Working on the go? Use a VPN!

[avatar user="Jamie Poindexter" size="thumbnail" align="left" link="attachment" /]by Jamie Poindexter | Oct 4, 2020 | Jamie's Tech Corner, Our blogIf you work on the go whether it be from a client’s office or from the nearest free Wi-Fi you might be opening yourself up to threats online. Using a Wi-Fi network that is untrusted or open for everyone to use allows other users to potentially scan and intercept what you are sending through the internet. Even a password protected Wi-Fi or HTTPS site can be intercepted. “Man in the middle attacks” allow an attacker to pretend to be the router and all data on the network is passed through them on the way to its destination. Password, payment info and emails can be read, and sensitive info stolen.

If your company provides you with a VPN this is the best way to protect yourself from these attacks. They create a encrypted tunnel between the device you are using and the router or firewall at the companies end. To the attacker they will not be able to see anything being transmitted and only see the stream of traffic that is unreadable.If you do not have a VPN there are other options outside of the work provided one. Services such as PIA (Private internet access) or Nord VPN are some examples of these VPN services. They work a lot like a work provided one except the encryption do not on the providers end and not on the work router or firewall. The service you choose should be a trusted company that has plenty of reviews or you could be opening the door for more trouble. These services usually are not free, if you come across a free one its likely too good to be true and could be slow or not provide the security you need.

A good provider allows you to choose multiple servers to connect too in different state and countries. PIA for example has over 12,000 servers all over the world to choose from so not matter where you are you can choose the one closest to you and get the fastest connection possible. One thing these VPN services will not do is allow access to the company or work server. If you were provided a VPN that is usually to access internal documents so you still will have to use that VPN for that purpose. But if you work through things like mail or local documents then the service is the way to go.