A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is becoming a necessity for almost everyone these days, for individuals, both also for general businesses, who are using such software to increase their security. VPN is essentially a tunnel for your internet traffic that encrypts the data you send or receive. The encryption guarantees your data safety, from hackers and malicious bots.
Businesses usually use VPNs for ensuring that the outside users who are accessing the data centres are using the encrypted channel and are authorized to do so, but there are also other reasons why businesses use VPN more and more.
Secure the traffic for remote users
We are more and more working remotely, and, as a business owner, you might have some of your resources “in the cloud” (ie. private documents, applications, client’s files…). If you have remote employees who need to access these files, security should be something you might need to look after as, besides the fact that a password can easily be stolen, hackers are also more and more skilled in intercepting data on an unsecured network.
Indeed, if an employee or a collaborator is trying to access files from a public WiFi for instance, this can cause serious threats since these networks are barely secured.
In this case, a VPN service will help to improve the security of your assets, but also to ensure a secured access to your internal applications, as it creates a secure connection to the resources they are logged-in.
A VPN can also be used to create a shared network between computers and devices located in different locations and therefore your traffic will not be exposed to the open Internet.
Bypass geo-restricted content
In case your employees are travelling to countries that have strict internet access laws, you might bump into situations where the users are blocked from accessing corporate resources on an open internet. In some countries like Mainland China for instance, even accessing Google, Gmail or WhatsApp are prohibited, due to the Great Firewall.
Besides improving the security of a connection on a network, a VPN also helps to stay anonymous and to hide an IP address, a unique number that helps to identify a device, like a laptop or a smartphone, on the internet or a local network.
If you install a VPN in your employee’s laptop, he or she will be able to use the internet as if he or she was still located in their original country, giving them the possibility to access your application and resources as usual.
Restrict the access to malicious individuals or bots
Indeed, if a VPN can encrypt your connections and provide you with better security, some companies use site-to-site VPNs in order to isolate the traffic and connections from given locations.
The idea is to create a private network that can only be accessed when an employee is located in office A or B, however, whenever the employee leaves the office, it loses its access.
This way of using a VPN is particularly efficient for companies that deal with sensitive data and who do not want to let their employees bring data out-of-work. Many cases of data interception from hackers were reported, and therefore, creating more secured “bubbles” are one way for companies to prevent sensitive information to end-up in the open Internet.
An affordable way to browser safely
The recent events pushed companies to let their employees work remotely, which creates issues regarding the security of their connections, as explained above. However, there are also serious issues with SMB that are not prepared to work online, in a secured environment, and experts have seen an increase of vulnerabilities and ransomware attacks.
Ransomware for instance is on the rise. Some malicious hackers encrypt the data of a company, preventing the business to operate and to retrieve its accesses, the business owner will be requested to pay a ransom.
A VPN cannot prevent such events to happen, however, whether we are talking about NAS, site-to-site or SAAS provider, a VPN can help to secure a network and therefore, to reduce the possibility for a company to suffer from ransomware. Indeed, VPN providers like NordVPN propose solutions for less than 5 USD per month, which can be a great way to start securing your data.
Data privacy is one of the next challenges for individuals and companies. Experts have seen an increase of hacking attempts and, in a more and more connected world, making sure that digital assets are secured will be key for any business operating online.