Today’s Businesses Shouldn’t Go Without a VPN

March 3, 2023

Let me ask you a question: how do you balance the prevalence of remote work with the fact that a lot of company resources should only be stored on-site? A VPN—or virtual private network—provides the answer for many businesses. Let’s examine what a VPN actually is, and how it helps to protect your business’ data as you access it from outside of your business’ secure network.

So, What is a VPN?

In simple terms, a VPN is a dedicated network connection specifically configured to send and receive data securely. This means that, since you don’t want your business’ data visible to the world, it is critical such a connection is used when your team is remotely accessing your local network. By putting a VPN in place, you can ensure that your entire organization has access to a secure connection that will connect them to whatever data they are authorized to access.

How Does a VPN Work?

The key to a VPN’s inherent security is the encryption that is applied to your data as it is in transit. By encrypting the data as it travels, all a snooping hacker will be able to see is a jumbled mess, protecting your information. The VPN even hides your location, giving our hypothetical hacker effectively nothing to work with.

Why Do You Need a VPN?

It all comes down to trust, and the lack of it that you should have for public Wi-Fi connections. While undeniably intended to be convenient, public hotspots like those you’d find in an airport or your favorite coffee place just aren’t nearly secure enough to entrust your data to. Using a VPN allows you to take advantage of this convenience without this otherwise deal-breaking security tradeoff influencing your business.

Your data is more than information, after all—it’s what keeps your business going. As such, losing it or having it compromised could mean you could potentially lose your business. Planning ahead can help prevent this, especially with the help of First Column IT and our team of IT pros. We’ll set you up with a VPN and the rest of the technology needed to enable secure and productive work wherever you may be.

Give us a call at (571) 470-5594 to learn more.

‍

12 Windows Keyboard Shortcuts That Will Actually Give You Time Back

I was sitting with a client the other day, and I watched him carefully move his mouse up to the top left of his screen, click "Edit," and scroll down to "Copy." Then he navigated over to a new document, clicked "Edit" again, and hit "Paste."

June 22, 2026

Why Your Current BYOD Policy May Be Putting Company Data at Risk

Buying new smartphones and tablets for an entire team represents a significant upfront expense. To reduce these equipment costs, many small business owners choose a simpler path. They implement a Bring Your Own Device policy that allows employees to check company emails, access client records, and use the corporate chat tool directly from their personal mobile phones.

June 19, 2026

The Hidden Costs of Tech Fatigue on Growing Businesses

Logic might tell us that new and better tools will help us grow, but beware… in practice, adding new applications into a business workflow can often have the opposite impact. Instead of reaching new levels of productivity, your team is waylaid by additional notifications, obstructive updates, and expanding, fragmented work processes. It is, in a word, exhausting.

Welcome to the First Column IT Tech Blog