The Continuing Need for VPN: A Rebuttal
John C. Welch, of Ars Technica, argues that virtual private networks, or VPNs, are no longer necessary because everyone is on the go, and is accessing company information from just about every place possible.
Since there’s been a decentralization of work and information access, there’s no need for the centralization of these private networks; however, I argue that because of this decentralization, centralization through VPNs is needed more than ever because decentralization lacks the security necessary to have decentralization as the default option for “telecommuters.”
First, Welch gets the definition of ‘telecommuting’ completely wrong. Telecommuting isn’t just working from somewhere other than the office or the employer, it’s doing that a significant majority of the time. A travelling salesperson who’s constantly making trips to meet potential clients isn’t a telecommuter, and neither is the employee who utilizes his or her tablet from time to time to check work email or to edit documents.
Someone who works from a home office four days a week for AT&T? Now, that person is telecommuting. As people begin to telecommute, and begin to access company information from anywhere and everywhere, centralization through a VPN is the best option for protecting company information and the personal information of employees. Telecommuting only makes centralized oversight and security from the company or IT staff even more necessary.
Second, the alternative to VPNs are all the other WiFi networks out there, and Welch is operating under the false assumption that all those other WiFi networks are the most secure things in the world. In fact, WiFi fraud has risen in recent years, with 12.4 million cases in 2010, a 12 percent increase from 2009.
WiFi fraud occurs when a hacker or cybercriminal sets a “Free WiFi” hotspot as a lure to unsuspecting people. The unsuspecting person connects to the Internet, except that it’s a dummy network set up through someone else’s connection: the hacker. Then, the hacker is able to see everything the person does, and is able to retrieve valuable information like usernames, passwords, and credit card information. It’s one of the newest scams out there and one that can be prevented if employees have the option of logging into a VPN instead.
Even if it is a legitimate hot spot, such as one at a major coffee or hotel chain, that doesn’t necessarily mean that their WiFi connection is secure. A 2008 study of airport WiFi networks found that 80 percent of them were open or poorly protected. Research commissioned by security software firm, RSA Security, found that 25 percent of corporate WiFi networks in New York weren’t secure. And that’s just in one city.
Continued on the next page
Follow Technorati