Any business currently lacking a VPN meant to protect remote employees should have one installed as soon as possible. With the right protection, a VPN is capable of ensuring privacy and security from risks like hackers, data breaches and other online surveillance. The mistake many companies make is that they think their VPNs are impenetrable. However, as many organizations have come to find out, a weak VPN is liable to draw additional security risks for them to navigate through.
While the United States continues to see surges in COVID-19 rates, more and more businesses are remaining remote. The truth is, VPNs will continue to benefit many businesses even as they return to the traditional work environments. Without a fortified VPN, organizations face the risk of their data being targeted and hijacked by online attackers. This post will provide a breakdown of some of the risks associated with a non-secure VPN and how to avoid them.
Weak Encryption: without proper encryption, a poor VPN will prove to make any organization’s valuable data defenseless. Not being able to meet configuration standards makes any hacker’s job that much easier. Prior to investing into a VPN, be sure that their encryption is up to industry standards.
Keep An Eye Out For Malware: strong VPNs are capable of detecting and protecting against malware. Malware is predatory software meant to steal financial information and other personal data from the machines it infects. These attacks often leave an organization’s data encrypted and inaccessible. Most often, these attacks require ransoms to be paid to these cyber-attackers in order to regain access to their data.
Hardware Logs: A weaker VPN has the chance of leaking any hardware’s logs. This is why it’s so important to invest into a VPN with a zero-log policy. Of course, this configuration is not impenetrable, as the VPN may still be susceptible to a data leak, but it is a much better defense than its counterparts.
VPN Providers: be sure to read the fine-print prior to making any agreement with a VPN provider. Be sure they’re not going to be collecting your organization’s data to leverage with third parties. Some providers are in talks with advertisers or more unethical parties, so be sure to read their privacy policies and do your due diligence before making any partnership considerations.
If your organization feels uneasy regarding VPNs and their risks, be sure to do some additional research regarding other security measures used within the space. Other alternatives out there are just as capable of providing the security that VPNs are meant to provide, including zero-trust networks and remote desktop connections. If you’re hoping to learn more about these alternatives, take a minute to check out the infographic featured alongside this post. Courtesy of Invisily.