There are many factors to consider when purchasing any new software or service for your business, but there are often green flags to look for and red flags to avoid. For business VPNs, basic features like split tunneling, dedicated IP addresses, and a large number of server locations indicate that a VPN might be right for you. When choosing a VPN, other factors such as ease of use, security, and the location of the VPN provider are also worth considering.
Important functions
- Split tunnel: While routing all user traffic through a VPN can sometimes be helpful, this isn’t always feasible for enterprises. Split tunneling allows you to route some traffic through the VPN while allowing other traffic to access the Internet directly. This flexibility allows enterprises to better adapt to various situations they may encounter in daily operations, while still maintaining a certain level of security through VPNs.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA): MFA is more or less a staple of modern cybersecurity measures, and not having it can cause problems with any cybersecurity insurance you may have. As of 2021, many cyber insurance providers have required customers to adopt MFA as a protection measure to maintain the same insurance rates.
- Dedicated IP: When using a VPN, you often share your IP address with other VPN users. This may result in issues such as the IP address appearing on a block list, additional verification processes when accessing the website, and slower email traffic. Fortunately, many VPNs offer the option to purchase a dedicated IP add-on, which gives you an IP address specific to you while still blocking your personal IP address. This feature also makes it easier to secure remote worker connections because you can restrict access to specific IP addresses, rather than having workers access from a different shared IP address with each new network connection. Company resources.
- Kill switch: One of the main use cases for a VPN is to protect your anonymity and your company’s profile when using the internet. If your VPN connection drops mid-session while you’re still using the Internet, this protection disappears. This is why a kill switch is so important. A kill switch prevents your device from sending any data when it’s not connected to the VPN, meaning you’re less likely to send any unprotected data to the outside world.
- Number of connected devices: Unless you’re a freelancer or solopreneur, your business probably employs multiple users and multiple devices, all of which require VPN access. Therefore, it is important to check the number of concurrent VPN connections allowed per subscription. The fewer subscriptions required to cover your entire network of employees, contractors and third parties, the more cost you save.
- Server location: The ideal business VPN should have multiple server locations in multiple countries and continents. Not only does this increase your ability to remain anonymous while browsing, it also helps resolve any performance or connection issues a VPN may cause by spreading users across multiple different servers.
Location and privacy
Privacy is at the core of a VPN, and it’s important to choose one with a strong commitment to privacy. Ideally, you should be able to choose a VPN provider with a strict “no logs” policy; however, it can be difficult to verify that a provider is operating under a no logs policy unless, in the case of a data breach, etc., you can see where they are from. What data is collected from customers. Another privacy positive is whether providers regularly publish transparency reports outlining requests for information they receive from governments and whether they comply with those requests.
Where a VPN is headquartered can also affect the privacy of your data. Generally speaking, it’s wise to avoid using VPNs from the so-called “Five Eyes” countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The countries are part of an intelligence-sharing alliance dating back to the Cold War that allows them to share with each other any data collected about their own citizens or those of other countries.
In 2018, these five countries issued a statement that essentially threatened technology companies to allow them access to encrypted data (such as data encrypted through VPNs) upon request. Other intelligence-sharing agreements have resulted in the term “Nine Eyes” countries being used to describe the Five Eyes alliance plus France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, while the “Fourteen Eyes” countries are used to describe the Nine Eyes alliance plus Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and Norway. Sweden.
In all cases, however, read the VPN provider’s terms of service and privacy policy carefully to better understand what the provider can do with your data.
Safety
Based on its commitment to privacy, a VPN’s ability to protect your connection and data is important. Generally speaking, when it comes to protecting your connection, you want to look for a VPN that uses military-grade encryption.
In this context, “military-grade encryption” usually refers to AES-256 encryption. “AES” stands for Advanced Encryption Standard, an encryption specification developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It has been approved for use by the US government since May 26, 2002, and is still in use today. AES comes in three key lengths: 128, 192, and 256 bits, with 256 bits being the most secure but requiring the most processing power.
All of the VPNs reviewed here have a version of AES-256 encryption as part of their standard security features.
Ease of use and compatibility
Ease of use is an extremely important decision factor when looking for a VPN that’s right for your business. Most businesses employ large numbers of people with varying levels of technical expertise and abilities. In order for a VPN to properly protect your network, all users must be able to set up and operate the service.
In our experience, ease of use isn’t a big deal, as most VPN setups only take a few minutes and a few clicks of a button to use, but some VPNs may require more configuration and more time spent setting up the VPN. Customer support sends emails, which can be more of a headache than some users want to manage. Be sure to check business and product reviews online to see how often these types of problems occur with any VPN you consider for your organization.
Most importantly, it needs to be compatible with every device on the network, from laptops to tablets to phones. For example, if many of your company’s employees use mobile phones to access company resources and pipelines, you’ll want to make sure your VPN has mobile app integration to better protect the network. Try to survey your company’s employees and find out what devices they typically use when accessing your network; this way you can ensure that any VPN you choose is compatible with these devices.
