VPN’s provide privacy and security for you and your devices when you are away from your secure internet connection. Some types go beyond the privacy offered by a secured wifi hotspot, establishing encrypted connections, and masking your IP (internet protocol) address to make your actions virtually untraceable, while others extend your corporate network for remote access to your documents and data.
What Does Using a Public Network Mean for You and Your Business?
In a world that runs on the internet, free and accessible wifi is lauded, and often expected, when at a store, restaurant, or other places of business. By logging into an unsecured, unknown, or untrusted wifi network, you could be exposing the data transmitted during your sessions — including your private information and search history — to anyone on the same network who may be eavesdropping.
The bottom line: If you or your employees are using an unsecured wifi network, your devices and data could be exposed to a potential breach. And such issues are all the more of a concern these days, as many people are currently working remotely.
Secure access VPNs allow you to communicate over a public network by establishing a safe and private connection. No matter where you or your employees are working, VPNs protect your computers and information from various hacks.
What do you do if your business does fall victim to a cyberattack? Do you have a response plan in place to ensure a quick recovery?
How Does a VPN Protect Your Privacy?
With a VPN, you pay a third-party to use their software, and are then able to connect your computer or device to their hardware.
Essentially, VPNs encrypt — or scramble — your data, so hackers, eavesdroppers, and internet service providers cannot see what you’re doing online. It alters your IP address to create a “data tunnel” between your local network and a network in another location, possibly thousands of miles away. Doing so gives you the freedom to browse, work, and shop in private.
VPNs protect:
- Internet browsing history (if the provider doesn’t keep logs)
- Your IP address and location
- Personal and medical information
- Credit card information
- Uploads and downloads
- Messages and emails
- Login information
- Your devices
Why a Remote Access VPN Is Important for Your Business
The second use for a VPN is the ability to extend your corporate network. Your office network gives access to your employees, printers, data, and IT resources, all over the same channel. While your in-office network might be secure, what about employees who are working remotely?
Even if your workforce is no longer working from home, you may still have employees who decide to get work done on the weekend or need to work from a hotel when traveling for a business trip. With a remote-access VPN, your employees can access the resources and data they need from anywhere, and you can be confident that your company’s information is still secure.
For small businesses, this is often your firewall. Your computer sets up a secure connection to the office’s VPN hardware, allowing you access to the office’s internal network, no matter where you are.
What else can you do to make sure your data is secure?
Cybersecurity is essential for all businesses, no matter their size, industry, or location, and investing in a VPN is one of many ways you can strengthen your business’ defenses.
Take the Steps Towards Securing Your Business
As IT experts, we see the unaddressed cybersecurity needs of many companies, every day. That is why we’ve built our business around providing solutions that work for small and medium-sized businesses.
Before we make any recommendations, we want to help you assess your infrastructure to determine where you can establish stronger defenses against cyberattacks. We provide managed IT services, keeping an eye on your system so you can focus on your clients and operations, knowing your data is secure.
Keeping up with numerous ways your business can be threatened, and protected, can be both frustrating and exhausting. At Sawyer Solutions, we are in the business of managing your IT, so you don’t have to. Let us take a load off your shoulders! To schedule a consultation for your business’s cybersecurity strength, contact us today!