Tag: authentication

Why You [Don’t] Need a VPN in 2021?

In 2021, the VPN users are in their billions, with an average user growth of 8%. According to a recent study conducted in early 2021, 50% of the respondents claimed to be using a VPN regularly to access usually restricted entertainment content. These VPN users were predominantly younger, and 62% identified as male by gender. Geographically users in the Asia-Pacific region make up a majority of all those who access a VPN with 30%, compared with Europe and North America, who combined made up 32% of those accessing a VPN worldwide.

VPNs are getting pushed as a must-have multi-service product. Are they?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network, and it gets used for a variety of things. It can protect your online privacy by hiding your traffic and location. It masks your IP address making it easier to bypass censorship and geo-blocks. But its primary purpose is to provide your organization an encrypted tunnel to your enterprise network.

On the diagram, you can see how different users connect to a VPN (black is for the local user network, and red is for the connection to the VPN). After that, the VPN server redirects your connection to the website you want to use. The website will see your IP as the VPN’s IP (blue connections).

A remote-access VPN creates a connection between individual users and a remote network.

Remote access VPNs use two key components: Network Access Server (NAS), a dedicated server, or a software application on a shared server connected to the business’s internal network. And the second component is VPN client – software installed on a user’s computer or mobile device.

VPN protocol secures the data you input when registering on websites and creating accounts. It ensures that even if attackers manage to sniff data from you, they will need more resources to decrypt it. Some VPNs even block malicious ads, trackers, and websites that stealthily download malware on your device without you even realizing it. That’s how VPNs get advertised, and on the surface, all that sounds useful, right? The critical thing is, you don’t need a VPN to do everything listed above.

With all that they do, many people wonder if VPNs are even legal. VPNs are legal in most countries, with only a few exceptions. Places that either regulate or outright ban VPNs are China, Iraq, North Korea, Oman, Russia, and the UAE, to name a few. A downfall of using a VPN is that your connection speed will suffer slightly. Many will also admit that setting up a VPN, especially for some specific business needs, could be time-consuming and may challenge your tenacity.

A negative aspect of VPNs is that while you may be keeping your data encrypted and safe from hackers, that doesn’t apply to the VPN company. Whichever provider you’re using, it has access to all of your information – location, IP address, which sites you frequent, all manner of sensitive data. Do you think it wise to trust a company with such private information?

You can ensure your online security without turning to the services of a VPN. There are a few key steps to follow.

As already mentioned, make sure only to visit secure websites – starting with HTTPS:// instead of HTTP://. Next, two-factor authentication is your best friend when logging into a site. Add an extra layer of protection. Physical keys are an excellent option for that task. They vary in price, but there are affordable options. If you can’t manage to get one, use an SMS or email authentication. Use whatever you can to ensure a two-step verification when accessing sites. It can save you a ton of trouble. A username and password aren’t enough.

Another helpful step to ensure security is not to use shared devices. Sharing a laptop or a PC with a third party is a terrible idea as it can open the floodgates to malware, keyloggers, and who knows what else. And, lastly, update regularly. That may sound like a no-brainer, but people tend to postpone updates indefinitely. Don’t do that. Timely updates go a long way.

But, if you want to use VPN, please use providers, which offer VPN over Tor and anonymous registration. They must take payments in cryptocurrencies as well. This setup provides you some privacy and a way to avoid firewalls. However, this setup can be categorized as a grey or black hat technique in many countries and could bring you troubles.

Does Your VPN Protect From Cybercriminals, or Invite Them In?

The Coronavirus pandemic forced a variety of new adjustments on people. Most offices had to close down, and workers had to turn to their home offices to do work. Schools, universities, most places of education did the same and introduced home learning. Most entertainment outlets were no longer accessible either – the movies, theatres, concerts, everything got canceled or delayed. Home computers and laptops became an essential piece of technology at home. We use them for work, study, and fun. But can you trust them to be secure enough not to lead to trouble? You might be thinking, ”Well, I have a VPN, I’m safe.” But are you?
What is a VPN, and what does it do? VPN stands for virtual private network, and its general role boils down to two words – connectivity and security. A VPN extends a private network across a public network and allows users to exchange data across shared or public networks as though their devices connect directly to the private network. VPNs shield your original IP address and protect your data. If you join a VPN to your router, it covers all your devices connected to said router. Like, phone, PC, laptop, gaming console, smart TV, and other IoT devices.

