Nowadays, VPN services are considered to be one of the most popular online security technologies among all netizens. The opinion that everyone should have a VPN installed just like everyone has antivirus software grows in popularity. Not only do such services allow their users to disguise their real IP addresses and locations but also to encrypt their Internet traffic, access geo-restricted content, or even use P2P without fear.

"What software will hide my IP and make me anonymous," you may ask. There are many possible solutions, ranging from proxies to Tor. Which is the best? For most purposes, nothing tops a good virtual private network.

The reason is simple: unlike proxies, VPNs actually encipher all of your traffic, making it impossible for anyone but you to see what you’re doing online. And yes, that includes your Internet service provider and the government! With proxies, despite your IP being hidden, your traffic is not encrypted at all so it can be freely read by third parties of all kinds.

As for Tor, or The Onion Router, its security is often praised but it doesn’t mean that it is not without its flaws. This volunteer-run service was founded and has been funded by the US government and the US is known to be, let’s put it this way, a little too enthusiastic to make certain intrusions into people’s private communication.

With all these things in mind, a good, reliable VPN is the best solution for you to hide your IP!