A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is suitable if you need remote access to your data, workstations, and other network equipment. OpenVPN is a famous VPN technology noted for its excellent security, dependability, and community support. As a result, OpenVPN is one of the most used VPN protocols on the market.
What exactly is OpenVPN?
Every VPN connection is defined by its VPN protocol, which is a collection of rules that governs everything from how the app connects to its server securely to the techniques it may use to transport data and how to end the session when you’re done.
Although most VPNs support a variety of protocols such as WireGuard, IKEv2, L2TP, SSTP, and others, OpenVPN is by far the most common. We’ll examine why that is, what OpenVPN provides, why it’s better than the competition, and where it may go next.
Platform support for OpenVPN
Because OpenVPN is one of the most extensively used VPN protocols, it should be supported on many devices. Indeed, OpenVPN is compatible with almost all operating systems. So far, we’ve covered a lot of platforms, including the major ones:
- Windows
- Linux
- Mac OS
- Linux
- FreeBSD
- OpenBSD
- NetBSD
- Solaris
- QNX
- Maemo
- DD-WRT
- OpenWrt
- ChromeOS
- OPNSense
- pfSense
- Tomato
- PalmOS
Remember that most operating systems do not support OpenVPN out of the box. Therefore, a third-party client must be downloaded and installed in most circumstances.
Is OpenVPN a secure connection?
The security of your OpenVPN configuration is mostly determined by how the VPN server administrator configured it. It is possible to set up OpenVPN in an unsecured, or at the very least, less secure way.
Static keys are less secure than public key infrastructure (PKI), although both are viable choices. OpenVPN is extremely safe if the administrator designed the server with security.
Open-source security
OpenVPN is completely free and open-source. That implies that anybody may inspect, alter, and distribute the code for their reasons. Because the code is available to anyone, this flexibility also provides security to the VPN protocol. Nothing is concealed.
There are no coding secrets. Over the years, OpenVPN has been audited several times. And while the security audit did uncover certain flaws, they were all quickly addressed. No backdoors have ever been discovered. OpenVPN is widely regarded as one of the most secure VPN protocols.
OpenVPN supports strong, contemporary ciphers.
OpenVPN, as previously stated, provides powerful, contemporary open-source ciphers. Banks employ the same encryption to protect online financial transactions. In addition, OpenVPN delivers powerful cryptography that keeps your online actions secret as long as it’s set appropriately.
Strong encryption and ciphers and support for Perfect Forward Secrecy make OpenVPN very secure and safe.
Encryption using OpenVPN
OpenVPN is a virtual private network (VPN) that connects computers. It can safely connect the systems via a secure encrypted tunnel, even if they are far from each other or in a different nation.
OpenVPN may build its tunnel using either TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) or UDP (User Datagram Protocol) for maximum dependability or sheer speed, a level of versatility that rivals some competing protocols even today.
SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer/ Transport Layer Security), the same technology that protects HTTPS websites, is used to handle communications. Many SSL/TLS capabilities benefit OpenVPN, such as confirming that you’re connected to a valid server, creating and sharing new encryption keys to safeguard your data for this session, and verifying that your data hasn’t been tampered with.
Adaptable design
One of the most appealing features of OpenVPN is its adaptable and changeable design, which provides VPN providers complete control over how the service operates. For example, providers may change the encryption techniques used by OpenVPN to improve the VPN’s security or performance.
OpenVPN allows you to change network settings, such as requesting that your device use a different DNS server. It also supports all of the necessary network standards. Do you need IPv6 and IPv4 support? OpenVPN can be configured to cope, and it will connect you in most cases.
Configuration files for OpenVPN connections accept a variety of commands, allowing you various options for dealing with problematic circumstances.
Benefits of using OpenVPN
In addition to being the safest VPN protocol overall, OpenVPN users like that it is:
- Excellent at circumventing firewalls. The portability of OpenVPN to TCP and UDP makes it easier to get through firewalls. This is especially true when OpenVPN is configured to use TCP port 443. This option makes VPN traffic seem to be normal internet traffic.
- It’s quite adaptable. This not only improves the security of OpenVPN but also improves the protocol in other ways. You have complete control over whatever encryption methods, ciphers, network setups, and other options work best for you. Having additional control over your tunneling protocol might help you get the most out of your VPN.
- Updated often. While other protocols may become obsolete, OpenVPN’s open-source community and committed executives ensure that its protocol remains current. Furthermore, because OpenVPN accepts third-party plugins and scripts, you may take advantage of the protocol’s newest and most creative add-ons.
- It’s relatively quick. While OpenVPN isn’t the fastest VPN tunneling protocol, it is still fairly fast, especially considering its robust encryption. Moreover, its speeds are fast enough to meet the needs of most VPN users.
- Use is unrestricted. Because OpenVPN has a free version, you may use it without spending any money. The premium version, as well as VPN subscription services that utilize OpenVPN, are often inexpensive.
- The open-source community backs it up. Many tech-savvy programmers, VPN providers, and consumers that deal with OpenVPN regularly report faults and bugs in the protocol so that they may be quickly fixed.
Verdict
OpenVPN is one of the greatest VPN protocols today, thanks to its powerful encryption, unprecedented flexibility, and open-source code. It may be fairly quick when using UDP. It can also support almost any type of network peculiarity. OpenVPN is the most adaptable VPN protocol on the market.
On their networks, most commercial VPN services offer OpenVPN. If you’ve ever used a commercial VPN, you’ve almost certainly encountered the OpenVPN protocol. OpenVPN is one of the most widely used VPN protocols, and because it’s been around for a long time and has been through several security audits and peer reviews, you can be certain that it’s secure to use.
