Small businesses can be difficult to run especially when they are just starting out, and it is important for businesses owners to ensure that surprises that could jeopardize the growth of the business do not spring up. One of such surprises could be a cyberattack or snooping incidence.
In this article, we highlight reasons why a VPN is a necessity for small businesses to prevent surprises that can be detrimental to the growth of the business. First, we start by explaining what a VPN is to provide enough background details from which we will expatiate on its benefits to small businesses.
What is a VPN?
To access resources Internet-enabled resources and communicate over the Internet, users connect to their destination whether a website or an email from a server which is provided by their Internet Service Provider. So, the user connects publicly to the Internet. With a VPN, this connection is made completely private and secured and cannot be intercepted by unauthorized parties.
So, a VPN provides a private means of accessing the Internet. Small businesses tend to own routers through employees connect to the Internet. With a VPN configured on the router, it is made secured ensuring the privacy of communication.
Enhanced security
From competitors to hackers, it is important to keep the communications made by the staff of a small business away from unauthorized parties. One may think that hackers do not focus on small businesses, but this may not be the case, and it is important to avoid learning the hard way.
Communications and information entered over a VPN-secured Internet connection are always encrypted and cannot be accessed by the wrong parties. The security provided by VPN covers both communications and customer data which may be more interesting to cybercriminals. Because of the flexibility of small businesses, especially when they are just starting out, data are transferred between multiple points and a lot of the time, these points are in different locations. To ensure the security of the data transferred, a VPN is important.
Small businesses that provide free Wi-Fi to their customers particularly need the extra layer of protection offered by a VPN. When a VPN is not configured to the router, the business is more prone to security threats because of the free Wi-Fi they provide. Cybercriminals are very much aware of these vulnerabilities and seek means of exploiting them as much as possible.
While a VPN is generally meant to ensure the security of communications, some VPNs are more effective at ensuring this security than others with features such as a kill-switch and a no log policy to boost.
Anonymity
Even small businesses carry out online activities they do not want to be traced back to them every now and then. A way to ensure the full anonymity of online activities is to use a VPN. When traffic data passes through a VPN, it can no longer be traced to the original source because if the encryption that protects it.
Also, with a VPN, the search results a small business will receive will not be location-based as is seen with some of the popular search engines. This is because the VPN will mask the location of the business and ensure wider search results.
Efficiency of operations
For small businesses to ensure the efficiency of their operations, a VPN is an important tool to utilize. A lot of small businesses have remote positions, and these members of staff need to maintain a stable connection with the server of the organization. With a VPN, such members of staff can maintain the needed connection irrespective of their location.
With a VPN, members of staff can also safely connect to a public Wi-Fi if it is the last option when they urgently need to send files over the Internet. A VPN also protects a business from throttling by ISPs ensuring that the business enjoys a high speed of connection even when they consume a lot of bandwidth.
Reduced cost of operations
As much as a VPN may seem like extra cost, it ensures lower costs of operations as it is the cheapest form of online security a small business can implement. With a router that has a VPN, the costs of running multiple servers are cut.
Also with the location-altering feature of a VPN, a small business can search for the best deals for services that range from car rental services to hotel bookings and flight tickets.
Small business owners mostly focus on efficiency of operations and customer satisfaction. When the online activities of the business are encrypted with a VPN, it is better equipped to achieve those goals. Before choosing the best VPN, it is imperative to compare features offered with trusted VPN reviews as a guide.
