Businesses are relying on VPNs to help with privacy and security as many across Texas and the country continue working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
VPNs or Virtual Private Networks allows remote workers to securely send and receive data across shared or public networks as if the devices were connected directly to a private network.
Demand for the use of these networks, which use encrypted tunnels, increased 41 percent over the second half of March and remains 22 percent higher than pre-COVID-19 levels, according to a site that tracks VPN usage.
In Texas demand for VPNs rose 39 percent as businesses opted for the functionality, security, and management with these virtual private network connections.
VPN demand will only likely grow as a report released July 13, titled 2019-2024 Global and Regional Managed VPN Industry Production, Sales and Consumption Status and Prospects, says that “Every day, the amount of data created and processed is increasing, which leads to an increase in the demand for valuable IT resources that can look after the flow and management of this data.”
Much of this data is being accessed by workers remotely during COVID-19.
Remote Working Numbers Still Elevated
According to a report by Statista, published on July 3, remote work continues to be at an elevated level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Highlights from the report:
- Before COVID-19, 47 percent said they never worked remotely, and that number has decreased now to 34 percent.
- Before COVID-19, just 17 percent said they worked five-plus days a week remotely but that number has more than doubled to 44 percent.
- 53 percent are now working at least two days or more a week remotely and 59 percent are working at least one day or more per week remotely.
VPN Advantages Include Privacy and Security
With more people working from home, there are more bad actors looking to take advantage with cyber-attacks reaching nearly a million per day during the first week of March.
While the number of malicious attacks has fallen off since that peak, businesses can still protect their employees and their company’s privacy and security by using a VPN.
VPNs protect privacy by masking IP addresses, locations, and search history. This protects sensitive data from being tracked by websites, internet browsers and others.
The use of encrypted tunnels helps VPNs protect personal information being sent and received from access by hackers and other unauthorized individuals.
Employees can even connect to public WiFi networks with VPNs and have their IP address, actual location and data encrypted.
VPNs Allow Easy Access
VPNs can increase productivity as it allows those working remotely easy access on a variety of devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
Geo restrictions are also often erased when accessing a VPN which can help when employees must travel.
At PS Lightwave we offer customers and clients SD-WAN or software-defined networking in a wide area network.
This advanced technology features dynamic VPN, creating the ability to connect devices via encrypted tunnel.
PS Lightwave’s All-in-One Cloud NDX SD-WAN Orchestrator for enterprise solution can give your business the benefits of automation, flexibility, agility, and simplicity.
Contact PS Lightwave today to see how we can offer your company increased privacy and security, enhanced remote office performance and improved access to the cloud with SD-WAN.
