When Considering a VPN, There are Some Features Your Business Needs

A VPN—or virtual private network—is something that we recommend any business implementing any form of remote or hybrid work to have in their cybersecurity arsenal. Let’s explore why this is by examining what a VPN does, and what any business should seek out in the one they use.

What is a VPN’s Purpose?

A VPN effectively ensures that you and your employees have a secure connection to your business network, which helps to prevent unauthorized users from accessing it or from collecting data as it is in transit between your network and your remote users and their workstation. However, it’s important to remember that—like any other business technology, or technology in general—there are different VPNs out there that offer different features, and therefore, are more or less appropriate for business use.

Let’s consider some of the criteria you need to keep in mind when making your decision.

Essential Features for a Business’ VPN

Avoid the Commercial VPNs

So many YouTube channels and podcasts tend to advertise various VPN clients. We’re talking about products like NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and others. These products aren’t bad, but they aren’t always going to be designed for what your business needs. The main benefit of a consumer-based VPN is to anonymize your web browsing by connecting you to a generic proxy. A business VPN secures your web browsing by connecting users directly to your business network.

High-Quality Encryption

This one may be a bit of a no-brainer, but the stronger the encryption you have protecting your data, the more protected your data will be—and the more reliably you can trust it to prevent attempts to exfiltrate it. We can help you select and implement a VPN that meets the standards that a modern business needs to have concerning its data security.

Ease of Use

While this might not be the first criteria that comes to mind, it is critical that your team is able to quickly and reliably adopt the use of your chosen VPN, without experiencing additional operational challenges once it is in place. Otherwise, they aren’t going to use it. Therefore, it is worth the time it may take to find a VPN that does an effective job and keeps you secure—without creating more headaches in the process.

Again, this is something that SCW can assist you and your team in doing, in addition to helping you manage the rest of your essential IT. Give us a call to find out more about what we can do at (509) 534-1530.