A virtual private network, or VPN, is a service that helps you maintain your online privacy. Traditionally, a VPN creates a private tunnel for your data while you utilize public networks. It gives your sensitive information a private tunnel while using public networks.
With the rise of remote work and digitalization for companies, we were introduced to a new type of virtual private network: Cloud VPN. To increase access and security, many organizations that formerly used traditional VPNs are now switching to cloud VPNs. Users can access a company’s cloud resources, files, data, or apps securely through a website or app by using a cloud VPN.
Use cases of traditional VPNs
A traditional VPN is a fantastic tool for protecting your company’s data. You can greatly increase the strength and security of your networks by using a VPN across all of them. A VPN also enables any device to join a private network, so it is great for remote work too.
Here are some of the most popular use cases of traditional VPNs:
Remote access to company resources
VPNs are being used by more employees than ever while working from home. By encrypting Internet traffic, VPNs allow companies to guarantee that staff members have safe internet access. Employees can access the server remotely in a virtual workplace while not putting their sensitive information at risk thanks to VPNs.
Securing data
Thanks to VPNs, data can be encrypted in order to make it unintelligible to anybody but the intended recipients. It takes data that can be read and modifies it such that anyone who intercepts it, does not see the content of the data.
A VPN creates secure connections between devices. Every connected device creates encryption keys, and all data exchanged between them is encoded and decoded using these keys. Because of the effect of this encryption, VPN connections continue to be private even when they are exchanged between devices through insecure networks.
What is cloud computing?
To be able to understand the use cases of cloud VPNs, we should first make what cloud computing is clear. A variety of services that are supplied through the internet or the cloud are collectively referred to as cloud computing. It entails storing and accessing data on remote servers rather than depending on hard drives and personal data centers.
As businesses learned more about the cloud’s capabilities and benefits, it grew in popularity. Cloud computing is frequently referred to as the future of computing. Recently, interest in public and hybrid clouds has skyrocketed with the effect of the pandemic and the rise of remote work. All providers and most companies with international customers or employees, or the ones that simply have a remote workforce, are increasingly using cloud services. The cloud does not seem to be going anywhere soon.
Use cases of cloud VPNs
Cloud security becomes a crucial matter for a company’s performance as the average employee uses a range of cloud apps to carry out everyday tasks. For this reason, most businesses employ cloud VPN solutions. Here are some of the use cases of cloud VPNs.
Protection from cyberattacks
According to Security Magazine, someone is attacked by a hacker who tries to steal sensitive data every 39 seconds. For individuals and businesses impacted, these attacks can result in severe stress and financial loss. Effective use of cloud VPNs can drastically reduce the number of individuals affected. VPNs can shield users from hackers trying to steal their information while they are in transit. Since most of that data transit happens in the cloud, employing a cloud VPN is now more essential than ever.
Top-notch user verification
A company should always be aware of the users that enter its network, especially if they have a remote or hybrid workforce. By employing cloud VPN, companies also get the most recent user verification techniques available. They can employ techniques like MFA (Multi-factor authentication), biometrics, or SSO (Single sign-on) to confirm authorized users before allowing them access to the company network.
Direct access
Cloud VPNs reduce backhaul through direct access from remote users to cloud-based networks. Users only log onto the corporate network when they are in need of access to resources that are located on-site. This results in improved network performance and lower latency experienced by users. Not having to deal with complex access steps to cloud applications can increase employee productivity.
Worldwide accessibility
Businesses can expand, collaborate, and prosper with their staff all over the world thanks to cloud VPNs. A cloud VPN, in contrast to traditional VPNs, doesn’t restrict the geographic reach of a business or raise network latency for staff members working remotely. Team members can access cloud VPN solutions from any location in the world, which helps enhance network access and performance.
What distinguishes cloud VPNs from traditional VPNs?
If your company uses cloud services on a daily basis, you should realize that traditional VPNs are no longer useful for you. Users using cloud services must first be routed to a data center when using traditional VPNs. This consumes a lot of bandwidth and slows down operations. Access to cloud services is quicker and more direct with cloud VPNs. They also support much faster speeds, guaranteeing the seamless functioning of the business as usual.
Traditional VPNs also require manual configuration. In a large organization, setting up VPNs on every staff device takes a lot of time and leaves a lot of chances for human error. With cloud VPNs, businesses can swiftly scale up their digital operations without the need for specialized hardware or software.
If you are a company that relies on cloud services, traditional VPNs are inferior to cloud VPNs in your case. This is because they are slower to build and administer, give less secure access, and raise expenses. Businesses that want a worldwide presence must ensure the security of their data. Large organizations that handle sensitive information must use the highest standards of cybersecurity, and cloud security is one of them.
What is better for your business: a cloud VPN or a traditional VPN?
The choice of what is best for a company is up to the business owners. It’s important to note, though, that due to organizations’ growing employment of remote work and reliance on cloud services, the usage of cloud VPNs has grown substantially.
While older organizations with a committed IT staff and sufficient bandwidth can benefit from traditional VPNs, new enterprises in a post-pandemic climate can find cloud VPN solutions more alluring. This is due to the easy implementation and readily scalable setup. If your company uses cloud services regularly, you should definitely consider employing a cloud VPN.
