Even during the pandemic period, the global market for Virtual Private Network (VPN) saw a healthy upswing growing at a CAGR of 17.2% over the analysis period 2020-2027 and expected to reach US$107.6 Billion by 2027. As cyber crimes have risen steeply during the pandemic period with a marked increase in attacks such as ransomware, more and more businesses have started using VPN to shield their digital activities from prying eyes including those of malicious actors and even spying or hostile governments. In this article we’ll talk about how a VPN can protect your business better and how to choose the best VPN for your business. For guidance on best VPN service providers for your business, please refer IT Outsourcing Vermont.
What Is A VPN and How Does It Work?
The best way to understand a VPN is to think of it as an exclusive channel of communication between the user’s device and the internet. All communication within this tunnel, i.e., all internet traffic can travel securely without being intercepted or ‘seen’ by anyone else – not even the user’s internet service provider. A VPN allows organizations to really reap the benefits of user anonymity and privacy and markedly minimizes the organization’s digital footprint as it effectively hides their IP (internet protocol) address and encrypts the connections. The VPN is able to do this as it allows users to connect to its own secure server located elsewhere in the country or outside in order to leverage the VPN server’s internet connection. Irrespective of the user’s actual geographical location, using a VPN service allows users to securely connect to the internet and network resources local to the region of the VPN server. Corporate VPNs are slightly different as they usually connect the user to the corporate server, as opposed to a server controlled by the VPN service. Apart from the IT admins, no one outside the VPN tunnel can see the user’s IP address or their internet traffic. Managed IT Services Vermont can ensure stellar VPN Security for your business.
Why should you have a VPN?
VPNs serve as a great addition to your host of cybersecurity tools and services as they help protect your privacy. If you use a VPN, you could even safely connect to public Wi-Fi networks, such as those in cafes, libraries, and airports. The VPN protects your internet traffic by securely encrypting your data and keeping your connections consistently secure. Since the VPN hides your IP address, it can also effectively mask your location and enable you to access geo-restricted websites and content. This is particularly useful if the user is traveling outside the country and needs to access critical documents or websites that are geo-blocked in their current location. All they need to do is to log into a VPN server located in their home country to regain access.
Top considerations to choose the best VPN for your business
- Cost
Free VPNs can be tempting to use but they come with a lot of drawbacks. The VPN service could choose to hold on to your internet activity logs or bombard you with ads. Paid VPNs like NordVPN and ExpressVPN are significantly more reliable and offer highly secure and useful features such as an exhaustive list of servers, and configurations aimed at improving your overall data security.
- Location
The location of your VPN’s servers should be a prime consideration before you select your VPN service provider. You should always keep in mind that the further away the server is located, the more latency issues you are likely to face. If your usage is sensitive to latency swings, you should opt for a server located closer to you geographically, such as somewhere inside or just outside your country.
- Capacity
You should confirm with your service provider on the capacity or the amount of data you can effectively use per month. If your business is dependent on a lot of data consumption, you should choose a VPN with a higher data allocation and higher number of online servers that are capable of handling resource-intensive tasks.
Top VPN Features to Consider before signing up:
- Activity Management
If you want your VPN to control and manage employee access to a certain extent such as preventing access to undesirable sites and want alerts when your employees try to access blocked sites – you should opt for a VPN with comprehensive activity management. This can be customized much like parental controls, with enhanced alerting and reporting.
- Tracking
Is your VPN service provider tracking your online activity and selling your data? You need to steer clear of such service providers and select a provider that explicitly states a no logging policy in terms and conditions.
- Support
Go for a service provider that is capable of supporting the hours that your organization needs. The service provider should be capable of providing technical support whenever you need it. Get help with your VPN Configuration with IT Consulting Vermont.
