Using VPN at work: best practices and experience from 25 expert

VPNs, for Virtual Private Network, can have many usages - some of the most common ones being using VPN to get cheaper flights by changing browsing country, getting VPN on a cell phone to secure your data, or using a free VPN service to access content restricted in your country.
Table of contents [+]


The different uses of VPN at work

VPNs, for Virtual Private Network, can have many usages - some of the most common ones being  using VPN to get cheaper flights   by changing browsing country, getting  VPN on a cell phone   to secure your data, or using a  free VPN service   to access content restricted in your country.

However, by  choosing your VPN   for work related purposes, there are plenty of other usages and benefits from using VPN at work, data exchange security being the main concern and benefit from VPN at work usage.

To uncover them, we asked these questions to 25 experts, and here are their feedbacks on the usage of a VPN at work.

VPN solutions are actually advertised all over the Web. Do you use a VPN at work? Is it mandatory, provided by your company? Do you use a private one? If yes, for which reasons? Has it been proven useful, would you recommend using one, or have you stopped using it for some reasons?

Chima Mmeje, Zenith Copywriting agency: getting native search results for clients

I use a VPN for my online copywriting business. I live in Nigeria but my clients are in the EU, the UK, Australia and the US. To provide local solutions tailored to a local audience, I have to do keyword research, native to their region.

With a VPN, I can change my location to Australia and get results native to the country. If my client lives in New York, I can find the top ranking competitors who’ll serve as benchmark when gauging results. I would highly recommend a VPN for freelancers and remote workers who serve a foreign audience.

Chima Mmeje, owner of Zenith Copywriting agency
Chima Mmeje, owner of Zenith Copywriting agency
Chima is an SEO copywriter who specializes in creating SEO-optimized web copy that drives traffic and increases conversions for online businesses.

Alexander Dadaev, ZiMAD: keeping data safe

  • Do you use a VPN at work? - Yes, it s quite a crucial tool in our arsenal. Is it mandatory, provided by your company? - It is mandatory, yes. It's a custom tool made in-house.
  • Do you use a private one? - Sure, it s private.
  • For which reasons? - Mostly for privacy. We work with lots of data under NDA like financial reports, user data, ads and much more. It's crucial that we keep all this data safe, we don't want any leaks. Also, we have a lot of remote employees and we need to keep all data safe no matter where you're working with it from.
  • Has it been proven useful, would you recommend using one, or have you stopped using it for some reasons? - It's extremely useful because when you face an attack (for example a hacked account) all your data is completely safe and neither corporate nor user data can be stolen. Keeping everything protected is one of our top priorities, and we're extremely cautious..
Alexander Dadaev, Lead PR, ZiMAD
Alexander Dadaev, Lead PR, ZiMAD
Alexander, PR manager from ZiMAD. We develop and publish mobile games - Magic Jigsaw Puzzles, DigOut! and many others.

Mikhail Vasilyev, Mio: adding another layer of security

Mio uses a private VPN service and we're all required to use it when logging into our development and production servers, statistics and monitoring dashboards, or any other internal, non-customer-facing services.

We use a VPN as another layer of security. As we have remote employees and in general open for remote work, it's always a good idea to have this additional layer of security in cases when our team members need to log in using Wi-Fi networks, or in similar cases.

Using a VPN may have its drawbacks: you need to set everything up (both client and server). Providing VPN credentials and helping set up a  VPN connection   from the client-side must be a part of the onboarding process for new employees, which adds more work for IT.

But overall, all the pros are bigger than the cons. We're satisfied with how our current setup works and could only recommend using a VPN in cases similar to ours: when you need an additional layer of security connecting to your servers, or/and when you have remote staff members.

Mikhail Vasilyev, Engineer, Mio
Mikhail Vasilyev, Engineer, Mio
Mikhail is an engineer at Mio. Mio powers seamless communication between Slack, Microsoft Teams, & Cisco Webex Teams.

