Virtual Private Network (VPN)A virtual private network extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. |
When should you use a VPN?VPNs should be used any time you need to access corporate information from outside the walls of your organization, especially when working on unsecured networks, like at a coffee shop or even most home networks, where that data being transmitted can potently snooped on. For example, your kids’ pc’s might not exactly be the most trusted devices on the network, and if its infected, it will likely attempt to move latterly inside the network to gain access or information from other devices it can find.
With the increase of phishing scams and malware targeted around COVID pulling on our heart strings, trying to convince us to click on links with these ever-changing updates, we need to ensure that devices are secure before they connect. A few ways we can do this is to enable some critical security features like pre-connection AV scans, patch level enforcement, and registry scans, to ensure the device is safe and secure before establishing that connection. These features are going to be critical since we no longer have devices on the corporate network with the same level of control by the IT staff. And lastly, let’s not forget to enable multi-factor authentication, completing those security checks with user validation. |
