Today in a technology-driven business world, network security is an utmost priority for all businesses, especially for those dealing with sensitive data. More so, in an organization that works in a hybrid environment wherein information and critical data are accessed remotely, the need for securing such data and network is important. This has led to a paradigm shift in the approach of establishing a robust security program and security implementations within the organization. So, for addressing the growing concerns of network and data security threats, technology such as the VPN is now in growing demand.
A Virtual Private Network is a technology that secures not just the network but also the data stored, transmitted, and processed in the network. It is a technology that secures the network and ensures only authorized access to the data stored or transferred within the network. Covering about the VPN technology in detail, we have explained how VPN Download Security helps in Data Security & Privacy in a technologically driven world of business operations. But before that let us first quickly understand the concept of the VPN technology before diving into the benefits of the technology.
What is VPN?
Virtual Private Network is a technology that facilitates secure and private browsing for internet users, allowing only authorized access to critical data on that network. The technology helps secure connection over the untrusted network by using encryption and access control techniques. This technology is important, especially when using an open public network to prevent an unauthorized individual from spying on a user’s online activity and for securing the data shared on that network.
VPN creates a secure private network between the user’s computer and the VPN server, thereby preventing their Internet Service Provider (ISP) or any potential hacker from tracking the users browsing activity and location. This facilitates high-level online privacy by hiding browsing information and preventing snooping on users. Further, the encryption technique adds an extra layer of security in terms of securing the data transmitted through the network.
So now that we know about VPN technology let’s move a step ahead in understanding how the technology helps in data security and privacy.
How does VPN Security help in Data Security & Privacy?
Currently with businesses handling huge amounts of sensitive data, securing such data becomes a daunting task for most organizations. These organizations come under the intense pressure of managing the security and privacy of sensitive data, especially in the prevailing cyber threat landscape. So, with the increasing demand for technologies that facilitate data security and privacy, VPN is one such technique that fits perfectly well to address these issues. In fact, VPN technology serves different purposes, including securing the data through the encryption process and ensuring the privacy of online activities by hiding IP addresses and maintaining the privacy of data through controlling access to sensitive data. Explaining more on this in detail we have described how VPN technology helps in data security and privacy.
VPN for Data Security
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an exceptionally well-designed and robust Internet Security Solution that allows internet users to access the internet securely via a private network. Given below are some ways how VPN ensures data security.
1.Secures Network
VPN facilitates high-level network security. The primary objective of VPN technology is to hide the IP address from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and other third parties. This in turn allows secure transmission of data which includes sending and receiving sensitive data online without the risk of unauthorized access to the data. Further, the technology also prevents the possibility of leaving any trace in terms of search history and cookies, thereby ensuring maximum security of the internet user’s data. Talking about the use of encryption techniques, it helps prevent third-party or unauthorized individuals from accessing critical and confidential information such as personal and financial data online.
2. Secures Data Transmission
Now that we know VPN technology facilitates secure networks, it is also worth noting that all the data transmitted through the network is through a secure encrypted virtual tunnel. This ensures not just the disguising of the IP address and location but securing of the entire connection and the data on it against any kind of external threat or attack.
The VPN technology uses end-to-end encryption techniques to ensure maximum security and privacy of the data and network. Since the data transmitted on the network is routed via an encrypted tunnel the data is secured against various cyber threats and risk of data exposure or leakage. So, even if a hacker manages to intercept the private network, they would still be unable to view the data and ensure its security.
3.Secures Data Access
VPN facilitates data security through access control features wherein only authorized individuals can access data via a secure encrypted virtual tunnel. This is especially useful for organizations that allow remote working and access to employees who may need to avail critical data over an unsecured or public network. Encrypted and secure access control ensures not just a secure network connection but also secure data access. This way the organization need not worry about unauthorized data access and data leakage or exposure over an unsecured public network.
4.Limits Data Access
VPN facilitates point of access to data stored in an organization’s servers. So here, by connecting the VPN to the organization’s private network and database, your organization can grant secure access to only relevant employees within the organization. Since it adds a layer of security in terms of only authorized access, the exposure to data leakage and unauthorized access is limited. This simply means the data access will be limited to only those employees with special access rights to VPN. Limiting access to sensitive data is crucial for organizations especially obligated to ensure the security and privacy of the data.
VPN for Data Privacy
VPN is the most effective way to ensure the privacy of the network and data. It prevents tracking and tracing of the internet user’s activity by hiding the web browsing details and location. This ensures privacy and further enhances the confidentiality of the data searched or fed online by the user. Given below are some ways how VPN ensures data privacy.
-
Facilitates Privacy on Public Networks
VPN is popular among organizations that work remotely as it offers high-level privacy. Even on an unsecured network, VPN protects data hiding the browsing history, and encrypting sensitive data such as financial information, and details that are stored and transmitted through the open network. So, this way the technology does not just ensure the security but also the privacy of the data by facilitating access via a private encrypted network.
-
Hides IP Address
VPNs is an excellent and popular technique for protecting IP address. The technique ensures that the online activities of internet users are virtually untraceable. As mentioned earlier, since VPN hides the IP address, there is a high level of privacy maintained. This prevents the possibility of any kind of data exposure and the risk of a hack by an attacker.
-
Privacy from the Internet Service Provider
When a person accesses sensitive and confidential data remotely from home, they are less likely to be attacked by a hacker in comparison to the risk they hold when connecting to a public network. However, the data still stands to be vulnerable as your online activity and the sensitive data accessed will still be visible to the Internet Service Provider. This is equally dangerous, especially if the data falls in the wrong hands in an event of a data breach. However, with the implementation of a VPN, the IP address can be disguised and secured from the visibility of your ISP. So, this way VPN is an excellent way of maintaining security and privacy from the Internet Service Provider.
-
Privacy from Third-party Service Providers
The privacy of your data is not just at risk from your ISP but also from any other third-party service provider whose services you avail online. But with VPN technology in place, it helps prevent any third-party apps, websites, or service providers from accessing your confidential data and tracing your activities online. VPN hides your IP address, location, browsing history, cookies, account details, and even passwords that are confidential and prevent any kind of disclosure to a third party. It prevents apps and websites from accessing and storing any information thereby ensuring maximum privacy against even third-party service providers.
-
Enhances Online Browsing Privacy
Today maintaining browsing privacy is the need of the hour, especially in an age of online shopping which involves using sensitive data for online financial transactions. In the business age where everything is digital and data-driven, apps, and social media platforms are constantly collecting and analyzing data of internet users, based on their browsing history. The information collected through these channels is then used for targeted marketing and sales. However, VPN provides the required privacy by ensuring such data isn’t traced, collected, or even stored in the most effective way. VPN hides your browsing history and cached data thereby enhancing your browsing privacy.
Final Thought
VPN as a technology serves both internet users and businesses online. While it provides security and privacy to internet users in terms of their data exposure, it also helps businesses stay compliant with various data security and privacy compliance and regulatory requirements, including GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, MAS TRM, CPRA, ISO27001, etc. to name a few. As we just learnt, technology can greatly increase data security and provide an effective solution to the growing concerns of data security and privacy in the prevailing dynamic cyber-threat landscape. Although there are certain downsides to the use of this technology, however, the benefits definitely outweigh the downside of VPN technology.