Adam Hempenstall, Better Proposals: some team members for country specific research

We don’t need to use a VPN in our company because it’s simply not necessary. However, some of our team members do. In our marketing department, we have people from countries such as Ukraine, Serbia, Poland and others. Sometimes, there’s an issue when we need them to access a certain website. For example, they need to do some research for a blog post or reach out to the website owner or editor. In these cases, it’s necessary to use a VPN to get access. However, in about half of all cases, we don’t bother reaching out to websites that block certain countries - it means that they are intentionally losing out on lots of traffic, which makes them unsuitable for a partnership of any kind.

Adam Hempenstall, CEO and Founder, Better Proposals
Adam Hempenstall, CEO and Founder, Better Proposals
Adam Hempenstall is the CEO and Founder of Better Proposals, simple proposal software for creating beautiful, high-impact proposals in minutes. Having helped his customers at Better Proposals win $120,000,000+ in one year only, he’s launched the first Proposal Writing University where he shares business proposal best practices.

Marybeth Bentwood, Brand Elevation Communications: for security and US restricted information access

I use VPN. It’s critical for my business for a variety of reasons. I’m working out of Santiago, Chile but am primarily consulting with businesses on growing their US businesses in the US market. In addition to the security VPN offers me, allows me to access marketing information and subscriptions only available to US ISPNs.

Marybeth Bentwood, Brand Elevation Communications
Marybeth Bentwood, Brand Elevation Communications

Tarun Gurang, iFour Technolab Pvt Ltd: to prevent hacking

Do you use a VPN at work? Yes, we are using a VPN at work.

Is it mandatory, provided by your company? That depends on the company. But majorly large organizations are using VPN mostly.

Do you use a private one? No, I am not using my private one.

For which reasons? Majorly we are using it to prevent the hackers since we are an IT organization so it is mandatory for us to secure all of our files, documents, projects secrets etc. to keep safe in the organization and that’s why we are using it with safe firewall protection.

Has it been proven useful, would you recommend using one, or have you stopped using it for some reasons? Yes, it’s been useful and I would definitely recommend it for the organizations to use it. I have stopped using it at the moment since at present our targeted region is within our area so we don’t need to use  a VPN.   But yes, in the future I will use it and recommend to company management to buy it so that I can check different things from it.

Here are a few advantages of using VPN are:

  • Protect Privacy
  • Safe access of your files remotely
  • Access Geo-blocked websites
  • Bypass Internet Censorship
  • Protection against Hackers
  • Remote access
  • Reduce Cost
  • Enjoy the Internet with no restrictions
  • Hides your online identity
  • Prevent Bandwidth Throttling
Tarun Gurang, Digital Marketer, iFour Technolab Pvt Ltd
Tarun Gurang, Digital Marketer, iFour Technolab Pvt Ltd
I am a Digital Marketer having 8+ years of experience optimizing and working for various business websites.

Rameez Ghayas Usmani, VPNOMETER: protect data, get personalized search results, connect securely remotely

Being a Digital Marketer, VPN is mandatory in my daily tasks work. The company has provided me a VPN to use for various reasons used for marketing purposes.

Working in the field of digital marketing demands handling various sensitive information about your organization, customers, and competitors. Therefore, I am responsible for keeping all the sensitive data secure. So, A VPN can enhance your online security by protecting your data in transit, enabling you to browse privately and safely. In this way, I work with the complete peace of mind because my Internet Service Provider (ISP), my competitors or hackers will not be able to track my activity.

A VPN can help digital marketers to get a wide array of personalized google search engine results. Without a VPN it makes quite difficult for me to check whether the website that I am optimizing is ranking well on other regions or not. Hence, when I connect to a VPN I change my virtual identity to a different region which gives a clear picture of where my website is ranking in different regions.

I love traveling and being a frequent traveler I need to work remotely when I am out of the country. Therefore, by using a VPN, I can securely connect to my office network from anywhere around the globe and gain access to all important corporate information and resources.

Rameez Ghayas Usmani, Digital Marketing Executive, VPNOMETER
Rameez Ghayas Usmani, Digital Marketing Executive, VPNOMETER
Rameez Usmani is currently a *Digital Marketing Executive* for VPNOMETER. He loves to travel, read books and occasionally writes to spread his knowledge via blogs and discussions.

