When thinking of a VPN, you usually associate it with individuals using it for themselves and their private use on their devices, and this is certainly true. However, with cybercriminals getting ever more crafty with time, more and more data being compromised, and more people working remotely from home than ever before who are not connected to a secure network, a VPN has never been more attractive and useful for businesses. Regardless of the size of your enterprise, a VPN service can do some serious heavy lifting when it comes to multiple levels of your day-to-day operations, so let’s take a look at a few of them.
What Is It?
People are usually familiar with the concept of a VPN but don’t actually know what it really is or does, so let’s examine that first. A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, makes your networks that much more safe, as it provides a secure internet connection over public Wi-Fi. When you make a VPN test, for example, it creates a sort of tunnel that hinders unauthorized access while encrypting online activity. No prying eyes can get into this tunnel, which means they also can’t get to the IP address or any business data being sent through the tunnel, a vital detail.
Remote Access
Your office network is likely protected by a firewall, which is all well and good, and your employees on the premises use this network to do any number of things, like accessing files, apps, or the printer, sharing documents, and so on. Company networks are usually pretty secure or secure enough for most of the time, but home networks are a whole different story. As remote work and working from home have become incredibly prevalent since COVID-19, complications have also arisen. Home networks are anything but secure, but with a remote access VPN, your employees can log in securely to the business network with no issues, and without jeopardizing your data.
Control
With a VPN, the control is right in your hands, and that means access control. You don’t want just anyone being able to get into your networks, that won’t do at all. A VPN controls access by identifying, authenticating, and authorizing any users, like a sort of security checkpoint everyone unfamiliar needs to go through—a safety net that prevents undesirables from slipping through.
Cybersecurity
Perhaps the most obvious and self-explanatory reason why a VPN is so beneficial for any network is cybersecurity. No system is flawless, but a VPN is the closest you can get to an impenetrable system, at least through the internet, as a sort of invisible cloak that hides your activity on the network and your IP address, which is your location, and one of the most vulnerable parts of your internet, often the backdoor through which hackers or the like come in and wreak havoc. With a VPN, you can browse, share, and work as much as you need.
A VPN is one of the best safety measures you can take to protect yourself digitally, whether for your private use or to protect your company.
