{"id":6964,"date":"2021-04-07T10:35:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T10:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/?p=6964"},"modified":"2021-04-07T10:35:15","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T10:35:15","slug":"why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/","title":{"rendered":"Why you need a VPN for remote working"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite the common perception, VPNs aren\u2019t just a tool for surfing the shadowy underbelly of the internet. A VPN is a vital defence against cyber threats for anyone <\/span>working remotely<\/span><\/a>. Here\u2019s why your staff need one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is a VPN?<\/b><\/h3>\n

In simple terms, a VPN (or virtual private network) allows you to connect to business systems securely while using a public network. A \u2018public\u2019 network could be the free connection you get on public transport, the WiFI at your favourite cafe, or even your home internet router.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does a VPN work?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

The best way to think of a VPN is as a \u2018tunnel\u2019, used only by you, between your workplace and wherever you\u2019re working from.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than using the public network, a VPN routes your traffic through specialised servers and encrypts your data. When you connect to the internet via a VPN, all your data is sent through this encrypted tunnel. This has a couple of key advantages over using a public network:<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Greater privacy<\/b><\/h4>\n

VPNs obscure your internet activity from your provider and everyone else. This effectively makes you \u2018anonymous\u2019 on the internet. Not only is this great for privacy, but it also means your IP address and location are invisible, making it much harder for cybercriminals to intercept confidential company data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Improved safety<\/b><\/h4>\n

An encrypted tunnel is very, very difficult to hack. VPN Mentor has produced some <\/span>interesting research<\/span><\/a> on the subject and concludes that the only way hackers can break VPN encryption is either through a known weakness or by stealing the encryption key (more on encryption keys <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Essentially, a VPN is a pretty sure-fire way to ensure your business devices aren\u2019t vulnerable to attacks coming from public networks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why should your business use a VPN for remote working?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

We highly recommend using a VPN if you have employees working remotely, but why? You may be wondering whether it\u2019s really necessary. After all, won\u2019t the existing security on employees\u2019 devices protect them?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this simply isn\u2019t the case. If your employees are using public networks or their home router it\u2019s likely to be far less secure than your office network. According to a report from BitSight, home office networks are<\/span> 3.5 times more likely <\/span><\/a>than corporate networks to be infected by malware.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the human element to all this. <\/span>Research shows<\/span><\/a> that many employees, whether consciously or not, engage in riskier behaviour when working from home. For example, sharing confidential files via email instead of the usual, safer channels. Without the added layer of security a VPN offers, this confidential data could easily fall into the wrong hands.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why you need a VPN for hybrid working too<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re planning on adopting <\/span>\u2018hybrid working\u2019<\/span><\/a> as the norm post-pandemic, VPNs will be essential to keeping your business safe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Picture the scenario, one of your sales team has dropped into a coffee shop on the way back from an important meeting. They like the ambience of the place, so they decide to sit and fire off some emails and run through their sales deck while they sip a latte and munch on a croissant. To do this they need to connect to the cafe\u2019s WiFi, an unsecured public network.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seems innocent enough, but on this particular day, a hacker is targeting the customers of this coffee shop. They see that your salesperson is working using the cafe WiFI, and that\u2019s all it takes. In a few seconds, the sales deck and confidential data have been stolen. Your business is facing a choice between a PR nightmare or a hefty bill to get it back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you set up a VPN?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

The first step is to pick a provider. There are hundreds of VPN providers out there each offers slight variations on the same service. Many businesses stick with the major providers such as NordVPN and ExpressVPN and with good reason, both regularly win tech magazine \u2018Editors choice\u2019 awards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, if you\u2019re looking for the highest level of anonymity, smaller providers such <\/span>as Mullvad VPN<\/a><\/span> that require no payment or contact details could be the way to go. If in doubt, check out <\/span>Tech Radar\u2019s Best VPN Service 2021 list<\/span><\/a>, it compares most of the major providers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve picked, setting up a VPN is relatively easy. The set-up process is almost universal among VPN providers so it shouldn\u2019t matter which you choose. We won\u2019t go into exactly how you do it here, but <\/span>this guide from The Verge<\/span><\/a> covers everything you need to know.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to know more about how to switch to hybrid or remote working safely? Download our guide, <\/span>Cyber Safety in a New Era of Work<\/span><\/i> here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Remote<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the common perception, VPNs aren\u2019t just a tool for surfing the shadowy underbelly of the internet. A VPN is a vital defence against cyber threats for anyone working remotely….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[103,83,126,209,172],"yoast_head":"\nWhy you need a VPN for remote working - CyberSmart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why you need a VPN for remote working and how to pick the right one for your business.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why you need a VPN for remote working - CyberSmart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Why you need a VPN for remote working and how to pick the right one for your business.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CyberSmart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CyberSmartUK\/?ref=br_rs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-07T10:35:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Social_Images-20.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rob S\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CyberSmartUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CyberSmartUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rob S\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rob S\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cybersmartcom.wpengine.com\/#\/schema\/person\/594c076c19735505b2d038cab92930ff\"},\"headline\":\"Why you need a VPN for remote working\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-07T10:35:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-07T10:35:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/\"},\"wordCount\":798,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cybersmartcom.wpengine.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Social_Images-20.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cyber attack\",\"cybersecurity\",\"remote working\",\"VPN\",\"Working from home\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\",\"Cyber Security 101\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cybersmart.com\/blog\/why-you-need-a-vpn-for-remote-working\/\",\"name\":\"Why you need a VPN for remote working - 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