VPN for Small Businesses

When you are browsing the Internet without a VPN, everything you do is identifiable and traceable online to hackers and prying eyes. For instance, if your internet service provider tracks your internet traffic and sells your data to advertisers, hackers can exploit your unsecure connection through your phone or computer. The government can then also demand logs of your internet browsing activities. With a VPN as a service you can close this loophole. In a nutshell, a VPN is an Internet security service that creates an encrypted connection between your devices to one or more servers.

IT professionals used to implement VPNs using solutions that included hardware and/or software. This how it would work: if your company used a VPN, your IT personnel would purchase a firewall or a router that supported VPN tunneling at the hardware level. This hardware would either came with a preset number of software client access licenses or you would have to purchase them. Each VPN connection would then need to be routed to your company’s router.

With the new model of VPN sold as a service, it’s now much easier to have the same protection. To get started, just go online and sign up for a VPN service (usually a low monthly fee). Now your service is ready to go whenever you are. Once your VPN is operational, you are able to secure your internet connections, stay anonymous, get around blocks and access censored sites. One of the key features of a VPN is that it gives you a temporary IP address which allows you to connect with websites and emails while remaining hidden.

The best VPN providers that are on the market today are: NordVPN, Norton Secure VPN , F-Secure VPN and VyprVPN.

One of the main reasons businesses are using VPNs is to ensure that users accessing their company’s data are authorized and are using encrypted channel. Another reason is that your company can use a VPN to connect to two or more offices easily. A good example of this would be if you wanted to safely connect your main office in California to a remote office in Boston. In order to accomplish this, an IT professional can create a tunnel using the VPN enabled routers at the California office to the Boston office now, both offices are privately and securely connected without using a server or software.

The bottom line is that VPNs can have a significant impact on the data security of your business. Below are several reasons why it’s a smart move for your business to start using VPN as a service instead of a business VPN.

It’s a reality that with security features such as firewalls and antivirus protections in place we are not always impervious to hackers and intrusion. In any typical company setup, you usually have a resource in the cloud, such as data and or business productivity apps. You will also have roaming users who are working remotely or traveling. By investing in a VPN as a service, you can keep your users secure without the big investment of data center grade routing hardware and software. While collaboration and productivity services such as Microsoft 365, Google Suite, or Zoho Products come with their own security measures. With a VPN as a service, you are then placing another secure layer in addition to the resources they are utilizing. It’s important to have protection for sensitive customer information, internal documents, internal communication, and trade secrets that a company needs to protect.

Businesses storing their data at their local file server is a thing of the past. If you haven’t moved your data to the cloud, you should seriously consider doing so. Productivity apps and data are now stored in the cloud. With a VPN, the connection is an end-to-end encryption, so it’s secure and your IT professional would know who and what is being accessed and by which users at any given time.

One of the draw drawbacks of a business implementing a business VPN is the cost. Traditional VPNs require a substantial amount of time and effort to integrate it into the existing networks. There’s also the additional cost of licensing. It can be a challenge for smaller businesses or those without an existing IT department. With a VPN as a service, the cost is a fraction of the price, you can leave the IT management to the pros, and concentrate on working on other aspects of your business. NordVP, for example, will cost you $3.49/user/month while VyprVPN, will cost you $2.49/user/month

• NordVPN $3.49/user/month
• Norton Secure VPN $3.33/user/month
• F-Secure VPN $0.83 per device/month (min 7 devices)
• VyprVPN $2.49/user/month/2-years

VPN as a service works in countries where there are strict Internet access polices in place, without it, working remotely would be difficult. For example, employees might not be able to access the cloud or productivity apps such as Microsoft 365, Google Suite or Zoho because of the rules governing that country. With VPN as a service, you can choose different locations so it appears as if your business is still connecting to the internet like you were in your home country.

With VPN as a service, managing your VPN is simplified. The traditional VPN setup would need a dedicated team to manage the security and operation of your VPN.   For example, they would need to renew licenses, update firmware’s and software, have 24/7 support and maintain backups. Sometimes all that’s needed is to secure a local network and have remote access. If that sounds like something your company needs, give us a call and we can provide the best solutions for you.