7 reasons your small-medium business needs a VPN

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If you own a business, then you know how important things like privacy and security are.

Especially these days, when online threats are more significant than ever. Furthermore, you need to think about the privacy and security of your business, but also your customers, and of course, yourself.Business owners are often recommended to use VPNs to take care of such issues, and if you have ever wondered why that is or how can a VPN help, we are about to give you seven reasons how VPN can help you out.This isn’t a complete list, but these are the main reasons:

1. Privacy

Privacy is something that is getting more important to internet users. And it should be. However, it is absolutely crucial for businesses.If you use a VPN, you can encrypt and shield your flows of data, which will allow you to keep your business secrets, protect sensitive information, and communicate securely.This stops your competition or online criminals being able to intercept this communication and use it against you. Privacy is vital for protecting intellectual property, as well.With so many businesses out there today, competition is enormous, and any advantage your competition may gain will be significant for your business’ success.

2. Client confidentiality

Client confidentiality is something that speaks for itself. Regardless of what kind of business you might be running; your clients will likely have to send and receive important and often sensitive documents, provide account details, and other sensitive data.Using communication methods such as email is simply not good enough. It offers zero protection. Your clients’ data could get even more exposed on the move, and it is absolutely crucial to think of their safety if you have to use public Wi-Fi hotspots, and alike. Leaving your clients exposed will harm not only them but also your business’ reputation, which is something that you cannot allow if you wish to succeed. Websites such as VPNCompare and others allow you to contrast the different VPN features, comparing many providers together to help you select the most suitable for your business.

3. Dedicated IP range

Next, you need to think about adding extra security to your entire company, which means that you need to use a dedicated IP for some purposes.If you use a VPN, you can simply connect to your office or services via the same IP range.That will ensure that you won’t have to go through that many verification processes or you or your staff would be able to work from home easily.It also enhances the overall security of your systems as not just anyone will be able to probe its weaknesses.

4. Security when travelling

We mentioned briefly the importance of being protected while on the go, and that is especially the case for those who tend to travel a lot due to the nature of their work.The world is full of public hotspots these days, but all of these access points, hotel Wi-Fi, airport Wi-Fi, cafes, bars, parks are not safe.You never know who else might be using the same connection, and who might be spying on you. Hackers are known to provide free hotspots so that they can  misuse the connection to access devices of those who connect to them. Not to mention corporate espionage that you could expect if you travel to countries like China or Russia, both of which are well-known for state-sponsored hackers.

5. Malware protection

Malware is another problem closely tied to hackers, and there are countless versions of new and old malware still roaming the internet. If your device gets infected, there is no telling what sort of problems you might experience. A loss of data or a locked laptop could be catastrophic for your business. You might get infected by ransomware that will lock your files and demand money. You could get infected with spyware that will steal information and send it back to the hacker who deployed it.You might even get malware that will crash your entire system.Luckily, some VPN services have built-in malware protection, which is very beneficial for protecting your business devices, such as tablets, laptops, or even smartphones.Although you shouldn’t rely on it entirely, it’s an added layer of protection.

6. VPN is cost-effective

Of course, there are plenty of other security methods that large corporations tend to use in order to keep their business secrets, secure their devices, and more.However, these all come as separate security features that can be extremely expensive.The biggest companies employ entire security teams to make sure that security is always at its best.If your business is small to medium, your budget probably won’t be anywhere near the necessary levels to afford all of that.Meanwhile, you still have to protect your clients, secrets, sensitive documents, and more to comply with regulations and operate a secure business.VPN apps add a layer of protection at an affordable price. With many offering multiple connections, you could secure your entire team for just a few pounds per months.

7. Select virtual location

As you may know, VPNs allow you to connect to different servers that are located all over the world. This works great for those who have to travel overseas.Connecting to a foreign server allows you access to all the services that are available to those physically located in that specific country. In other words, if you travel to a country like China, where censorship is one of the strongest in the world, you will quickly discover that VPN is essential in order to stay in touch with your other clients, the rest of your team, and to be able to access the necessary resources.

Final Thoughts 

VPN has become a crucial piece of technology for individuals, but also businesses.With it, you get to protect the privacy of your company, your clients, and yourself.Furthermore, you get to increase your security, protect yourself and your business from malware, hackers, spies, and other threats.Although there is no catch-all solution to business security, it’s another tool in your arsenal to stay protected.