SECURING VIRTUAL PRIVACY

In most industries, the Internet has become an important business tool. Employees have access to endless possibilities for research, for improved communications internally and externally, and to work from home. Security in access and transferring information has, however, been the biggest concern of business in maximizing on the Internet’s full potential.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology can eliminate these security concerns. A VPN is not a device that you can buy from your local Internet service provider. It is a collection of data security software or hardware, Internet access at all of the locations participating in communicating, and a methodology of managing security precautions that the participants must use in order for the technology to do its job securely.

Not only do VPNs provide communications between branches of a company to the head office and to each other, as do more traditional forms of communication such as frame relay and dedicated circuits, but they offer the flexibility of communicating with new sets of corporate participants, such as: customers, suppliers, partnering companies, roving employees, travelling executives, sales staff and telecommuters working from home offices.

Since the introduction of VPNs three years ago, two major developments have occurred: Internet service providers have increased service and security technology and manufacturers have kept pace with product development. For instance, large Internet service providers such as UUNET have expanded their networks exponentially by acquiring smaller networks and by expanding their existing networks. These provider networks are typically based on high-speed ATM technology and have large capacities for carrying data. They also have points of entry or ports, in many major cities across North America and internationally.

The benefit to commercial clients is the ability flowing large volumes of data and the convenience of all branches of a company having access through a single Internet provider. With all of a company’s branches accessing the Internet via one large provider network, the information traffic activity is to all intent and purposes maintained “internally”. Put another way, the information never actually travels over the open Internet. This is a good thing, as service provider’s can offer their clients service level agreements guaranteeing quality of service such as network availability and maximum time to repair problems.

The second major development leading to the growing demand for VPNs is the proliferation of data security products. Data communication hardware and software manufacturers who saw the potential market size of the Internet switched gears from designing “connectivity products” such as higher capacity routers and faster Ethernet switches, to creating data security products. Many of these well-known manufacturers became the creators of security products, such as firewalls, routers with firewall capability, two-factor authentication token systems, authentication software, and VPN software.

Business Drivers for VPNs

The four main business reasons for making the Internet the transmission medium of choice for the corporate network are:

A reduction in current monthly communications costs;

Easy data communications links with trading partners;

Convenience of having Internet access widely available to employees in all corporate offices;

Convenient access to the main corporate network for roving employees, for telecommuters, and for branch offices with small numbers of employees.

The people pushing for VPN connectivity are typically in the sales, marketing, accounting, inventory, and production departments, who want to provide up-to-the-minute information to their customers and suppliers.

Clearly, a real benefit of VPNs is the convenience of companies being able to establish communications with business partners for the purpose of exchanging information and ultimately leading to establishing e-commerce with these organizations. The key here is that only the intended recipients of the information actually enjoy access to it, hence the need for security.

VPNs are becoming widely used in North America because they offer potential reductions in monthly costs of data communications facilities. Savings are derived by covering wide area networking monthly costs with the Internet access costs. However, security technology costs, mainly one-time acquisitions, some ongoing maintenance and support costs, are required to use the Internet access to create secure VPN networks.

So, a CFO may decide to authorize replacing the company’s current frame relay network with a VPN on the basis of monthly “wide area bandwidth cost reductions.” The real value realized by the company, however, is improved information flow with its business partners, and the Internet. The access is thrown in “for free”.

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