Hello Friends! I hope you are doing well, May God peace be upon you.
In the digital age, there are all conditions for running an online business. There are hundreds of thousands of online stores, online services, and social networks. Now you can work remotely from anywhere in the world where there is the Internet. But is it safe to work remotely and what are the difficulties? Let’s figure it out.
Security threats During remote work
When you work over the Internet, all received and sent data between the computer and the server are transmitted unchanged. This means that any intermediate node, of which there are at least a dozen along the traffic route, can access information. Today, this danger is relevant only a few percent of what it was just a few years ago.
When you work over the Internet, all received and sent data between the computer and the server are transmitted unchanged. This means that any intermediate node, of which there are at least a dozen along the traffic route, can access information. Today, this danger is relevant only a few percent of what it was just a few years ago.
Now, most of Internet resources work over the secure HTTPS protocol using SSL certificates. This means that the data is encrypted by the sender, and only the recipient can decrypt it. However, the HTTPS protocol has many versions due to security vulnerabilities.
Not all sites use the latest protocol improvements because not all browsers support them. Yes, the popular browsers Google Chrome, Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Yandex Browser, etc. are automatically updated. But a small percentage of users have older, non-upgradeable browsers like Internet Explorer. Or updates are disabled by the system administrator.
As a result, on this point, we have the threat of intercepting data from sites that still use the outdated HTTP protocol (such sites are displayed without a “green lock” in the browser address bar) or support old versions of HTTPS. Logins and passwords, bank card data, correspondence, and other confidential information are targeted.
The problem is exacerbated by accessing the Internet via public Wi-Fi. The administrator of the Wi-Fi router has direct access to all transmitted data. And if Wi-Fi is not password protected, then in this case encryption is not used, i.e. data is transmitted “as is” over the air.
Security Issues solution with a VPN
To solve the indicated problems with the security of confidential data in online business, virtual private networks (VPNs) are used all over the world. The essence of the technology is simple:
- A tunnel (connection) is created between your computer and the VPN server.
- All traffic is encrypted and sent to the VPN server.
- The VPN server transmits your requests to the Internet “on its behalf”.
- That is, it turns out that when you enter the site “google.com” into the address bar of your browser, this request is transmitted to the VPN server, and it already sends it to “google.com” and back to you. All traffic is securely encrypted and no one can access it. Therefore, all logins and passwords are also transmitted in encrypted form. It doesn’t matter if the site uses HTTPS, or how reliable the Wi-Fi network is.
- Another important advantage of VPNs is that your IP address changes. Because the VPN server directly interacts with online services, and not your computer, then they “see” the IP address of the server. The country of the “visitor” also changes.
- This “feature” is very convenient to use if there are restrictions for visitors from certain countries, or if you need to get to the site under any other IP address if yours is banned.
IP Address Dedicated for?
When you go online from different places, you get a new dynamic IP address every time. Even when working from home, when the router is restarted, the IP address will change (if you do not pay for a static IP). Using the best IP VPN capabilities, your address will be static, i.e. always constant. There is nothing criminal about a dynamic IP address, but what if the IP is always the same?
- Traffic will become even more secure because requests are processed only by your server
- You can set up protection on accounts with the ability to authorize only from your IP address, which is always constant, wherever you are
- If you use video surveillance, smart doorbells, and other IoT devices, then you can restrict access to them only from your IP address
- It is more convenient to log in to sites with an increased level of security (banks, trading platforms, etc.). Because usually, when entering from different IPs, you need to follow the link from the letter and re-authorize
- Security systems will remember you, and less often you will have to enter CAPTCHA
Advantages of Using dedicated IP and VPN
There are not many disadvantages, and the main one is the drop in Internet speed. I’ll make a reservation right away whether there will be a drop in speed or not, depending on the VPN service used. The speed limit depends on the tariff, first of all, and the distance of the server from you.
The closer the server is geographic, the lower the speed limit. If the server is more than 3000 km and speed is important, then it is better to choose something closer. When using a dedicated IP, the speed will be slightly higher due to the use of a private VPN server.
Please note that if your Internet connection from your ISP is slower than a VPN, then there will be no restriction. In some cases, the internet speed will even increase. This happens because intermediate nodes are excluded from the signal path, i.e. traffic quickly reaches the VPN server. For some resources, the route is shortened and loaded faster.
Another minor disadvantage is that the battery on smartphones and laptops is slightly discharged due to the use of encryption. In general, the percentage of discharge does not exceed the analog of several minutes of watching a video.
It is difficult to find disadvantages in using a dedicated IP. Hypothetically, it is easier for hackers to attack one permanent IP than a constantly changing one.
I hope you have Learned Something from here.
