Startups, whilst most of their employees being remote has its advantages, it poses a serious cybersecurity threat. Startups can monitor their networks when employees access them on-site, but remote work introduces home and public WiFi networks into the mix.
These networks do not have the same level of protection as startup networks do and can introduce malicious actors to sensitive data. A business VPN eliminates this threat by encrypting a connection.
No matter where a remote employee logs in from, a business VPN connection encrypts traffic at all times and deters malicious actors from trying to break into the system. In turn, this reduces the chances of a cyberattack.
Providing Supplier Security
Supplier and third-party connections are a weak point of every large startup’s cybersecurity posture. While internal security teams can secure a startup’s network, they’re powerless to hold suppliers and third-party vendors accountable. A large enough startup can prescribe security policies for vendors but cannot enforce them strictly. As a result, startups have no idea what quality of traffic their supplier connections are sending, increasing the possibility of an attacker infiltrating their network.
Business VPNs secure third-party traffic by funnelling them through encrypted channels. These connections make sure malicious attackers do not infiltrate or eavesdrop on network traffic, securing both parties’ networks. VPNs are also a part of a stable cybersecurity policy. Stable security policies give every stakeholder peace of mind since changes are minimal. For instance, a supplier can learn a VPN login process once and use it repeatedly.
Reduce Attack Surfaces
A modern startup’s traffic comes from a wide range of sources. Monitoring all of them is beyond challenging for a security team. While automation helps with this task, security teams must still filter through several potential threats.
The variety of a startup’s traffic sources makes this task especially challenging. Business VPNs funnel all traffic through a single secure pipeline, solving this problem. Security teams can pay better attention to a startup’s traffic and gain a deep understanding of its nature.
Funnelled traffic of this sort also makes applying security monitoring and other cybersecurity tools easy. Security teams can easily enforce policies and ensure a startup’s network remains safe. This method does have its downsides, of course. Funnelling network traffic through a VPN can create scalability issues. At some point, the startup will have to increase capacity, a task it can avoid if it avoids using a VPN.
However, that choice comes with security trade-offs that might not justify it. Given the greater security risks present, a startup is almost always better off using a business VPN to funnel its traffic.
Summary
Business VPNs might seem cumbersome at first to install but their benefits outweigh any problems they pose at first. From encrypting network traffic to ensuring a startup can create flexible hiring policies to attract top-tier talent, business VPNs are critical to modern cybersecurity.
Forward-thinking startups will use VPNs in the ways mentioned in this article to position themselves in the market.
