Why do you need a VPN in business

The virtual private network was created to bypass blockages on websites. But in recent years, the number of cyberattacks targeting small and medium-sized businesses has increased. Today, entrepreneurs need cybersecurity tools, so VPN providers are introducing application security mechanisms. How is a VPN useful in business?

The statistics of VPN usage in business was published by EarthWeb, a business and technology website that specializes in social media promotion, computer games and cryptocurrency.

The VPN services market is expected to be worth $107.5 billion by 2027.
The demand for VPN applications is largely due to the fact that during the pandemic, many employers have allowed employees to work from home.
142 million American adults use VPNs for work. 96% of them rate the service as satisfactory or highly effective.
In 2020, the number of users who searched for VPN on Google increased significantly. Mostly, Americans and Chinese showed interest in VPNs.
In Italy, the number of VPN users increased by 175% in 2020. This figure reached 132.5%, in Spain - 62.5%, in Germany - 48.4%.
Interest in the VPN market grew by 300% in Slovakia over the year. Spain, Iceland, South Africa and Japan are not far behind this country.
Looking at the number of VPN users by region, researcher Jason Wise from EarthWeb concluded that 30% of people in the Asia-Pacific region regularly use VPNs. For comparison, in Europe this figure is 17%.
According to the Global VPN Usage Report, the highest percentage of VPN owners in relation to the number of Internet users is in Indonesia. Not surprisingly, because the state is constantly updating the list of prohibited sites. The second place in the rating of VPN popularity belongs to India (45%), the third - to Saudi Arabia (44%), the fourth - to Malaysia (43%). The top ten includes the UAE, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam with the percentage of VPN-technology supporters over 35%.
41% of respondents from the US and UK go online with VPN enabled once a week, 36% - daily. 24% of commercial organizations pay for VPN for employees. Of course, we are talking about paid VPNs for business, because firms are afraid of data leakage through free programs.
In 2020, the market of corporate VPN applications for business was estimated at $30 billion. The total cost of VPN for personal use is $550 million.

How did VPN become a cybersecurity tool?

According to Security.org, users buy VPNs to protect themselves from online threats.

49% use VPNs for shared security.
40% use it for privacy.
31% protect themselves from the risk of becoming a victim of hackers when connecting to Wi-Fi in public places.
29% enable VPN at the request of their employers.
27% avoid information leakage during work.
26% provide increased security when shopping online.
18% hide Internet activity from search engines.
17% remain invisible to communication providers.
14% access international or foreign media blocked in their home country.
11% hide cache and cookie files from prying eyes.
9% bypass restrictions in schools and universities.
9% neutralize the effects of censorship imposed by the state.
8% work in journalism and thanks to VPN keep the sources of information anonymous.
7% keep confidentiality of IP-telephony conversations.

According to BinomCraft LLC specialists, the top positions are occupied by business purposes. The percentage of users who use VPNs only as a means of bypassing blocking is much smaller.

In the conditions when companies work online, the use of VPN-services and distribution of traffic encryption options to all employees in remote access makes it possible to protect information. In addition, a VPN will be useful for a commercial organization with an IT policy "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD). In the BYOD concept, management allows employees to work on their own gadgets rather than on corporate laptops. This is convenient when users work remotely or go on business trips. But this approach has a drawback: if a personal laptop is hacked, confidential data will be affected. Therefore, a VPN for business will create the degree of security necessary to work with information.

Summing up, Binom Kraft experts note that VPNs help to conduct market research and segment the audience by choosing among VPN servers the region where potential customers who are currently interested in the company live.