Prelims 2011 · archive
EasyWhat is “Virtual Private Network”?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) It is a computer network across a public internet that provides users access to their organization’s network while maintaining the security of the information transmitted
A VPN is a secure, logical network built over a public network such as the Internet. It usually uses encryption and tunnelling, so remote users can safely reach their organisation's private network. Only statement (b) says this.
- ✗ (a) This describes the organisation's own private network. It leaves out what makes a VPN a VPN: a logical network built over a public network such as the Internet.
- ✓ (b) It matches the standard definition. A VPN runs across a public network (the Internet), gives remote users access to the organisation's network, and protects the data in transit, usually by encryption.
- ✗ (c) Access to a shared pool of computing resources through a service provider describes cloud computing, not a VPN.
- ✗ (d) Statement (b) is a correct description, so this option fails.
Remember · VPN = secure, encrypted tunnel over a public network (Internet) that extends an organisation's private network to remote users. A shared pool of resources means cloud computing.
Sources
- NIST Computer Security Resource Center Glossary – virtual private network ↗ “A restricted-use, logical (i.e., artificial or simulated) computer network that is constructed from the system resources of a relatively public, physical (i.e., real) network (such as the Internet), often by using encryption”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2011, General Studies paper. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·