Nancy Kapoor, Grazitti Interactive: to work from home

We are using VPN to work from home.

It is not mandatory. We use to access it whenever we need to access any internal server or any platform.  Virtual Private Network   allows you to create a secure connection to a network over the Internet. It helps to access region-restricted websites.

We use a private VPN network, to access the internal data of the organization, working at home to protect our data from any type of attack.

It has been proven useful to secure your valuable data.

The public Wi-Fi connections are usually unencrypted, which means that your company’s data can be easily accessible through hackers or identity thieves. With the help of a VPN, your data gets encrypted, gauge your work safely and securely, no matter in context to the locations.

Reasons to Use a VPN:

  • 1.) We can use public Wi-Fi without risks. A VPN with a modern encryption protocol will help protect you and your precious data from these types of attacks.
  • 2.) Ensure Secure Messaging. A VPN provides a higher level of security with the built-in encryption and keeps these conversations where they belong – in private.
  • 3.) VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). By sending the calls through VPN, they are encrypted - More Secure!
  • 4.) Take Control of Your Privacy. It is a complete robust encryption protocol that helps to reclaim privacy.
Nancy Kapoor, Senior Digital Marketing Associate, Grazitti Interactive
Nancy Kapoor, Senior Digital Marketing Associate, Grazitti Interactive
Nancy Kapoor is a Blogger and Digital Marketing Expert at Grazitti Interactive, a digital marketing agency.

Luka Arezina, Data Prot: ensure privacy of online activities

At DataProt we all use  CyberGhost VPN   as our VPN solution of choice. All our employees use a VPN since we are a cybersecurity website after all, and it would be silly if we didn't!

Each user logs into their own private accounts when they startup their laptops, to ensure the privacy and accountability of their online activities.

Having a VPN is useful for any online business that values privacy and an added layer of  cybersecurity.   Having an anonymous IP can prevent potential hacks by not revealing where you're  IP address   originates. So if you land on the wrong website or get hacked via a browser exploit, the hacker will not be able to directly access your local network.

Additionally, it removes geographical blocks when you're browsing the internet, which can get really annoying. There are websites all over the world, many of which unfortunately are geographically blocked. Or in some cases, the content varies per geographical location such as with Netflix.

So you can tell your employees that as a reward for logging into their VPN's every day, they are allowed to watch European Netflix on their lunch break!

Luka Arezina, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Data Prot
Luka Arezina, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Data Prot
Armed with a degree in Philosophy and an obsession with technology, Luka has combined his prowess at making complicated topics accessible with his passion for data safety. The result is DataProt: a project that helps folks retain the basics of a fundamental human need – privacy.

Brandon Ackroyd, tigermobiles: working remote even on unsecure networks

For that reason, it is our company policy to use a VPN which we supply to all staff as they are often working in places with insecure (or less secure) wireless networks.

Our VPN of choice is ProtonVPN, as we also use their email services. Not affiliated, I just like the product having tested several others. And the sole reason we use a VPN is for an additional layer of encryption.

Has it proven useful? I would say yes and no. It's been successful from the standpoint that we haven't suffered any data breaches, and none of our employees has fallen victim to data loss via unencrypted Wi-Fi.

However, on the flip side, VPN's are not 100% reliable. Connections do drop; servers do get maxed out with other connections and speeds can vary so in some cases, productivity has fallen.

One thing we are looking into at the moment to counter that problem is supplying employees with 4G or 5G SIM cards that they can use to access the internet as in a lot of European countries, the speeds are more reliable than fixed-line internet, and the connection is encrypted both ways when communicating with a mast supplying the signal.

Brandon Ackroyd, Founder, tigermobiles
Brandon Ackroyd, Founder, tigermobiles
I work remotely for around six months of the year and have several remote staff working across the globe.

Kathleen Booth, Attila Security: ensure data protection at all times

When I joined Attila Security, I was issued a GoSilent Client, which is a combined VPN/firewall. Full disclosure, Attila is the manufacturer of this device, which is the world’s smallest portable VPN and firewall.

