How to Choose the Best VPN For Small Businesses – The Ultimate Guide

In today's digital world, remote work is the new normal. Since COVID-19, it’s easy to say that most businesses now have employees working from home. This is a welcome scenario for employees and has many benefits, including lower costs and a better work-life balance.

Unfortunately, the convenience of working from home comes with a risk—connection and data security. Therefore, for small businesses, the safety of their data is important. The good news is that several tools and technologies can be integrated for advanced protection.

For small business owners, using the best VPN in their IT strategy is vital. A good VPN encrypts all traffic and transmits data through a remote server. Also, a reliable VPN is cheap, easy to manage, and adjustable to a growing business.

So, which VPN service do you need for your small business? Do you need a personal VPN or a business VPN? Continue reading to learn everything you need for your small business.

Business VPN – What is it?

Ideally, a VPN is a technology associated with online privacy and anonymity. When you are connected to a VPN, your business traffic runs via a remote server and conceals your IP address.

A VPN uses many security protocols to encrypt traffic. This makes it hard for third parties to intercept it and get the user's location and details.

Moreover, a VPN offers more than security and anonymity. It can unblock sites, bypass censorship, and boost your connection for gaming or streaming.

Therefore, a VPN is a must-have tool for any business looking to secure its data and employees. What is the difference between a business VPN and a personal VPN?

Business VPN vs. Personal VPN: What’s the Difference?

Ideally, the difference between the two is the number of users each supports. Also, they can differ in core goals. A business VPN is for business use. It secures a company's network and provides safe access to its resources. On the other hand, a personal VPN offers personal use by enhancing individual online security and privacy.

Also, a business VPN servers several users, covering many users with a single account. A personal VPN can be used by several users, serving individual or family needs. It can be available for many devices within a single account.

A business can manage VPN use for every employee. Personal VPNs give individuals complete control.

Regarding payment, business VPNs have centralized payments, which the company manages. For personal VPNs, an individual subscribes to the best plan of their choice.

Nevertheless, you must choose the best VPN for your purpose, as some personal VPNs can serve a business well. Don’t worry; we’ll tell you how to choose the best VPN for your business. First, look into the common risks that most small businesses face.

Common Small Business Security Risks

Gone are the days when only large companies and businesses were threatened by hackers. In fact, it’s easy to say that small businesses are now the favorite hunting ground for cyber-criminals.

Large businesses can quickly adopt new tech and security standards. It's harder to say the same for smaller firms. Therefore, most of them end up being exposed to a plethora of security risks, including the following:

Malware and Viruses

Malware is harmful software that is installed on a device. It compromises the system and steals personal information, like passwords. Therefore, an employee’s device can be compromised to steal the business’s data and other important information.

Password Hacking

Weak or poor password habits, such as reusing passwords, are bad news for any business and, interestingly, great news for attackers. Hackers can target small businesses to steal confidential data, often by hacking passwords to gain access.

Ransomware

Since most businesses started to work remotely, there has been an increase in cases of ransomware. Once an attacker gains access to the business’s sensitive information, they can hold it for ransom. When that happens, the business owners are requested to pay a given amount of money to get the access back or risk the information being shared with third parties.

Man-in-the-Middle Attacks

This is a common attack type on public Wi-Fi networks, with attackers between the network and the user. They can then access work servers or other services. Therefore, as a business, you must educate employees about public Wi-Fi networks when accessing business work.

If employees access work accounts via personal devices, this might open another avenue for threats like distributed denial-of-service or brute force attacks.

A breached device or compromised account opens a pathway for cybercriminals. They infiltrate the business's software and exploit its vital information.

Why You Need a VPN for Your Small Business

Several ways using a VPN can benefit your business. Here are some of the best benefits to enjoy:

Anonymity

A VPN increases the anonymity of business employees by creating a secure connection between external devices and the business servers. This prevents data leaks and potential third-party monitoring. A VPN boosts remote work security. It prevents employees from accidentally exposing confidential business information online.

