Doing Remote Work? Quick! Get A VPN!
Back in the seventies, remote work could either be a hazy or unpopular concept, with VPNs being totally non-existent.
In a period more remembered for (in no particular order) bell-bottoms, roller disco, and Motown music, the idea of working from home didn’t quite fit in. Still, it squeezed itself into that era and even introduced itself to a more sophisticated, if not complex, term: “telecommuting.”
Today, remote work is commonplace and the COVID-19 pandemic (as of this writing, still ongoing) has made it the next best work model to adapt to. By December 2020, per Statista, 74 percent of the global workforce were working remotely.
Aside from the usual antivirus software, remote workers will need a VPN for the ultimate online protection. Remote workers may consider a surfshark download, which comes with a free trial for one whole week plus a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Remote Work Is Easy To Understand, But What Is This VPN?
Avast presents a simple explanation of what a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is: “a service that helps you stay private online.”
You connect your computer to the internet, right? And that’s how you start working remotely. As you use public networks, you want to ensure that any communication or any data you transmit remains private and protected.
A VPN can and will do that for you, serving as, in the words of Avast, a “private tunnel” where all the information coming to and from your PC will pass through safely.
A VPN makes your “private tunnel” secured and encrypted to block hackers and any other people who want to spy on you and/or steal from you.
The online marketplace offers a variety of VPNs that you can easily download right from where your PC is.
ExpressVPN, IPVanish, NordVPN, Proton VPN, Surfshark, and Windscribe are just some of the VPN service providers remote workers can trust.
The companies that adapted to remote work lent their employees PCs along with other work-related gadgets and software.
If a VPN wasn’t included in your company’s “work-from-home package,” or if you don’t have one as a freelance remote worker, you'd better get one. Now, Pronto!
What Does A VPN Do For Remote Work?
A VPN will provide cybersecurity for the work you do online, which also goes to say that it helps secure your source of income.
In its 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report, Verizon stated that hacking was the cause of 45 percent of data breach incidents.
Hacking is also behind identity theft.
Surfshark confirms on its website that a VPN “can protect you from hackers in some cases.”
Per OpenVPN, a survey revealed that 54 percent of IT professionals believed that remote work involves a higher security risk.
A Final Reminder To Remote Workers
The weighty role of VPN in remote work couldn’t be truer than today.
In the first half of 2020 alone, Virginia-based Risk Based Security reported about data breach incidents that resulted in approximately 36 billion records getting exposed.
“Remote workers will continue to be a target for cybercriminals,” wrote Rob Sobers in a 2021 article. Sobers is the chief marketing officer of the data security and analytics company Varonis.
VPN is not the proverbial icing on the cake.
Rather, it’s a crucial addition to get a VPN when doing online work, particularly at home — all for the sake of your privacy, protection, and peace of mind.
