Since the COVID-19 pandemic many businesses have allowed employees to work from home full-time. This has left many small businesses vulnerable to cyberattacks due to employees accessing company resources via insecure internet connections, whether that be at home or in the local coffee shop.
In this blog post we are going to discuss what a VPN is, how they work and how they can help to protect your employees and business online.
What Is A VPN?
A virtual private network (or VPN) is a secure connection between your device and another computer over the internet. VPN Services are useful for securely accessing your work computer systems while you are away from the office.
How Does A VPN Work?
Put Simply; You enter a website address or search for something on the internet. As soon as the data leaves your device, the encryption starts and this data is forwarded to the VPN server where the data is decrypted.
Once all the data has been decoded you will be forwarded to the web page. This way there is no direct connection between your device and the website.
As a result, all your data is exchanged securely and without anyone being able to watch what you are doing from the outside. Only users you give access to can view this data, otherside it is not visible to anyone.
What Are The Benefits Of A VPN?
Heightened Security
One of the key benefits of a VPN is the fact that businesses can effectively secure their network. Without your knowledge, an application or website may be tracking your online activity. They can then analyze the data they collect and use it to try to target you with ads. Without a VPN, you may experience an influx of pop-up ads that can interrupt your browsing experience and be a general nuisance to your employees.
By using a VPN, you can stop people, software and web browsers from gaining access to your connection. This keeps the data you send and recieve secure and anonymous.
Improved Privacy
Another great benefit of a VPN is the capability to hide your private information. Hackers can use a number of methods to intercept confidential information you enter on websites. Using that information, they can try to imitate you, gaining access to company resources, email accounts, bank accounts, credit card information, and more. By using a VPN you can experience high-level security, such as 256-bit encryption. This makes all your communications online look like nonsensical, muddled text and characters to anyone who is able to find a way to intercept them.
Secure Connection To Shared Resources
Businesses often utilise VPNs to provide access to network resources when employees are not physically in the office. The advantage is that staff can access their network over a secure encrypted connection, improving productivity and security.
Data Privacy From Your ISP
Data Privacy From Your ISPWhile connected to your businesses or homes internet connection, you are less likely to be attacked by strangers than on a public Wi-Fi connection. However, your data is still vulnerable.
Your internet service provider (ISP) – (BT, SKY, Virgin, etc.) – can access all your internet data. Your ISP can see when, where and how you browse the web.
This data can be collected and sold to advertisers, even if you’re using the “private” incognito browsing feature. This can be dangerous in the wrong hands in the scenario of a data breach. A VPN can help by hiding your IP address from your own ISP.
Geographic Independence
Many businesses have employees who have to travel to countries that restrict internet access. In this scenario, employees may be blocked from corporate resources they need to access that are located on the open web. Fortunately, if you have a VPN your employees can connect to the internet using this and access the internet as if they were in the United Kingdom.
Security On Public WiFi
Public Wi-Fi is convenient but comes at the expense of security. When you’re employees are answering emails at a local coffee shop or accessing company systems whilst at the airport, someone may be tracking their online activity.
Using a VPN protects your data while you are on other networks, hiding your browsing history, banking information, account passwords and more from ill-intentioned internet strangers.
Affordability
AffordabilityBusinesses can keep their employees and data safe by creating a VPN account for each user. This is very affordable and a great option for tech teams with budget constraints. The majority of the leading VPN providers charge less than £10 per user each month if purchased through a commercial licensing plan. For this small fee, all your users can have military-level encryption of data they send.
Business VPN Provider
If you are looking for a fast and secure VPN for your business, Corp Networking has the expertise to set up your business VPN. At Corp Networking we provide excellent IT support services for businesses and we also offer high-quality business broadband services. We can set up or upgrade your business IT infrastructure including a safe and secure VPN. Call us today on 0151 3342543 to learn about how we can help your business.
