How Your Business Can Benefit From a Virtual Private Network

A VPN may not be for everyone, but here are a couple of scenarios where having a secure portal to access information can be of great benefit to your business:

Scenario 1: Your business has two or more locations, and it?s time to consolidate your infrastructure, data, and other IT efforts. You want staff from all locations to access everything in real time, in one single system that you control.

Scenario 2: Things are moving and shaking, and certain parts of your team are starting to travel to work closer with new clients, attend trade shows, and broaden your organization?s reach. However, you immediately identify an issue where your data is getting spread all over, with versions of files on someone?s laptop, someone else?s email, and another on a third person?s cell phone. Plus, your road warriors are requesting extra licenses for the software they need for their laptops and mobile devices.

A VPN is basically a secure portal to access your company?s network from any Internet-connected device. Your data, applications, and user policies are all accessed securely, leaving them in tact on your network, even when employees aren?t on the network.

With just a couple of clicks, a user can log in to the network from home, a coffee shop, or while on site for a customer and access everything they need as if they were in the office.

If your organization doesn?t properly secure its information, you?ll lose out on the security necessary to keep your data as safe as possible from prying eyes. Often times, data is at its most vulnerable when it?s traveling from one location to another. A VPN works by encrypting the data that?s sent and received to and from the network, which helps your business keep hackers from stealing your data while it?s in transit.

Here are some of the best reasons to be using a VPN for your business?s network:

• Secure connections to sensitive data: We mentioned that a VPN helps to keep your data secure when you?re accessing it. The way that a VPN works is that of a secure connection between your device (the endpoint), and your organization?s network. Providing such a direct connection and encrypting the data while it?s in transit helps to keep attackers from stealing your data while it?s moving, rendering it useless to them if they do manage to steal anything.
• Role-based data access: One of the most valuable features of a VPN solution is that you can restrict the flow of data so that only authorized personnel can access specific information. For example, an HR department should be the only employees privy to the sensitive information of employees, like Social Security numbers, while Account of Finance should be the only department allowed to access credit card numbers and client payment information. Restricting the flow of important information in this manner is an important part of minimizing risk.
• Remote access to critical data: The great thing about VPNs is that they?re virtual networks, and can be accessed from any approved device. This helps you ensure that your employees always have access to mission-critical applications and data, even if they?re out of the office or on a business trip.

If your business wants to take full advantage of VPNs, White Mountain IT Services can help. We can assist you with the implementation and management of your own personal VPN solution, tailored to the specific needs of your business.