Many workers telecommute at least part of the time. The COVID-19 crisis has made working at home a necessity rather than an option for a large percentage of the global workforce. As of 2020, 35% of the workforce responded that they occasionally work at home, whereas 16% were full-time remote workers. Working at home requires the right tools, including a VPN.
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What Is a VPN?
A VPN is a virtual private network. It acts as a liaison between your device and a website and executes user commands but as a proxy and uses an alternate IP address. This means that the user’s IP address is hidden from the website. There is a selection of VPNs, whether you are looking for the best VPN for PC or a VPN extension.
It also means that activity can’t be traced to the original user even if it is retrieved and spied on because the VPN took the actions on the user’s behalf. The result is more security when browsing or sharing sensitive information on the web and, in some cases, faster internet speeds.
Why You Need a VPN When You Work from Home
In addition to conferencing software, a VPN is an essential part of the work at home toolkit. Employers can rest easy knowing that workers use VPN encoding when they share documents with sensitive personal information from remote locations. A VPN also allows workers to access data from multiple locations and provides other benefits.
It Is More Secure
A VPN provides security in several ways. It presents an alternate IP address to the one that belongs to the actual users. This means that even if data is sniffed out or snatched, it is not traced to the actual user’s IP. Also, the data will appear in a scrambled form that will be unusable to the hacker. A VPN sends data through a tunnel that is invisible to third parties.
This means that all of the information is sent and received, including email messages, texts, and attached documents, are encoded and protected by the VPN. This is good news for the employee and the business and the customer and client who relies on a business to keep their data secure and switch to a competitor if the information is compromised.
It Allows You To Connect to Multiple Locations
Not only does a VPN provide a selection of locations to connect to, but it can allow a connection to multiple locations at once. This is ideal for workers who deal with global clients and customers and are not located in the same area as their employers.
Accessing additional locations can be as simple as connecting to a new area without disconnecting from the first one.
It is essential to find ways to open two connections at once without creating clashing IP routes. There are several ways to work with simultaneous connections without making an automatic default to one rather than the other.
It Keeps Your Data Private
There may be times when it is necessary to do work on the go, whether it is in a cafe or waiting for a train or a flight. This may require connecting to public Wi-Fi, which can threaten data security. A hacker can easily see data that is transferred on a public network and is one reason people avoid public networks.
However, not using public networks at all can be an obstacle to efficiency. The best solution is to use a VPN with your mobile device to keep your data private even when communicating or sending documents through a public network. Although the safest place to send sensitive emails is at home or the office, a VPN provides an added protection layer in public.
It Speeds Up Your Internet by Limiting ISP Throttling
If you incorporate a YouTube video for a presentation and it stalls in the middle of a virtual meeting, you may be concerned about creating a less than stellar impression. One way to reduce the probability of stalling and other disruptions with a reliable web package from your internet service provider. However, even with an otherwise good service, there may be issues.
One problem is that many internet service providers or ISP engage in bandwidth throttling. This is the practice employed by ISPs that intentionally slows down the speed of videos from popular streaming sites. ISPs argue that they use bandwidth throttling to limit excess traffic, but the main cause of this strategy is that they want to restrict services that compete with their content libraries.
With a VPN in place to disguise the user IP address, you can avoid bandwidth throttling and stream any video needed for work or leisure without interference.
It Blocks Your ISP from Logging Your Data
Perhaps more unsettling than bandwidth throttling is the notion that the ISP may be logging data while you are working. ISPs make a lot of money from tracking user data, such as popular websites, messages, emails, and searches, and selling it to third parties. Since a VPN disguises your online identity, the ISP cannot trace the data to you or decode the scrambled versions.
Work at Home Safely and Efficiently with a VPN
Working at home may be a pleasure or a necessity, but it can be safe and efficient with a VPN. VPNs’ advantages to remote workers are many and include heightened security, privacy, a wide selection of locations, and protection from bandwidth throttling and ISP’s logging data. A VPN expands access to geo-restricted content and provides the security that is essential to protect your company’s and client’s personal information.
