Obfuscation

What Is Obfuscation?

VPN obfuscation is the function of being able to change packet content and hide VPN info to bypass VPN detections.

Normally, when a user connects to a regular VPN server, although the ISP cannot recognize your real IP address, it is able to determine that the user is using a VPN for web activity from the packet content and the way data is displayed.

For most websites, it doesn't matter whether a user is using a VPN or not. But for websites with multiple geo-restrictions, such as Netflix, Disney+, and other streaming platforms, a sophisticated VPN detection system is employed to prevent users from accessing restricted content and blocking detected VPNs. And that's where VPN obfuscation comes into play in a big way.

This feature hides the fact that a user is using a VPN, alters the data content to fool VPN detection, and helps users access any content in a severely restricted environment.

How VPN Obfuscation Works？

The VPN obfuscation can disguise data through various methods. One approach involves cloaking data packets with extra SSL/SSH encryption, effectively hiding the VPN's metadata. You can picture it as an additional layer of encryption specifically designed to mask your already encrypted data.

Another technique involves scrambling the VPN data, particularly the packet headers' metadata, making it resemble typical HTTPS traffic that appears to carry no significant content. Since it mimics regular web traffic, firewalls are unable to detect and subsequently allow it through.

Pros and Cons of Obfuscation

Advantages

The best thing about VPN obfuscation is that it is effective in helping users pass through VPN detection that includes DPI (deep packet inspection) technology and hide VPN traffic to unblock restrictions with great ease.

Also, since the obfuscation feature employs an extra layer of encryption, this also makes it provide higher security to the data.

Disadvantages

However, it is also due to the fact that VPN obfuscation adds extra layers of encryption and coding to the data, and this processing may drastically affect the user's surfing speed.

According to tests by VPN Central, connecting to an obfuscated server will provide speeds that are 11%-45% slower than connecting to a regular VPN server.