In today’s episode of IT in Plain English, Tammy Ven Dange answers, “What is VPN or a Virtual Private Network?“
A VPN or a Virtual Private Network is a type of software that allows you to securely connect to the internet by creating a private, encrypted connection between your computer and the internet.
A lot of organisations deployed these solutions during the Covid lockdowns to allow staff working from home, to access their on-premise systems. However, with the increasing use of 3rd party cloud software, many users no longer need to use a VPN to access these systems.
Yet doing so while using public Wi-Fi in cafes and airports is a high cybersecurity risk. So, ensure you have the appropriate staff training and IT policies in place to enforce a VPN’s usage.
And while VPNs can still be hacked, it does require significant effort for an intruder to do so. Therefore, it’s still a strong cybersecurity risk mitigation for remote staff.
So, there you have it in plain English.
If you have an IT question you want answered, feel free to connect with me here on my website or on LinkedIn and send me a message. I just might answer it on this show.
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Tammy Ven Dange is a former charity CEO, Not for Profit Board Member and IT Executive. Today she helps NFPs with strategic IT and data decisions.
