How does a VPN work?
A VPN gives a protected, scrambled association between two focuses. Before setting up a VPN connection, a shared encryption key is established at both ends of the connection. This can be achieved by providing the user with a password or using a key sharing algorithm.
Once the key is shared, it can be used to encrypt all traffic flowing over the VPN link. For example, the client computer will encrypt the data and transmit it to another VPN endpoint. At this location, the data is decrypted and forwarded to its destination. When the target server sends the response, the entire process is completed in reverse.
Types of VPNs
A VPN is designed to provide a private, encrypted connection between two points, but does not specify what those points should be. This allows the VPN to be used in several different environments:
Site-to-Site VPN: Site-to-site VPN is designed to securely connect two geographically dispersed sites. Most security gateways today include VPN functionality. For example, a next-generation firewall (NGFW) deployed at the network perimeter can both protect the corporate network and act as a VPN gateway. All traffic from one site to another passes through this gateway, which encrypts traffic sent to the other site's gateway. This gateway decrypts the data and forwards it to the destination.
Remote Access VPN: Remote access VPN is designed to securely connect remote users to the corporate network for instance, when the Coronavirus pandemic broke out in 2020, numerous associations changed to far off workers and set up secure remote access VPNs from far off clients to associate with organization destinations for basic business tasks.
VPN as a Service: A VPN as a Service or Cloud VPN is a VPN hosted in a cloud-based infrastructure, where packets from the client enter the Internet from the cloud infrastructure instead of the client's local address. Consumer VPNs often use this model, allowing users to protect themselves when connecting to the Internet over unsecured public wireless networks and provide a level of anonymity when accessing the Internet.
Benefits of VPN
VPNs can provide many benefits to users and companies, such as:
Secure connection: A VPN's encrypted connection makes it impossible for third parties to eavesdrop on the connection without knowing the keys used to encrypt and protect transmitted data.
Simplified decentralized networking: Any computer accessed from the public Internet needs to have a public IP address - either directly or through Network Address Translation (NAT) . Site-to-site VPN simulates a direct connection between two networks, allowing them to use private IP addresses for internal traffic.
Access Control: Every organization has systems and resources designed to be accessible only to internal users. A VPN provides "internal" access to a remote user or website (because the VPN endpoint is inside the network firewall), allowing authorized remote users to access those resources without requiring public access to those resources.
Are VPNs safe?
VPNs use encryption technology to provide security and privacy. In this way, a VPN meets three criteria for information security:
Confidentiality: Ensure data privacy by encrypting all data flowing over public networks.
Message Integrity: Message Authentication Codes (MAC) ensure that any modifications or errors in transmitted data are detected. Simply put, this detects if a message has been compromised or interfered with in some way, either intentionally or accidentally.
Authentication: The initial authentication and key sharing process proves the identity of both ends of the VPN connection and prevents unauthorized use of the VPN.
By offering all the features of CIA Trio, VPN ensures users a secure and private connection.
VPN Limitations and Security Risks
While VPNs are designed to play an important role in modern businesses, they are not perfect solutions. VPNs have several limitations that impact their usability and enterprise network security, including:
Decentralized Visibility: VPNs are designed to provide each VPN user with a secure peer-to-peer connection on their own connection. This makes it difficult for an organization's security team to maintain the full network visibility needed for effective threat detection and response.
No integrated security: Organizations must deploy additional security solutions behind the VPN to identify and block malicious content and enforce additional access controls.
Inefficient routing: VPNs can be used in a "hub and wire" model to ensure that all traffic flows through an organization's centralized security stack for inspection. As remote working and cloud applications become more common, this detour may not be the best path between the client and the cloud application or the Internet. Learn more about the SD-WAN vs. VPN debate .
Unfortunate versatility: As a highlight point security arrangement, VPNs scale ineffectively. For instance, the quantity of site-to-site VPN associations in a completely associated network develops dramatically with the quantity of destinations. This makes a complicated organization foundation that is hard to convey, screen, and safeguard.
Endpoint Vulnerability: Legitimate access to VPN endpoints can sometimes be compromised through phishing and other cyberattacks. Because the endpoint has full access to the VPN resources, a threat actor that compromises the endpoint also has full access to the VPN resources.
Many organizations require secure remote access solutions, and these VPN limitations make looking for VPN alternatives a top priority. To learn how to deploy secure remote access on your network, please contact us . Don't hesitate to request a free trial of Check Point's remote worker security solutions to see how they can help improve the productivity and security of your organization's remote workforce.
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