Virtual Private Network
Virtual Private Networks, like proxies, make your traffic appear as if it comes from a remote IP address. But that’s where the similarities end. VPNs are set up at the operating system level, and the VPN connection captures the entire network connection of the device it is configured on. This means that unlike a [proxy-server], which simply acts as a man-in-the-middle server for a single application (like your web browser or BitTorrent client), VPNs will capture the traffic of every single application on your computer, from your web browser to your online games to even Windows Update running in the background.