In our case, as you can imagine, every employee is issued a GoSilent VPN when they join the company and use of it is mandatory. Because GoSilent is portable, we are expected to use it everywhere – the office, our homes, on the road (hotels, coffee shops, airports, etc.) – because it ensures that our data will be protected regardless of how we’re connecting to the internet. As a cybersecurity company, it is critical that we “walk the walk.”

As far as usability is concerned,  VPNs   are only effective to the degree that the user consistently employs them. That’s why it is so important that it be simple and easy to use. For me, GoSilent’s small size and light weight are crucial. I simply wouldn’t use it if it wasn’t easy to stow in my purse and take with me wherever I’m traveling.

Kathleen Booth, VP of Marketing, Attila Security
Kathleen Booth, VP of Marketing, Attila Security
Kathleen Booth is the VP of Marketing for Attila Security, a leading provider of portable IP protection solutions.

Antti Alatalo, Cashcow Ltd: track search engine rankings performance

We are an  Affiliate Marketing   company. Our primary traffic source for our websites is traffic generated from search engines.

We track the performance of search engine rankings via third-party tools.

However, these tools are not 100% reliable. Sometimes, we have to do a manual check of the rankings. For this reason, we need a VPN.

The best way to manually check the rankings is to use incognito mode and use a VPN.

Also, we have a licensed online casino comparison site, that is targeting the state of New Jersey. The content on the site will be only visible for people visiting from that specific state. Our office is in Malta; hence we have to use Express VPN to check the content of the website. Express VPN is, to my knowledge, only VPN service provider, where you have the option to select a specific state.

For this reason, we provide all of our staff members a VPN for free of use.

Antti Alatalo, Co-Founder, Cashcow Ltd
Antti Alatalo, Co-Founder, Cashcow Ltd

Bobby Kittleberger, Guitar Chalk: the first and easiest layer of security

I use a VPN all the time when I'm at work, and often when I'm at home. The VPN I use is not mandatory, and we actually have our own DNS servers which makes the data even more secure. Personally, I recommend all our employees and users run a VPN, but usually I'm the only one that does on a regular basis.

For privacy concerns, it's basically the first layer of security - and one of the easiest - that you can apply.

Bobby Kittleberger, Editor of Guitar Chalk
Bobby Kittleberger, Editor of Guitar Chalk
I'm an IT systems administrator for a law firm in Virginia. I also run my own online business.

Gabe Turner, Security Baron : encrypt traffic on public networks

I don’t personally use a VPN at work because I work out of my office or home normally, not on a public Wi-Fi network.  VPNs   are really only necessary if you’re on a public Wi-Fi network, so in theory, I could use one if I was working at a coffee shop or library. My company doesn’t mandate  VPNs   primarily because we only work on private networks. If I’m on a public network in my personal life, like on the subway, I will use  a VPN.  

VPNs encrypt your web traffic and replace your IP address, keeping your online activity safe from hackers. I would recommend using  VPNs   but only on public Wi-Fi networks. By shielding your web traffic in an encrypted tunnel,  VPNs   make it much less likely that you’ll be hacked, decreasing your chances of identity theft, phishing, malware and more.

Gabe Turner, Director of Content, Security Baron
Gabe Turner, Director of Content, Security Baron
Gabe Turner is an attorney and journalist with a passion for home tech and secure, efficient living. Since graduating from NYU Law, he has maintained a paradoxical existence of trying to live life adventurously while remaining staunchly risk-averse. He is torn by the dual desires of wanting to only be in Brooklyn writing about housing policy and smart home tech and aspiring to visit his friends scattered across the globe. Gabe believes that stable, safe communities are the cornerstone to a vibrant and healthy society, and it is this passion that brought him to contribute to Security Baron.

Polly Kay, English Blinds: securing company data exchange

Our company VPN is supplied by the company, and is mandatory for certain applications and uses; such as accessing the company intranet, sharing, downloading or uploading files, and sending secure communications from personal devices or when using external networks other than the company's own provisioned options.

As part of the team that determined the value of a VPN for the company and who helped to establish its parameters and usage applications, I would have to say it has proven useful! Many of our team work partially remotely and all tend to have a lot of autonomy when it comes to  working from home   and/or using non-company issued devices to access the intranet, potentially sensitive information, and work-related communications.

