by Frontier Business on
When it comes to your business, you want to stay adaptable, innovative, and secure. To be truly competitive in this day and age, you need to look at workplace flexibility and off-site networking. But when you allow employees to work from anywhere, you open up potential security risks. Keeping your proprietary information protected is crucial, especially when you’re looking at supporting remote workers.
Fortunately, there’s a relatively simple solution that will open up your office to the world while helping keep your company — and its data — safe: an Internet Protocol virtual private network, or IP VPN. If you’re unfamiliar with VPNs, keep reading to learn more about the basics of IP VPN connections and how they can benefit your business.
What Is an IP VPN?
A virtual private network is exactly what it sounds like — it’s a private connection to your business network that can be virtually accessed from anywhere. When your business sets up a VPN, it allows computers that are located outside the office to connect to the in-office network as if they were in the building. This gives remote workers access to internal resources including files, databases, and even printers.
If your first thought is to imagine the potential security nightmare that could happen from letting a computer access your network from any location, don’t worry. Most IP VPNs use secure login credentials like two-factor authentication (2FA), so users will have to supply the standard login information plus a temporary code received by email or text message. Additionally, IP VPNs provide IP masking, which hides user IP addresses to limit vulnerabilities.
To top it all off, IP VPNs also use encryption to secure information. The encryption process scrambles all data sent over the VPN, making it unreadable to any third parties that may be attempting to gain access.
Are VPNs the Only Options Available for Remote Access?
If you only need to allow remote access to one or two workers for a limited time, you might be able to get away with a remote login app like LogMeIn or GoToMyPC. These tools let you set up a remote link to a computer in the office, so an employee on vacation could log in to their desk computer from a laptop and have the same access they would have if they were physically there.
If you have a larger company and want to use multiple remote connections as a long-term business model, however, you should probably look into a full VPN. This will be the most secure option and will also give you the most control over the VPN.
Why Is an IP VPN a Good Investment for My Business?
As remote work becomes more standard, smart businesses need to adapt to stay competitive. Because VPNs allow users to access information wherever they are, adding an IP VPN can be the first step to staying ahead of this vital market trend. Not only will it help you build out your remote workforce, but it will also allow you to provide in-house employees with greater flexibility.
While remote work may be the factor that necessitates a remote access option, VPN security benefits are the main reason many businesses adopt an IP VPN as their remote access gateway. Recent research from data security company Cryptzone revealed that 91% of respondents use VPN as their primary security strategy to control network access.
Even if you don’t think your businesses is at risk of a cyberattack, you likely still have some important data that needs to be secured. Nearly every company conducts some sensitive business over the Internet on a daily basis, and anything from credit card numbers to proprietary product information or strategy may be vulnerable to hackers. An IP VPN can provide an additional layer of security to keep this sensitive data hidden and protected.
Should I Subscribe to a Managed IP VPN Service or Run My Own?
While it is possible to set up an in-house VPN for your business, these small networks aren’t usually sustainable for high-traffic use. If your new VPN network is going to be large and will require access for a high number of users, you’ll need to purchase additional equipment and hire on additional staff to accommodate your VPN needs.
Subscribing to a managed IP VPN, on the other hand, is fairly inexpensive. You likely won’t need to set up new infrastructure, and the managing company will take care of the servers and hosting. Entrusting a VPN provider with network oversight will also leave your in-house employees free to work on other projects instead of supervising connection security. Additionally, a managed IP VPN can provide greater scalability, allowing the service to grow with your company’s needs.
How Can Frontier Business Help Me With My Business IP VPN?
When you decide to deploy a managed IP VPN, it’s important to find a provider you can depend on. Frontier Business gives you access to experienced network engineers who can assess your company’s needs and deliver the right IP VPN services for your business.
IP VPN solutions from Frontier Business use just one connection to support and manage multiple services. That makes it easy to reconfigure or expand your IP VPN as needed. The company will also ensure that your VPN is always up to date with the most current infrastructure and security innovations.
Because Frontier Business provides 24/7 access to locally based customer service and tech support, you can feel secure knowing that all of your questions and concerns will be promptly heard and addressed. Frontier Business will truly partner with your organization to give you IP VPN solutions that meet your current and future needs.
Don’t leave your company’s security to chance. Turn to business IP VPN experts with a proven track record for quality. Find out how Frontier can help you set up or expand your IP VPN today.
[Image from DaisyGroup, used under Creative Commons license]