On the diagram, you can see a standard VPN network configuration. The blue lines represent encrypted tunnels from different networks to your company infrastructure. After packet inspection with the red line, your Firewall sends the traffic to your VPN server. Finally, the VPN server decrypts the traffic and sends it to your local corporate network.


In Corona-times, VPNs are a godsend for employees who aim to reach and use corporate resources. They connect to the company VPN and go about their daily business. The question is, do they use a company device to do their work, as a company PC or laptop, or do they use a home one? That makes all the difference. If you connect the company VPN on your home network, you expose your company to malware. Think about it. What if you, or a family member, carelessly clicked on something they shouldn’t have, and now malware lurks on the PC that you’re connecting to your corporate network?
Another issue with that scenario is what type of VPN the home-office employee turns to exactly? Is it a consumer VPN server based in a different country? That’s risky.
Employees find themselves in a completely new situation, unique to both them and their employer. What had previously gotten used only on rare occasions or emergencies is now used on a regular day-to-day basis, given that 100% of the workload gets done from home. That makes workers vulnerable to targeted attacks. There are already examples of that. According to Sultan Meghji, CEO of Neocova (a cloud-based suite of banking solutions company), several bank CFOs became victims of criminals and state-based attackers.
Cybercriminals are on the lookout for easy targets. They search for open WiFi and encryption that they can break easily. Don’t be that easy target! An excellent way to up your home cybersecurity is to update your router. Ask yourself whether the router you use daily is older than your phone. If yes, replace it ASAP.
Another way to keep the office and home systems safe is education. Employers should educate their employees on cybersecurity and the best practices to implement for the most protection.

Is Identity-Based Passwordless Authentication the Way to Go?

User identity and security have continuously been reinforced in the organization by the use of strong passwords. User accounts tend to be restricted based on specific passwords typed. However, that has changed due to the technology rise that has wiped away the traditional password methods. Although some organizations still prefer passwords, authentication is slowly evolving to be passwordless due to convenience and efficiency purposes. Identity-based passwordless authentication is the focus of organizations and IT migration.

Passwordless authentication helps curb the insecurity that is common with organizations. The trends in cybercrime require that organizations implement robust measures of security in helping minimize the consequences.

Most technology-driven organizations have already implemented identity-based passwordless authentication. One popular method is biometric authentication as the main component of identity-based passwordless authentication. It integrates the biological features to develop some of the most effective solutions for signing into information systems and corporate portals. Significantly, a better approach to the management of user profile security and accessibility is by leveraging the biometric features and integration with IT to help promote a seamless process of identification. However, it is essential to ensure that the biometric data stays on your device and is adequately encrypted. In another case, once stolen, anyone can reuse it. Other methods use directly public and private key cryptography to achieve the same results.

You can see a sample passwordless authentication based architecture on the diagram. Users use a gesture to unlock a hardware device and different apps use the private key stored in this hardware device to sign a random token. Later this signature is verified on the server.

The uniqueness and strength of restricted access are robust in passwordless protection. Its features help in the promotion of quality and proper protection techniques, which are vital. Considering diverse approaches and key organizational security management measures, organizations have opted for identity-based passwordless authentication.

Cybersecurity is a significant concern, with hackers targeting high-profile organizations and creating weak points while accessing sensitive information. According to recent research, technological migration has been towards passwordless identification. The users do not have to use password authentication to access the organizational profiles. Necessarily, integration and passwordless leverage are vital in implementing the proper security protocols to achieve the desired security goals.

The feasibility of identity-based passwordless authentication is another competitive advantage. Passwords are tedious. Every time you enter them, you waste time as a significant impediment to a flawless work process. Most employers prefer passwordless authentication because they implement strategic and focused measures to improve access levels and ensure necessary and fundamental elements.

Passwords are the primary targets for hackers since they only have to master the keywords and process execution, which results in cracking of the security architecture. Biometric technology is the best way to focus and help advance its security needs, mainly by implementing efficient identification processes.

According to attackers’ behavior analytics, a strategy to reduce the attacks is by sensitizing people to implement passwordless authentication. Natural features are unique, and the level of security provided by investing in such technology is excellent. Howerer, the future will show whether it will help to improve safety and to meet various businesses’ needs regarding cybersecurity solutions.