VPNs Can Protect All Size
Companies From Breaches
November 05, 2017
Author: HIR Staff
An average data breach costs companies around $7 million per year, due to loss of customers, business disruption, the effect on brand reputation, fines, and so on. Small businesses are especially at risk, because many of them do not even have basic security tools in place, such as antivirus, firewalls, or encryption software.
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At the same time, large companies and even government organizations are also vulnerable. A couple of years ago, one NSA employee took classified material home to work on his computer. As a result, his use of the Russian-made Kaspersky Lab antivirus program enabled Russian hackers to see all the secret files. The theft helped Russian government to evade U.S. cyber espionage and to track American activities. More recently, Equifax – a major credit card reporting company – was attacked, and hackers went away with the personal information of more than 140 million people in the U.S. and other countries including Canada.
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“The biggest problem of such major hacks is that governments and innocent people will suffer the consequences for years to come,” says Marty P. Kamden, CMO of NordVPN. “When private companies fall victim to such hacks, they should act immediately, inform all affected customers, and do everything they can to ensure that people know how to protect themselves. That includes informing them they should change their passwords and possibly even their bank accounts.
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Wiser To Prevent Hacks
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“Of course, we understand that any breach spells disaster for that company’s reputation – so rather than deal with unfortunate consequences, it’s always wiser to prevent major hacks from happening.”
Companies like NordVPN offer a solution for companies to protect their privacy by applying military-grade encryption to all data that any company’s employee sends or receives over the internet. A VPN also protects the company and its employees from the risk of working from unsecured Wi-Fi spots, such as hotels, cafes, or airports.
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“Nowadays, alongside other security oriented means, it’s a must for every company to use a VPN,” says Kamden. “Due to recently revealed KRACK vulnerability, hackers can now obtain the traffic going through the majority of Wi-Fi connections if they are within the range of that connection. Companies should take their privacy into their own hands. They should teach their employees to use only ‘https’ sites; they should update their router’s firmware and consider using ethernet. Also – this goes without saying – companies should invest in a reliable VPN provider that will keep their internet traffic private.”
VPN is a proven method to transmit any information confidentially to employees or clients. It also allows to safely execute financial transactions and to stay private in countries with high internet censorship. Additionally, using a VPN will help companies bypass bandwidth throttling, surveillance, or tracking by ISPs.
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