Why & do you need a business VPN? Not an old-fashioned remote access gateway, although that may be an option in some cases. Fortunately, there are also other options.
A remote access gateway can make a lot of sense if what you need to do is connect a remote office network to the corporate network through the internet. There are a number of VPN appliances that can do this for you, from companies you know, including Cisco, Linksys, TP-Link, and WatchGuard. They're available for organizations of pretty much any size.
A more flexible solution is a VPN service that operates much like the consumer services, but which is designed for the needs of business users, including the need to protect sensitive information on its entire trip to the corporate network.
These providers include some of the consumer VPN-Monster providers, notably APMG's VPN.
VPN-Monster for business starts where the company's consumer product ends, providing a secure connection to the corporate network and can even provide a dedicated server. You also have central administration, central billing, and a dedicated account and helpdesk support team.
Of course, there are providers other than us. What's important is that you confirm that they're really suitable for your business. This means meeting Payment Card Industry (PCI) rules if credit card data will travel over the VPN.
You must also meet requirements for protecting personally identifiable information (PII), Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules for medical and electronic medical record and other health data, and in some cases, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations.
How to Meet VPN-Related Requirements
So, how exactly do you meet these requirements? AMPG suggests asking the following questions:
Who is certifying the encryption? You must know that the encryption meets the standards your business is required to meet.
How was it tested and who did the testing? Testing is expensive, so some providers may not want to spend the money. You don't want those providers.
Where is the server? Crossing national boundaries can often be problematic, not just for performance reasons but also when addressing some compliance needs.
How do they connect to your corporate network? It needs to meet those same standards of protection that the rest of your business must meet.
What kind of logging is performed? Logs can be subpoenaed, which is why consumers don't like them. But businesses may be required to keep logs for the very compliance regulations you're trying to meet. You need to know this.
You also need to know what kind of support you'll get, especially if the VPN goes down right as you're getting ready to run your employee payroll for the month. You'll want to know how easy it is to set up and configure the VPN endpoints.
Protecting your company with a VPN really isn't optional, unless you don't allow any operations to take place remotely. Since that's not very practical, it pays to find a VPN that will work for your company and start using it. While a consumer VPN might be better than having nothing at all, the fact is, it's probably not good enough to keep you and your business out of trouble.
For business VPN services do not hesitate to contact us.
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