The commercial landscape of today is markedly different than that of five years ago, as global circumstances have brought to bear a major paradigm shift in how we do business. Consumer expectations have changed, for one, as online transactions and digital delivery have become fundamental to the worldwide economy. At the same time, remote and hybrid working arrangements are fast becoming the norm, with an increasing contingent of the global talent pool reluctant to commit to opportunities that require them to work on-site.
In such a climate, it is abundantly clear that the companies that thrive will be the ones that can adapt effectively and take their operations online. While the digital space offers massive scope for growth and development, however, it also presents a variety of risks, with cybersecurity threats begin chief among them. To overcome such obstacles, businesses need to leverage the right tools to safeguard their longevity when operating online. This is where Virtual Private Networks come into play, as they empower businesses to protect themselves more effectively. In this article, we’ll discuss what VPNs do and how they can help you to protect your interests and overcome the hurdles of online business.
Understanding the role of VPNs
A Virtual Private Network is a software application which gives you the ability to establish a more secure connection when you go online. It creates a tunnel between your business device and a remote server, which functions as a proxy to facilitate connections to websites and services. As such, VPNs are an essential tool for those who want a greater degree of privacy and security online.
The proliferation of cybercrime has brought about a boom in the VPN market in recent times, meaning that there is a plethora of paid and free VPN options available now, both as browser extensions and desktop client applications. While both are useful solutions, VPN clients secure all data traffic from the devices on which they are installed, rather than just browser traffic. As such, they are more widely used for business purposes.
How a VPN can benefit your business
When operating a business in the digital space, a VPN can be a highly useful tool, and can benefit your company in the following ways:
Guarding Sensitive Data
A key advantage of VPNs is that they help protect sensitive data like financial records, customer details, and more. They do so by using encryption technology, which renders all of your data indecipherable to cyber criminals who would potentially intercept it. As such, installing a VPN on your business device can provide you with an all-important layer of protection for data, thereby helping to ensure the longevity of your business.
Shielding Against Hackers
As we’ve already touched on, cybercrime is continually on the rise, so it is essential that you protect your business against hackers. A VPN can help with this because it enables you to mask the IP of your device and use the Internet under the IP of a proxy server.
As such, using a VPN ensures that your business’ IP address cannot be traced, which helps to protect your organization against unauthorized access attempts, DDoS attacks, and other kinds of security breaches.
Facilitating Remote Work
Hybrid and WFH working arrangements are a reality of the modern business landscape, so you must be prepared for the challenges that remote work can bring. One of the main concerns most businesses have is the increased likelihood of data breaches, as employees are accessing company systems via a wide variety of devices and networks.
With so many variables to contend with, VPNs are a useful way to mitigate risk. Aside from providing military-grade encryption between remote workers and company servers, a VPN can allow you to implement strict control policies, thereby helping you ensure that your company networks are only accessible to those authorized individuals. As such, they enable your company to function effectively with a remote workforce.
Ensuring Privacy and Compliance
In the age of data protection regulations and GDPR, you must ensure total compliance at all times if your business is to succeed in the long term. Since a VPN can help to safeguard your company’s database, it can also help to protect your customers’ privacy. Therefore, using a VPN is a good way to stay regulation compliant and ensure that you don’t incur any negative legal repercussions that could jeopardize the future of your business.
Conclusion
At a time when customer and employee expectations are higher than ever before, companies worldwide have no choice but to embrace digital business in their pursuit of success. While it’s true that operating online does bring new risks to contend with as a business owner, a VPN solution can help you to mitigate them effectively.
By utilizing a VPN at your company, you can establish secure, private connections that empower you to meet the needs of both your staff and your customer base, thereby allowing you to safeguard the future of your enterprise.
