Cybersecurity is a major concern of most businesses today. Hacking has been more prevalent than ever since the COVID pandemic pushed businesses to shift almost any transactions online. And with this trend becoming the new normal small and mid-sized businesses should consider using virtual private network (VPN) in all of their online activities.
2021 Statistics for cybersecurity reveals that the average cost to a business of a cyber breach is $133,000. Cyber criminals target SMEs since cybercriminals know that 70% of them are unprepared for sudden network attack. Sadly enough, 51% of these businesses are stubbornly declaring that they don’t have plans of allocating budget for cybersecurity despite the rampant threats.
In the past years, many businesses have been greatly affected by malware attacks. Three billion Yahoo users had their sensitive data leaked; several government agencies from all over the world were penetrated by hackers; and big hotel chains like Marriott International and MGM resorts suffered from client data breach. Even Facebook and Twitter faced scary attacks with the latter was involved in swindling a hefty amount of Bitcoin.
It’s frightening how these big organizations can be attacked by hackers when they invest in advance cybersecurity technologies. Small businesses may think that hackers won’t gain much from attacking them that’s why they don’t give much attention on their network’s security. But that’s where things can start to go wrong.
SMEs are more vulnerable to attacks and hackers are aware of that. Although they have lesser to gain from them, being able to steal from numerous SMEs means easy money for them. As a result, many SMEs can fail as it is quite difficult to recover from a major cybercrime attack.
And to stop this from happening, SMEs should at least invest in cybersecurity technologies that they can afford. Advance antivirus software is a must and VPNs is another tool they can leverage to add another layer of security to their network.
What is VPN?
A VPN or virtual private network is a technology used to make your network invisible online. It creates a secure remote connection to geographic locations or other networks. When a computer uses a VPN, it appears to be inside the network that it is connecting to that’s why geo-restricted websites can be accessed by computers on VPN. Furthermore, it is encrypted making it safe from cybercriminals trying to penetrate your network.
With those benefits in mind, VPN is something that small and mid-sized businesses should really consider investing in.
But there’s more to VPN that should convince SMEs to be on one, and we’re listing some more benefits below.
Reasons Why SMEs Should Be on VPN
1. Additional IT Security
As we mentioned above, most transactions are already required to be done online since face to face selling are still limited in many countries. Hackers are taking advantage of the trend by putting out baits through malware links and using phishing techniques. While many are already aware of this kinds of modus, may still fall for them, most especially when a sense of urgency is injected to this hacking techniques.
But with advance antivirus software installed and an active VPN, the network connections become encrypted and strengthens privacy, hence SMEs become safer from attacks. Some cybersecurity software services provide a VPN service as an optional extra. One such provider is Bitdefender:
2. Remote Access
Remote work is more in demand than ever. Many businesses rely on remote workers to do several jobs that do not need to be executed in their office and this saves them a lot of money, space, and time. However, there are certain restrictions set by countries in restricting their networks. This is where VPN becomes greatly useful. It allows remote access to your network from anywhere in the world while making sure that the user trying to join your network is from within your organization.
Bitdefender GravityZone Advanced Business Security
3. Secure File Sharing
Advance VPN services have the option to control who sees files being shared within a network that it is activated on. Hence, employees, no matter where they are, can exchange documents more securely and privately.
4. Making You Anonymous
Beyond going Incognito online, VPN is a better solution for making your IP address anonymous to the network or website you are connecting to. It helps businesses stay hidden from hackers who have set up links everywhere on the World Wide Web to collect sensitive data.
5. Hidden IP Address
Going back to geo-restricted websites, VPN can disguise your IP address into one that a particular country accepts. This gives SMEs free access to more resources that are limited to specific viewers. This also allows them to widen their customer reach.
6. Network Performance
Many ISPs control web traffic by limiting the bandwidth, which slows down a business’s network speed. But with a VPN solution onboard, both your bandwidth and network performance can be improved. Since VPN makes you anonymous online and encrypts your traffic and destination, it helps you hide from internet service providers and avoid the restrictions they set.
7. Lower Costs
Many VPN solutions are affordable. They serve as cost-effective solutions to your cybersecurity concerns as well as issues on bandwidth and geo access. All you need to do is to find the right solution and plan that will suit your organization’s needs. Furthermore, maintenance and setup shouldn’t be a problem since the provider will take charge of those activities. That said, there’s no need for you to hire an IT expert to maintain your VPN.
Is VPN Worth the Money?
With all the benefits we mentioned above, VPN is definitely worth the investment.
VPN is one of the simple technologies that any small and mid-sized businesses should not skimp out. They don’t require big IT budget to work and they are cost-effective solutions for many online concerns from security to web access.
Protecting your business and customers’ sensitive data should be a huge priority. Knowing that you are secured online will give you peace of mind and the confidence that your customers are also safe from cybersecurity attacks. And VPN can do an impeccable job at that.
There are plenty of VPN software and services available in the market. You can set up cloud VPN solutions or local VPN. It’s important to check all the features to know which plan is right for you.
Regain control of your online activities and secure your company’s future with a VPN service.
Author Bio
Donna Padua is an engineer turned writer. Donna found a deeper interest in expressing her thoughts through words rather than numbers. With four years of experience, she has now mastered different writing styles. Writing Technology Blogs for the computer software shop Softvire Australia is her latest stint. After work, she morphs into an anime and TV series fan.
