It's very likely that you've already heard of or even used a virtual private network (VPN) to make internet access more secure. But in your company, has the use of this technology been considered as a tool to improve employee safety and mobility?
In this article, we will explain what VPN is, how this technology works, some examples of use and what the advantages and benefits are for the corporate environment of companies.
What is VPN?
The acronym VPN stands for Virtual Private Network , translating Virtual Private Network. It is a network technology that uses the internet to connect a group of computers and maintain the security of data traveling between them.
In a common scenario, when you connect to the internet and browse websites, download materials and send documents by email, your device is identified through the IP number, and much of your data (excluding the most sensitive) they travel openly and can be intercepted by providers or malicious software. With a private network, data is encrypted, the user is protected and cannot be easily identified.
This technology is used by people who mainly want to ensure browsing privacy and access restricted content in the country. But companies around the world are discovering how to take advantage of VPNs to increase the security of their data and remote work.
How does a VPN work?
Similar to a firewall that protects information on your computer, a VPN protects your data on the internet. VPNs can be used for both remote access, connecting a computer to a network, and site-to-site, connecting two networks.
Browsing the internet without a VPN connects you to your ISP's (Internet Service Provider) server, which in turn connects you to the website of your choice. This means that all your internet traffic activity passes through the provider and the provider can monitor your actions or not. However, when you browse through a VPN, your traffic uses an encrypted “tunnel”. This means it is not accessible to anyone other than you and the VPN server.
Examples of VPN uses
By itself, a VPN only helps you increase data security and access resources on a network that you are not physically connected to. However, we will list here some examples of how a user normally uses it:
- Collaborator/employee: uses the VPN provided by the company when at home or traveling to access resources on the local network;
- Downloading: to prevent a company from blacklisting you for downloading torrents, this user uses a VPN to stay safe while using peer to peer networks;
- To maintain privacy: this type of user always thinks they are reading what he sends or receives. Therefore, to have secure and encrypted communication, away from prying eyes, this profile uses a VPN connection;
- Traveler: services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime provide different content for each country, according to its language and customs. Therefore, this traveling user has a VPN connection to their country of origin to access their preferred content.
If you don't identify with any of these examples above, remember that it is not the type of user profile that makes using a VPN useful, but rather your needs. As an example, we can mention your participation in an event or workshop, where everyone uses the same public network to connect to the internet. This is a situation that we consider to have a high risk of traffic interception. Have you ever imagined someone intercepting your professional email passwords?
Advantages and benefits of VPN for companies
Using VPN in a corporate environment is proving to be a good opportunity for IT managers who care about security, productivity and cost reduction.
Information security
The main advantage for a company that uses VPN is certainly the increase in information security when there is a need to transfer confidential data between branches or for employees who work remotely and need to access data on the local network.
Cost reduction
The investment to provide a VPN connection in your company is very low if you consider the costs of damage and losses that a leak of confidential data can cause. Just to give you an idea, in 2019 Brazil lost more than R$80 billion to cyber attacks.
Increased productivity
The peace of mind to work without worrying about so many security issues means that employees are only focused on what matters and consequently their productivity increases. For this reason, VPN can be a great ally in corporate environments.
Mobility
With a VPN, a company can provide secure access to internal network resources, such as documents or software, to any employee or customer from anywhere in the world. With this mobility benefit we were able to demonstrate previous advantages such as safety, reduced travel costs and increased productivity.
To finish
I hope that with this article you have understood how VPN works and how it can be useful for your company. There is also a lot of information that can complement your study on this subject. However, it is clear that this technology is becoming increasingly necessary nowadays, where we are faced with security and productivity problems.
The point now is that there are many VPN solutions for companies, each with its own characteristics and prices. Do you want to know which one is ideal for you? It is this subject that I will write about in the next article.
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