However, to make a VPN worthwhile for any company, you first of all need to identify the need for it, and what you want it to achieve quite specifically before you go shopping around for the right provider or solution. The sheer range of options out there are numerous and can be confusing for even seasoned IT pros, and many companies pay vastly over the odds for a whole plethora of provisions they don't really need.

All companies seeking a new VPN have security and data integrity as a primary concern, but far fewer of them know how to assess and measure the offerings of different  VPNs   objectively, and how to get past the jargon and convoluted explanations to find the best fit.

If you don't have an in-house IT department or consultant and are considering adding a VPN, hiring an independent consultant that is not affiliated with any retailer is a sound move to get you started, and to saveyou money in the long term.

Polly Kay, Senior Marketing Manager at English Blinds
Polly Kay, Senior Marketing Manager at English Blinds
Polly Kay has over a decade of experience as a digital marketing consultant and senior marketing manager, serving a diverse range of clients ranging from SMEs to large international corporations and household names.

Ruhul Amin, Trusted Golfer: a wide range of personal and professional usages

I'm using a VPN at work. It's not mandatory but useful. A VPN is a  Virtual Private Network   that works by encrypting Internet traffic to and from your device.

When you connect to the Internet for the first time, from the guest Wi-Fi at work, for example, you will extract an  IP address   from the guest Wi-Fi router that your employer manages.

I'm still using VPN. In very simple terms, a VPN connects your computer to another computer somewhere on the Internet, and allows you to surf the Internet using that computer's Internet connection. Then, if that server is in a different country, it will appear that it comes from that country and can access things that it normally could not.

The reason why I'm still using VPN:

  • 1. Bypass geographic restrictions on websites or streaming audio and video.
  • 2. Get around web filtering by the company.
  • 3. Hide our browsing habits from our employer.
  • 4. Safely access our files remotely.
  • 5. Protect yourself from spying on untrusted Wi-Fi hotspots.
  • 6. Get at least some anonymity online by hiding your true location.
  • 7. Protect our privacy
  • 8. Take advantage of faster internet.

Many people these days are using a VPN to send torrents or bypass geographical restrictions to view content in a different country. They are still very useful to protect you while working in a cafeteria, but that is no longer the only use.

Ruhul Amin, Author, Webmaster, and SEO, Trusted Golfer
Ruhul Amin, Author, Webmaster, and SEO, Trusted Golfer
I am not a professional golfer, but I am a big fan of golf and this site is created for share to guide for becoming better golfers.

Jay, Mushroom Networks, Inc.: tunneling VPN to avoid VPN setup

VPN bonding is used to connect branch offices, or remote offices (such as a home office) to the corporate network over VPN that can use 2 or more Internet lines. By VPN bonding you aggregate the ISP speeds and therefore get faster and more reliable connectivity.

With some of our client setups, using an encrypted VPN tunnel is mandatory to reach their corporate network. Using a VPN bonding appliance as a branch or home office router automates the VPN tunneling and therefore eliminates the need for IT personnel having to manage the VPN setup. Without an automated VPN setup, remote connectivity can create a lot of IT headaches.

Jay, CEO, Mushroom Networks, Inc.
Jay, CEO, Mushroom Networks, Inc.
I am the CEO of Mushroom Networks, a networking company that builds advanced routers and appliances, that have the capability of VPN bonding.

Nick Allo, Semtech IT Solutions: control mobile users company data access

We have a standard that all our mobile users have a VPN connection. This is extremely important as we can then leverage the power of our firewalls to filter out the bad stuff out. It also ensures accountability with the employees that are accessing company data remotely.

Without it, we have no way of knowing what is going on or controlling the outcome. In today’s threat landscape it is a must.

Nick Allo, Director of IT Services, Semtech IT Solutions
Nick Allo, Director of IT Services, Semtech IT Solutions
Nick Allo is the Director of IT Services for Florida-based MSP Semtech IT Solutions. Semtech IT Solutions has been serving Orlando and technology professionals since 2011.

