How is a VPN app useful for business and personal needs?

by iNinja Marketing Team

Our online security is in our hands. Even the best antivirus won’t protect us if we keep our data exposed and neglect the basic rules of cyber hygiene such as:

  • Avoid suspicious websites
  • Look out for phishing emails
  • Always double-check website addresses and senders’ names
  • Share as little information as possible
  • Use trustworthy apps and keep them updated

In addition to that, you should use a VPN app. But when do you use it and how exactly will it help? In this article, we will answer these questions both for employers and employees, and users who want to reinforce their private online activities.

A VPN app for businesses

The pandemic made businesses around the globe switch to remote work. Some managed to build processes so that employees didn’t lose their efficiency despite being stuck at home, others had less success in this journey. But security remains the biggest concern. While it was somewhat easier to protect the network when everyone is working at the office, it’s harder to control things when the staff is scattered and every person is using their own device managing it the way they can.

A VPN app is necessary for companies even when everyone is gathered at the office. This tool adds another layer of protection to the corporate network. And, as a bonus, it provides users with access to geo-restricted data if they need it. Usually, an administrator applies a VPN connection to the whole network — they install a VPN router which by default spreads an encrypted wireless network. But this approach is impossible to execute when employees are working from home. That’s when a personal VPN app becomes useful, even if just a couple of workers are remote.

Encrypt individual connections

The iNinja VPN app is entirely free and easy to use. It will protect your employees’ connections when they’re working from home and especially from public places such as cafes. You never can be sure that the home network of your worker is secure since not everyone is tech-savvy enough to understand the risks and protect themselves from them. And public WiFis are almost never safe — rarely routers in public places run on updated and secure software.

Therefore, when employees are working remotely, you can’t be sure that your corporate information is protected. If a device of one of your workers gets compromised, the safety of all the sensitive data a company owns is jeopardized. And if you think that your company is small enough for hackers to not care about it, think again. Small businesses are most targeted by malefactors specifically because their owners think no one will aim at their tiny company. So since they lack protection, it’s a piece of cake for hackers to steal data from such a business. And data leaks cost rather a lot of money, effort, and time. Additionally, in most cases, they ruin the reputation of the company making customers stop trusting it.

That’s why it’s better to just implement a VPN app into work-related processes by supplying each employee with one so that they use it when working remotely.

Educate your staff

It’s not enough to just give people some app and tell them that it’s necessary to use it. You need to explain all the whys and hows so that your employees are aware of potential risks and protective measures. The easiest way is to provide them with a cybersecurity course — you can find plenty of those online. Or you could hire a cybersecurity specialist to hold a lecture on how to protect one’s device from hackers.

When a person knows about all the risks, they understand the necessity of any protective measures you might want to implement. Therefore, the chances that your staff will actually use a VPN app when working remotely rise significantly. Which is an important thing because you can’t really control employees when they’re performing work tasks from home or elsewhere.

Also, remember that you’re the one who should provide the staff with a VPN app — don’t hope that they will get one by themselves.

A VPN app for personal use

While businesses need to protect their corporate data, regular users need to keep their personal information safe. Usually, hackers aim for private addresses, bank card information, logins and passwords, and other bits of personal data that would let them scam you. Malefactors can even spy on your activity to then send you personalized phishing emails to get some profit off you.

Use a VPN app in public places

Wireless networks in public spaces are rarely safe. Moreover, that hotspot you wanted to connect to might be fake — hackers create WiFi networks and name them after popular places that are located nearby. So once you connect to a fake or compromised hotspot, your device is exposed to malefactors. They can either steal data right away or place some malware to get profit later. If you use a VPN app, your IP remains hidden and data encrypted. It means, that even if hackers are waiting for a victim, they will see that someone is connected to a compromised network but they will lack information to do something to you.

So every time you want to use a public WiFi network, turn on your VPN first. And generally, stick to mobile data, especially if you need to perform some vulnerable activity such as log into your bank account or pay for something online.

Additional benefits

Besides keeping you safe, the iNinja VPN app will give you access to geo-restricted data as the website you access will think that you’re located wherever the VPN server you’re connected to is placed. Also, a VPN app can help speed up your internet connection if your internet service provider is throttling you. And finally, you generally remain more anonymous when you use a VPN. But remember that it won’t make you fully anonymous because your browser still shares cookies and fingerprints with websites you access.