[gentoo-user] Firefox and VPN, plus security in generla

[Dale]

Howdy,

I ran up on a video website that had some info on it.  I found it
interesting and was curious about what it said and another question I
been wondering about.  It mentioned using a VPN so that the NSA, my ISP
and others couldn't "see" what was going on.  So, my first question,
does that work and does it require the site on the other end to have it
set up as well?  Bonus question, is it easy to use on any site if it
doesn't require the other end to use it?  I'm thinking of using this for
my banking/financial sites as well if it is a good idea. 

This is something I been wondering about and I've seen a few posts here
that bump around the edges of this question.  As most here know, I use
Gentoo.  It's a older install but I keep it up to date.  I sit behind a
DSL modem, a older Westell one, and a Linksys router, the old blue nosed
one.  Neither modem or router has wireless stuff included.  Is that
hardware and my Gentoo install pretty secure for most hackers?  In other
words, since I don't keep the formula to run car/truck engines on water
here, would this stop most since there is nothing worth stealing here?  
I'm not interested in a NSA based hardened install here, just reasonably
secure. 

Basically, I'm just wanting to make sure I'm reasonably secure here. 

Dale

:-)  :-)