Jason Simons, ICS: users should never access RDP without VPN

A VPN is absolutely necessary to encrypt the transmission of files and data for when you are outside the office or for office to office transmission. The only time a VPN is not recommended for remote access is when all data is transmitted via web-based applications that are protected by the HTTPS protocol. This includes, but is not limited to, applications like Microsoft 365 and Citrix web portals, LogMeIn (and similar applications) and many web-based cloud applications.

Users should never access a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) server without first connecting to  a VPN.   Security policies should limit users from creating their own encrypted access. For instance, any user can set up LogMeIn to gain access to their computer remotely, but this is a security vulnerability due to turnover (Who knows to shut it down when they leave).

If it is not the corporate policy for remote access, it should be blocked.

Remote offices should always be connected via a private data circuit or a VPN/SD-WAN network.

Jason Simons, Owner, ICS
Jason Simons, Owner, ICS
Jason is the founder of Texas-based MSP, ICS. Jason grew up in the technology sector working summers and weekends doing everything from cabling to installing phone systems and data networks. In 1997, Jason graduated from Texas A&M University with a Business Degree in Management.

Don Baham, Kraft Technology Group, LLC: use personal instead of corporate VPN solution

Corporate VPN solutions are still widely used as way to provide secure remote access to data and applications for employees who are traveling or are not in the office for one reason or another. There are a couple flaws with  corporate VPN solutions   that organizations are starting to address.

The first issue is not having two-factor authentication (2FA) for VPN logins. Without 2FA enabled, if an employee’s VPN credentials are stolen, a bad actor could have unrestricted access to corporate data. The second issue is tied to the first. Some VPN solutions treat remote workers as if they are sitting inside the corporate campus on a device with corporate security controls. The reality is that VPN users should be treated in a zero trust model since they may not be on a company-owned device and are most likely operating from a network without corporate security controls.

This means all VPN connections should have extra security controls applied to make sure the remote worker’s network traffic is clean and authorized.

Private personal VPN solutions are designed to protect your personal web traffic from snooping while on public networks. For example, if you are surfing the web at a public WiFi location like a coffee shop, a personal VPN solution encrypts web browsing so, in theory, you can perform sensitive work like online banking. There are many personal VPN solutions on the market so it is wise to do research behind who owns the product, their privacy policy (how they share data), and the ease of use.

Don Baham, President, Kraft Technology Group, LLC
Don Baham, President, Kraft Technology Group, LLC

Thomas Blake, Digital Marketing Agency: VPN is essential to manage teams in various countries

Running a software development company, a VPN is an essential tool when you have teams operating in various countries and time zones. Media Shark operate out of Australia,, From a security prospective when accessing various accounts from overseas you will hit extra security layers i.e 2 factor authentication this is less likely to take place if you are accessing the account from the same country (well at least that is what the system believes) Moreover, lets say we have a development team out of India accessing a client account, client may well receive a notification stating your account is being accessed in New Delhi as an example, even with the client being well aware of offshore dev teams within the project this will often result in some fear as opposed to your account has been accessed from Brisbane Australia.

On a personal note, I too use a VPN I am originally from the UK and an expat in the Gold Coast there are various tv shows that I keep up with and access through BBC I player, itv player the VPN is the only way of watching these shows. (not illegal when you sign up overseas you pay for the service and what they provide is VPN access third party)

Overall a VPN is very useful tool, you will find people that have had bad experiences with  VPNs   are generally using “free trials” this is a waste of time and the VPN provider will not be up to standard its important you pay for your VPN and take a look at the reviews of the given VPN.. I would say there is certainly dark side to  VPNs   when being used by people for the wrong reasons but this could be the case on any tool or instrument designed to disguise identity or where abouts.

Thomas Blake, Director, Digital Marketing Agency, Gold Coast Australia.
Thomas Blake, Director, Digital Marketing Agency, Gold Coast Australia.

Alec Papierniak, founder: secure connections when Cloud is not used

Most clients I've worked with have a VPN of some sorts. The trend that I've seen develop over the last few years is that as more and more work is offloaded to the cloud, there is less and less of a need for a VPN.

As workload moves to the cloud, more and more work is done in the browser. With technologies like TLS and Perfect Forward Secrecy, the connection between the browser and the server is secured by strong encryption - oftentimes stronger encryption than what some  VPNs   provide.

