VPN Hide And Why It’s Necessary To Use One

What is a double VPN?

The initial concept of double VPN was to bridge two VPNs together. A VPN encrypts your traffic and reroutes it through a private tunnel into the VPN’s server. A double VPN adds an additional secure tunnel and a VPN server to the equation.

What is double VPN?

Using a double VPN does not imply that you suddenly get 512-bit encryption, even if your VPN typically supports AES 256-bit encryption. Rather, using a double VPN just reroutes (and ideally encrypts) your traffic twice. 

A double VPN provides the same benefits as an ordinary VPN connection but in double the amount. As a result, your traffic will go through two servers rather than simply one. When you connect to a VPN, your connection typically routes through one of your chosen VPN servers. But, with a double VPN, you first connect to a virtual private network (VPN) server, thus your data will become encrypted and your IP address will change as it passes through the server you chose. Then, the encrypted traffic is sent to a different server, where it is re-encrypted. Finally, you’ll get a new IP address. With enhanced protection and privacy, you reach your web destination. 

In brief, there’s no danger in taking all conceivable precautions to protect your internet privacy. After all, with the increased threat of cybercrime, why should you leave your sensitive data at risk? Cyber risks are on the rise, according to Accenture and the Ponemon Institute, and they are costing businesses a lot of money. And because these assaults are always changing, they can impact any target, even with software protection. As a result, adding an extra layer of security and privacy will not harm you. So, here are all the advantages you’ll get from using a double VPN:

Double Encryption

The best VPNs use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and 256-bit keys to safeguard your data. This is what you get when you connect to a VPN on a daily basis. To crack AES-256, you’d need all of the world’s supercomputers to work on decryption simultaneously for billions of years. Furthermore, with a double VPN, you’ll get the same encryption twice as strong, making it twice as difficult to crack. 

Furthermore, because the first VPN server has concealed your true IP address, the second VPN server will not know it. Even if an attack compromises the second VPN server, there is almost no way to track your traffic back to you. 

Anyone hoping to circumvent severe government restrictions would gain the opportunity to bounce their communication across servers in different geographical regions.

Multiple VPN connections

While there are several forms of double VPNs, the core concept is that two (or more) secure tunnels are used in tandem. The VPN and your machine must first establish a connection. Then, between the first and second servers, a second encrypted tunnel is constructed. 

All of your traffic should then be encrypted and re-routed through both of these secure tunnels in sequential order. This is what VPN server cascading is all about, and it’s how double VPNs work. Double VPN conceals your IP address twice instead of just once.. Multi-hop VPNs are a type of VPN server cascade that has come to be known as double VPNs. A multi-hop VPN does not limit you to only two simultaneous VPN connections, you can have multiple VPN connections at once. A multi-hop VPN routes your traffic across numerous servers before it reaches the public internet. Your communication can now transit via three or four servers instead of two, with each extra server adding a new layer of encryption and a new IP address. “Cascade VPNs” and “nested chain VPNs” are the two forms of multi-hop VPNs available.

A “cascade” setup uses one principal VPN service and two or more VPN servers. Before transmitting a message(packet), it alters your IP and decrypts then re-encrypts your data at each hop.

A “nested chain” is a form of multi-hop VPN arrangement in which you can utilize two or more separate VPN providers, each with a separate set of locations. A “nested chain” provides additional protection against VPN server hacks or intrusions.

Individual VPN providers do not provide “nested chain” configurations; You’ll need a technically-capable person to set it up manually. This setup necessitates stacking two VPNs, which we’ll cover in the next section.

Full anonymity mode

When you connect to a VPN, the server hides your real IP address and changes it to match the server’s location. So, if you connect to a US server, you’ll obtain an IP address from the United States. When you use a double VPN, your traffic is goes through two servers instead of just one. As a result, because the first server altered your IP address, the second server will have no clue what it is. 

No one, not even your ISP, would be able to track your online activity if you activate the double VPN option. Furthermore, you don’t have to be concerned about authorities requesting user data from Internet service providers or even VPN providers. They won’t be able to view your browser history, site destination, or IP address because you were using a double VPN.

What can I do with a double VPN?

A double VPN’s main advantage is the additional anonymity protection it gives. Anyone watching your traffic on your local network will only observe the first connection to the VPN server, not the destination’s IP address. 

Besides, if you need to bypass censorship in a nation that only allows connections to a domestic IP address, a double VPN can help. Connect to a server in that country first, then choose a server outside of that country to route your traffic through. 

A double VPN also protects you from more advanced assaults, such as traffic correlation assaults [in which the metadata of incoming and outgoing traffic is analyzed to disclose your true IP address]. The several hops from server to server help secure your online identity by adding levels of secrecy. Thus, with each hop, the new VPN server merely receives the IP address of the previous VPN server.

Moreover, to jeopardize your anonymity through traffic correlation, all VPN servers would have to be monitored, and a guess as to which exit node [gateway via which encrypted traffic reaches the unprotected internet] you are using would have to be made. 

Even if an attacker obtains physical access to the VPN server and performs a de-anonymization assault — an assault aimed at determining users’ identities — the cascade connection protects you.

Besides, for each hop, an extra layer of encryption encapsulates your traffic. As a result, detecting or intercepting this traffic becomes extremely difficult.

Accordingly, the attacker can observe encrypted outbound data to the next VPN server, but he or she has no way of knowing whether this is an intermediate VPN server or the final server or node before it departs the “chained” VPN tunnel. 