A VPN's advanced encryption makes it nearly impossible for hackers to access business data. They can only see unreadable text.

Remote Access

Remote and hybrid workforces are on the rise. Many employees are using public Wi-Fi or home networks to access the Internet, which poses a risk to any business because most of those networks are not secure. Therefore, a reliable VPN service can help log employees securely onto the business network from anywhere.

Access Control

Access control is a no-brainer as far as network security is concerned. The good news is that a reliable VPN can authenticate and authorize a user to ensure that only authorized personnel can access the business’s data and resources.

Also, various devices have enhanced security, as most VPNs have solutions for almost all the major operating systems.

Prevents Traffic and Data Limitations

There’s no denying that a VPN can reduce internet speed, but it’s an acceptable downside for a user looking for enhanced security and privacy online. However, it should also be noted that the same VPN can help you improve your connection.

Ideally, ISPs limit the traffic and bandwidth of users, especially when they see data-heavy activities like large file transfers or multi-party video conferences. However, when using a VPN, your ISP won’t see what you’re doing online; hence, it can’t throttle the connection.

Cost Savings

VPNs are cheaper than many other cybersecurity measures, like firewalls. Besides, they’re very easy to install and use – one doesn't require specific training. Some reliable VPNs, like ExtremeVPN and Surfshark, have cheap plans. They meet many user needs. Both of these and others have free trial periods and money-back guarantees that you can use to test your VPN before you subscribe.

What to Consider in a Business VPN

Before you embark on the journey to choose the best VPN for your small business, looking into your business requirements is crucial. Perhaps you need to access things like:

Business size – You need to get a VPN service that can accommodate the size of your business – you should look at the number of employees in the business.

Data sensitivity—What’s the nature of the business information? If your business deals with a lot of sensitive data, you need to prioritize a VPN with immense encryption and enhanced security options.

Remote Access Requirements—Ensure that you’ve examined all the specific needs of the business remote workforce, including work locations and the type of devices they use.

Now, once you’ve examined what your business needs, you can continue to select the best reliable VPN. Here are the key factors to look for in a small business VPN:

Speed – Nobody wants their network to slow down and have their business proceedings take forever to complete. Therefore, you need a VPN with minimal impact when it comes to speed connections.

Security Protocols – Perhaps you should prioritize security and choose providers that offer advanced security protocols like IKEv2, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, and AES 256-bit encryption. That way, you can be guaranteed maximum security.

Server Locations – Ensure that you choose a VPN with several remote servers located strategically in regions that are relevant to the business operations. That way, you can be assured of faster speed connections, and your employees won’t have problems with lags or even traffic limitations.

User-Friendly Interface – The VPN should be easy to use to help users utilize it effectively. Ensure that you choose a VPN that has a user-friendly interface.

Value for Money – Choose a VPN that offers flexible as well as affordable subscription plans. Moreover, you can consider a VPN with a free trial or one that has a money-back guarantee to help you text the VPN with your business before buying a subscription plan.

Customer Support Options – You need a VPN service with helpful as well as efficient customer support. Perhaps, choose a service that features a 24/7 live chat and email address.

Why Free VPNs are not the best option

Should you use a free VPN for your business?

There’s no denying that free VPNs offer an opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a VPN without paying for them. However, free VPNs are linked to many issues. They may sell user data, keep logs, have small server networks, and limit bandwidth. They may also have unreliable connections and inject malware.

Therefore, for the security and safety of your business, you should avoid free VPNs as much as possible. Otherwise, you might expose your business to unwanted threats.

Final Word

In the current digital world, one of the key factors to the successful growth of any business is keeping data safe. Even worse, small businesses are now more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. They lack the resources and expertise to detect counterattacks. In fact, remote working has even further exposed small businesses to new challenges.

However, a VPN has proven to be the go-to tool for small businesses for security and privacy. Unfortunately, many VPNs exist, and choosing the best one is overwhelming. Our article supplies essential guidance for selecting the ideal VPN.