VPN Server Chains. Double, Triple, and Quadro VPN.
In the previous chapter of this section, you were already introduced to the structure of VPNs. In this part, we will discuss the use of VPN server chains.
Imagine that you are connecting to a website through a VPN server located in the Netherlands. Your traffic is sent in encrypted form to the VPN server, where it is decrypted and then sent to the website. In the diagram, it looks like this:
If you use a chain of VPN servers, for example, two VPN servers (Netherlands and Switzerland), then the internet traffic from the first VPN server will not go directly to the website, but will be sent in encrypted form to the second VPN server in Switzerland and only then to the website's server.
Why Use VPN Server Chains
The reason is simple – to increase anonymity, specifically to protect against targeted attempts to determine the real IP address of the user "on the other side of the VPN." There are no other reasons for using multiple VPN servers.
On several resources, you will find information that using multiple VPN servers does not make you more anonymous; it is an unnecessary waste of money and an unjustified loss of speed. This is a myth that even some VPN service owners believe. It must be said that there are quite a few VPN services in the market whose management has no idea about the methods of user de-anonymization and the threats described in this course.
Typically, we are talking about Double VPN – using two VPN servers in a chain, which is the most popular combination. But there is also Triple VPN – three servers in a chain and Quadro VPN – four servers in a chain.
VPN chains are used to prevent user de-anonymization via the "Connection Matching" method and to complicate de-anonymization through "unwinding."