Furthermore, to capture and decode this type of multi-hop “cascade” data, the attacker would need physical access to all servers involved at the same time. If the hops are in separate countries, such an assault is nearly impossible.

How to enable double VPN?

You can use a VPN on a VPN, where you may use one on your router and one on your device, or one on your device and a virtual computer on the same device. 

For best protection, we recommend utilizing two distinct VPN providers, regardless of which of these arrangements you pick. 

Want to establish your own double VPN by using a VPN on top of a VPN? To set up a virtual machine on your computer or device, follow these steps:

  1. Install a second operating system on a virtual computer using free virtualization technology. Your computer’s operating system and the virtual machine’s operating system do not have to be the same.
  2. Both systems should have your VPN installed: Install your VPN on your virtual machine as well as your computer/device. Make sure you haven’t surpassed the number of devices supported by your VPN, since this may count as two devices depending on your provider.
  3. Build a Double VPN: Start your VPN and connect to a server in one country. After that, start your virtual machine. Then, on your virtual PC, start the VPN and select a server in a different country.
  4. Use Your Double VPN: Any traffic transmitted from the virtual machine will now pass via the first VPN server and then the second VPN server, creating a VPN on a VPN.

Best VPN offering a double VPN feature

As you may already be aware, not all double VPNs provide the same amount of privacy protection. As a result, if you want to use a double VPN, you should look for a VPN that offers the best double VPN connections. 

Most VPN companies do not provide double VPN connections. VPN providers are incorporated businesses that are obligated by law (in most cases) to preserve logs and recordings of their customers’ activities. This may appear to be at conflict with many VPN services’ no-logs policy.

If VPN providers want to offer a double VPN connection, they’ll need to build a new system to track and monitor user activities. At the same time, to maintain the “no-logs” claim, the logs must be indecipherable to outsiders. 

When certain services have a rigorous no-logs policy, it implies they don’t maintain any logs that may reveal user activity. Nothing could be seized or decoded from their servers and records if they were forced to hand them over to the police. 

Some businesses are even located in isolated places to escape government action and inspection, making them less prone to similar incidents (which increases the security of your data).

When it comes to picking a VPN, the work and attention that a VPN company puts into supplying a double VPN – mostly to back up their “no-logs” promise – is critical. 

If you’re looking for the best all-around services with double VPN, go no further than NordVPN.

NordVPN

NordVPN double VPN
  • Fastest bandwidth speed among top tier VPNs
  • 1970 servers in the US and 5800 worldwide
  • SmartPlay feature guarantees fastest connection available
  • You can use up-to 6 devices simultaneously
  • Unblocks all streaming services
  • Apps for all devices (iOS, Android, PC, Mac, Linux, Routers)
  • Browser extensions for Chrome, Opera, and Firefox
  • Split tunneling feature
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • 24/7 live chat support
  • 30-Day Money-Back guarantee

NordVPN, in particular, provides outstanding privacy and security capabilities. AES 256-bit encryption, a zero-logs policy, and a kill switch with DNS leak prevention are among them. It also has CyberSec, a program that filters harmful websites and bothersome advertisements. NordVPN also provides Onion over VPN servers. They route your traffic through secure servers and the Tor Network, which provides anonymity. 

The Double VPN feature from NordVPN is available for Android, macOS (OpenVPN version), and Windows. The organization has over 5,000 servers in 59 locations, allowing you to change your IP address at any time. NordVPN also enables peer-to-peer file sharing and is compatible with all major streaming services. It also supports up to six simultaneous device connections and has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Information Here’s how you can use NordVPN’s Double VPN:

  1. Open the NordVPN app.
  2. Find “Specialty servers”.
  3. Tap Double VPN and connect.

Who should use a double VPN?

When you require a high level of online protection and anonymity, multiple encryption functionality is essential. As a result, you should consider using Double VPN if:

You’re a political activist or a journalist

Those who dare to speak out in support of free speech must take extra precautions to safeguard themselves. You may access information privately and report the news without the worrying about monitoring using a Double VPN.

You don’t want to be monitored by the government

If you visit or live in a nation where censorship, tracking, and monitoring are common, a double VPN might be quite useful. You may make it twice as difficult for snoopers to trace you by encrypting your internet data twice.

You must safeguard your sources

Your emails, SMS, and video chats might all be accessible to eavesdroppers if you don’t use effective encryption. As a result, double traffic encryption is essential to secure not just yourself, but also your secret sources.

Whistleblowers

Whistleblowers are those who provide confidential information regarding an entity’s criminal practices. In 2013, for example, Edward Snowden revealed secret material concerning the National Security Agency (NSA). He provided some disturbing information regarding how the NSA is eavesdropping on Americans with the cooperation of telecom corporations and European governments. 

As a consequence, he was charged with espionage and theft of property, and his passport was withdrawn. Asylum was awarded to him by Russia. 

As you can see, whistleblowers suffer numerous threats and intimidation, which is why they must utilize a double VPN for more protection.

Double VPN – Conclusion

While double VPNs will undoubtedly give extra privacy protection for those who truly want it, most users will find that a single server VPN from a premium service would enough. 

If you believe a double VPN is vital for your profession or online activity, make sure your default internet connection provides enough speeds first. We suggest NordVPN for its simplicity of use and dependability. 

Its Multi-hop Double VPN capabilities give exceptional privacy and data protection. Furthermore, its extensive features and functions significantly improve your online experience.

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