A business will have to select from a great variety of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services. Some are free for a trial period or for basic features. This will often be adequate for the simple requirements of a small business. In any case, the Service Level Agreement or SLA of a particular VPN must be studied. ”Free” services may entail accepting advertisements.

Selecting a VPN

There will be a plethora of VPN service providers, and this may lead to confusion during the selection process for a company’s IT staff. Properly defining their company’s VPN needs will help simplify the decision and obtain the SLA with their required features for availability, up time, and service guarantees. Below are leading VPN services

• CyberGhost
• ExpressVPN
• F-Secure Freedome
• HideMyAss
• Hotspot Shield Elite
• IPVanish
• NetMotion Wireless
• NordVPN
• Private Internet Access
• Private Tunnel
• ProXPN
• PureVPN
• TorGuard
• ZenMate

It is important for a company to have a solid understanding of its own requirements before selecting a Virtual Private Network service. Each VPN must be evaluated carefully in terms of how the service’s features and SLA can be integrated.

Evolving Security

As the working arrangements become more diverse, employees will become more dispersed and their needs will vary more widely. What is certain is that they will require 24/7 data access, and the implementation of the cloud in business information storage has allowed more flexibility. However, this has also lead to a rethinking of the security of business data.

Businesses have traditionally thought of the firewall as its primary and first security perimeter for protection from cybercrime. It was invented several decades ago to safeguard confidential data. However, as the cloud has become increasingly predominant, data security is migrating toward this space. Google’s BeyondCorp white paper recommends replacing the privileged corporate network. Instead, access to a company’s resources will be totally authenticated, authorized, and encrypted based upon the credentials of a device and its user without regard to location.

Alpha Engineering Business Support

Choosing an expert computer technology-support provider is an important decision for your business. Alpha Engineering Associates has been a trusted partner of many companies in the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis areas since 1990 and offer:

• 24/7 Managed Services for Business Computing Systems
• Network and Mobile Computing Support
• Disaster Recovery Planning
• Software Development

For affordable client-focused network consulting services and solutions, please call Alpha Engineering Associates today at 410-295-9500.