Tobi’s take on secure communications: – Is VPN really just for tech geeks?

Tobi’s take on secure communications:
Student intern Tobi shares what he has learned so far at NCP.

Part 2: Is VPN really just for tech geeks?

Hello, everybody!

It’s time for another Tobi’s take on secure communications. Now that I hope you know what a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is, today I would like to go into more depth on the myths about VPN today and I’ll also be picking up on this again in my next posts.

You have probably heard or read several myths about VPN on the Internet or elsewhere. Now I am working for NCP, I can finally add something to the conversation.

The first myth I'm going to look at is: “VPN is just for tech geeks”

As I don't know much about technology or IT, I'm just the right person to judge this myth. Before we start, I do partly agree with this statement. Here’s why:

I certainly feel this way when colleagues (especially from the development team) talk about VPN. These conversations often involve encryption methods and which protocols should be used. For people who are not very familiar with this material, this can be very difficult to follow, especially the abbreviations and technical terms in English, if English is not their native language.

Furthermore, installing the software can be rather complex, if a large number of devices and systems are involved. There is a big difference here between a simple VPN for private use, which I explained last time, and a VPN in the business environment. Such as when a company would like to increase the number of remote users or has to, as in the current situation. When working remotely or from home, it is very important that employees can safely access the company network to edit a presentation, for example. VPN software prevents hackers from sneaking into the company network and stealing confidential data. At NCP, we have developed special management software for installing the VPN client on employees' laptops. This makes it easy for administrators to install and configure large numbers of clients on different end devices. If customers experience any problem during the installation, they can contact our support team.

Taking a closer look, VPNs have become much easier to use and are therefore not just for tech geeks. These days, it only takes a single click to connect to the VPN. So even business-minded people like me can secure their data in a simple way. In fact, the connection can be managed automatically in “headless mode”. This sets up the VPN automatically without the user being involved at all and is used, for example to connect ATMs securely to the bank’s network.

Let’s sum up: If VPN software is already installed on your device, then it is very easy to use a VPN device and protect your data traffic when working remotely or from home. So VPN isn’t just for tech geeks. In my last post, you saw that you can also do very practical things with VPN, such as streaming your favorite series from abroad.

In the next episode of Tobi's view, I'll be taking different VPN products on a test drive, and show you whether all VPNs offer the same protection.

I’m already looking forward to it.

Tobi