If your business has yet to utilize a VPN for remote employees, you should do so immediately. The right VPN can help provide organizations with ample privacy from security risks such as hackers, data breaches and various surveillance. Unfortunately, however, VPNs are not a foolproof tool. Believe it or not, the wrong VPN can actually present organizations with more security risks they might not have foreseen.
With pandemic restrictions continuing to change the traditional workplace landscape to remote, choosing the right VPN is critical. Regardless of how this landscape shakes up after pandemic restrictions begin to be lifted around the country, investing in the strongest VPN will continue to benefit your business. Investing in a weak and nonsecure VPN can jeopardize your organization’s data. A few of the risks associated with these inadequate VPNs are detailed below:
Poorly Configured Encryption: the encryption that the VPN provides is meant to help keep your organization’s data private and secure. Without a proper configuration, hackers have a much easier time accessing an organization’s data with their established skill set. In order to combat this, your VPN must have a strong encryption.
Hidden Malware: without the proper protection, any VPN can fall victim to malware. This malicious software is typically used to steal financial information or other personal data. In some of the most extreme cases, when ransomware is utilized, VPNs are liable to having all of their data encrypted; meaning all of an organization’s data can become inaccessible until a payment is made to whomever was responsible for the malware.
Log Collection: An improper VPN poses the risk of leaking your hardware’s logs. A VPN with a zero-log policy is the most optimal choice. However, regardless of this configuration, your VPN may still be susceptible to a data leak. While typically your VPN may help hide your IP address and the work your organization does, it’s still possible that information may leak as a result of the VPN provider.
Guaranteed Privacy: despite their claims, VPN providers may be secretly collecting your data to sell to third parties. Whether this be advertisers or more unethical parties, it seems to go against everything that a VPN is meant to provide to organizations. Prior to making any decision regarding a VPN provider, be sure to read their privacy policies.
Luckily for organizations everywhere, VPNs aren’t the only option for securing their data. There are more alternatives out there that can just as easily do the same job, including zero-trust networks and remote desktop connections. For more information regarding VPNs and their alternatives, be sure to review the infographic accompanying this post. Courtesy of Invisily.
