And should your business use a VPN?

The Truth About Some Popular VPN Apps

“Thanks so much to (insert VPN provider here) for sponsoring this video.” Sound familiar?

VPNs bill themselves as a safeguard against getting your identity stolen on the internet, but many popular VPN providers promise total security, then sell or even steal your data.

What’s a VPN?

Personal VPN products connect your device to another network, “bypassing” your ISP (internet service provider) and encrypting your traffic. With a VPN, potential attackers on the same network (say, on public WiFi at a hotel or coffee shop) can’t steal passwords, credit cards, or other data. There’s also off-label usage: some people use VPNs to hide illegal activities, or bypass content blocks in their country.

Here’s The Issue With Personal VPNs:

Many VPN apps either ask for or are implicitly given permission to log or sell your data, and that can go to anyone at their discretion. Businesses targeting ads toward you, online services, even, ironically, your ISP. If it’s free, they’re almost certainly staying in business by selling your data (hardly any worthwhile security product is free). Bad actors may also set up “free VPN” services just to steal data.

There are tradeoffs when searching for a personal VPN provider, so do thorough research if you choose to use one. If you would like more guidance, just reply to this email and we can send some resources to you.

Now, About Your Business Data…

If you’re using a personal VPN solution for work, or no VPN, it’s time to explore alternatives. Ideally, your work-from-home setup should connect employees to your company network and firewall, where corporate traffic is filtered and protected by your security stack.

This safer option removes third party VPNs altogether, and protects your employees, even on public or mobile networks (remember, you never know who has their home WiFi wide open for the rest of the neighborhood).

Interested in having Facet configure a VPN or cybersecurity plan for your business? Schedule a call with Trey by clicking here.

⭐ Special thanks to Facet team members Zach Jacobson, Karol Burton and Tyler Greenleaf for their technical advice on today’s newsletter topic!

🦃 Cyber Treats will be off next week for Thanksgiving so the dogs can beg for turkey and root for the Packers. We will return on December 5. As always, we are grateful for our clients and community. Thanks for being part of the Facet Family.