While the trend is certainly moving to the cloud, most companies have already heavily invested in on-prem infrastructure. Servers, communication systems, etc, and in most cases a VPN is required to gain access to these resources. For remote access to the company infrastructure,  VPNs   in these scenarios most likely won't go away until the workload is migrated to be more cloud-native.

On a more personal note, I use a VPN to my home when I'm out traveling and using publicly available internet. Coffeeshops, hotels, and other open wifi networks are ripe targets for attackers. By using a VPN, you provide an extra layer of security and privacy for your internet usage while on the go.

Alec Papierniak, founder, Nordic Dev
Alec Papierniak, founder, Nordic Dev
My name is Alec Papierniak. I'm a founder of Nordic Dev, a Minneapolis-based software consultancy, and Spear Forward, a spear phishing simulation and training provider.

Adam Lumb, EN Site Manager: access geotargeted information

I currently work in Malta but the website I'm running targets other markets around the world. Therefore, I do use a VPN at work and it's extremely useful as a lot of information that I'm required to know is geotargeted.

It's the only viable way of accessing this information - I wouldn't want to have to email my contacts in multiple regions just to ask for a screenshot!

As it's so vital, my work provides it for me and other members of the team.

However, this is purely to help us with our role. Using a VPN at work is not mandatory for security or privacy purposes like many packages are sold for. In fact, when I'm not checking geotargeted webpages, I usually switch the VPN off. That's because it can interfere with other third-party software which uses two-factor authentication and thinks I'm signing in from a new location or device.

Privately, I don't have a VPN subscription. However, I think I will purchase one soon as I travel quite a lot throughout the year which leads to a lot of unsecured, public Wi-Fi connections.

Adam Lumb, EN Site Manager,
Adam Lumb, EN Site Manager,
An experienced digital marketer, currently running on-page and off-page SEO campaigns in highly competitive markets.

Stefan Chekanov, Brosix Instant Messenger: protect sensitive data on the move

I do use a VPN for work, although it’s not a mandatory policy for my company. I’ve decided to use a VPN for my own peace of mind given that I mainly work remotely, and not always from the same one or two locations. Given that I’m often connecting to public networks in hotels, cafes, etc. I prefer to use a VPN with a secure protocol and high level of encryption. This helps me to protect sensitive data, which is in both my personal, and my company’s interest. There are unfortunately increasingly high risks associated with public networks. If I were to be located entirely in a main office, I don’t know if I’d actively use  a VPN.   For the time being, however, this set up works well for me.

Stefan Chekanov, co-founder and CEO, Brosix Instant Messenger
Stefan Chekanov, co-founder and CEO, Brosix Instant Messenger
Stefan Chekanov is the co-founder and CEO of Brosix Instant Messenger, an IM service focused on providing businesses with secure private IM networks.

Alexander M. Kehoe, Caveni Digital Solution: get around home network location bias

We very frequently use  VPNs   as a result of our work. We don't require their use in our physical office. But, many of our remote workers are required to use them depending on their position.  VPNs   allow us to test the SEO, page speed, and general quality of a website without the bias of our home network making things faster and smoother. A remote worker on a VPN with middling internet is a far better test of a website or service than a top of the line PC on fiber optic network cables. Additionally,  VPNs   allow us to test in different regions and determine the quality of user experience for someone elsewhere in the world. For other businesses, the real benefit is that they are more secure; it's much harder to track someone who is using  a VPN.   We would recommend them mostly for remote workers, there isn't a huge amount of benefit in using them at your primary office location.

Alexander M. Kehoe, Co-Founder & Operations Director, Caveni Digital Solution
Alexander M. Kehoe, Co-Founder & Operations Director, Caveni Digital Solution
Main picture credit: Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Yoann Bierling
About the author - Yoann Bierling
Yoann Bierling is a Web Publishing & Digital Consulting professional, making a global impact through expertise and innovation in technologies. Passionate about empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in the digital age, he is driven to deliver exceptional results and drive growth through educational content creation.



Comments (0)

Leave a comment