You may have come across advertisements for VPNs, and may even know what it stands for (Virtual Private Network), but if you are like most people, you aren't sure what VPN does, or why it is important for your business.
A VPN can serve many purposes; a VPN allows you to stream Netflix, Hulu, and other other similar services when traveling abroad, but more importantly, a VPN protects your business' information, no matter where you are. The rising threat of data theft and cyber crime puts everyone at risk, from individual users to large corporations.
Setting up a VPN for your business can increase your team's efficiency and productivity. A VPN enables you to connect to your business network and data from any mobile device or computer - and that's not all. The VPN also allows any authorized users to access the business network securely from virtually any device or location.
Using a reliable VPN service allows your business to expand and grow with fewer limitations. If any of your employees travel, a VPN is the ideal solution for your business; it will allow any staff members share information in a fast, secure, and reliable way.
The theft of business data is an all too common crime these days, and the widespread use of cloud-based storage has given rise to new security concerns. According to an IMB study done at Ponemon Institute, in 2014, it was estimated that 85% of companies experienced a breach in the security of their data. These security breaches resulted in significant expense and revenue loss for the affected companies - millions upon millions of dollars. How much would a breach in security cost your company?
Digital thieves are always looking for data to steal. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to protect your precious business data from these threats. A VPN can create secure networks that are free of restrictions due to hardware and geographical issues. This allows private information to be transferred between any enabled devices with access to an internet connection. There are many practical uses of VPNs for both private and enterprise VPN clients.
"VPN site-to-site" by Philippe Belet at nl.wikipedia - Own work Transfered from nl.wikipedia. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VPN_site-to-site.jpg#/media/File:VPN_site-to-site.jpg
How can a VPN benefit your company?
- A VPN can create two distinct LANs in remote locations that can be joined together as if they were on the same LAN, with private files stored and accessed securely, and software executed remotely. This removes cost of implementing leased lines.
- A VPN enables remote employees access to the central networks securely across the internet, which saves on wasted productivity and facilitates telecommuting.
- A VPN provides a secure communication between departments and organizations across the world which reduces the need for travel.
- A VPN protects any device on the network. Many companies have a "bring your own device" policy (BYOD); this means that employees can use their own devices when working. There are significant cost benefits, but this practice can increase security risks. A VPN can keep every device on the network protected, even personal devices that are remotely connected.
How Does A VPN Protect Your Data?
A VPN creates a virtual channel between two networks. Think of it like this: you blow a soap bubble in the shape of a tube and you and a friend are able to talk to each other through the tube. The soap bubble tube is temporary, and only lasts for that one conversation. If you want to talk about something else, or talk to a different person, you need a new bubble tube. This is similar to a VPN channel. When you use a VPN, your connections are inside these channels and this makes it difficult, if not impossible to trace, track or intercept that data.
A VPN also helps to protect the information you send in these channels. In order to do this, the VPN creates an encryption key for your data. Any information that is traveling inside the VPN channels is first encrypted so that it cannot be easily stolen. Think of the information like a piece of candy - there is a description on the candy wrapper, but you can't see what's inside. This information "wrapper" is created by a VPN. Once the data reaches its destination, the wrapper is removed.
So what are you waiting for? Instead of using lease lines that are expensive and offer little security, look into VPN technology, which is cheaper, faster and more effective. A VPN can connect remote sites or employees to the main office at fraction of the cost that companies incur when installing lease lines. Not only that, all that data is safe because all originating and receiving network addresses are encrypted.
Business is changing. Advances in technology have allowed us all to expand our ideas, free of many geographic restrictions that may have hindered growth in the past. It is no longer enough to have a secured intranet for business. Lease lines are becoming outdated - numerous experts agree that VPNs will soon be just as important as a reliable internet connection. VPNs provide a safer and faster way to share information, and they allow company agents to connect from any location at any time.