Why a VPN is a Must For Your NPO

For organizations that are committing to working from home for 2021 and potentially making the switch to a more permanent commitment. It is important to ensure that your organization is implementing stronger security measures, especially if you are working with any sensitive data. 

Especially for nonprofit organizations in health, human services, and international affairs it not only could be detrimental to the integrity of your organization but if sensitive information for your organization's clients or constituents is compromised, you could also face fines and audits that could have a major impact on your mission. 

Do we have your attention?  

“As many of our partners are looking to the future of their organization on the other side of the pandemic, digital security is often overlooked.” 

- Gregory Perrine
Owner of eGuide Tech Allies

We believe one of the easiest ways to ensure your organization is protected, especially when navigating the intricate and blurred lines between “home” and “work”  is to invest in a low-cost and trusted VPN.

What is a VPN?

A VPN is also known as a Virtual Private Network.  VPN’s were designed with privacy in mind as their primary function is to anonymize the traffic and location by creating a private network from a public network.  

How does a VPN keep me protected?

There are several ways a VPN can protect you from hackers.  For starters, VPNs encrypt your data. Any internet traffic that you initiate is encrypted so that hackers, and even your internet service provider, are not able to spy on your online activities.  Just think of all the things you do online that contain personal information such as banking, medical, and social media that are currently visible when using a public network.  If hackers can see your unencrypted login information and passwords, they can use them and successfully pretend to be you.

Some VPNs can block unwanted ads, pop-ups, malicious websites, and trackers that are capable of downloading infections into your device.

Not that this is a common use; however, a VPN has the ability to block your true IP address which is used to determine your location.  This gives you a bit more confidence that you're getting the privacy you seek and misuse of your personal information is minimized.

How do I know which VPN to choose?

Just like any other technology out there, not all VPNs are created equally.  Be sure to do your research and make sure that the VPN you decide to use has the following:

• No log policies. This prevents the VPN provider from disclosing your browsing history to anyone.

• Disabled IPv6 traffic or at the very least, protection from IPv6 leakage. 

• Disabled WebRTC. Hackers have the ability to exploit WebRTC to find your IP address and LOCATION.

• DNS Leak protection.  When you access a web address/website, a request is sent to a DNS server from your computer in order to acquire the website’s IP address. Now, this does not sound like a horrible thing, but if one of your main reasons for using a VPN is for privacy, just know that the request would normally go to your internet service provider's DNS thus revealing your browsing history. 

• RAM-based servers. RAM is where our computers store working data and machine code.  For instance, any websites you have visited are stored in your RAM until your VPN connection is shut down and rebooted.  

• 256-bit encryption.  This is the highest level of encryption currently available with VPNs. The stronger the better

• Ability to have multiple simultaneous connections so that every device in your household is covered.

Cons attributed to using a VPN

Of course there are always different aspects to consider when making any kind of changes to your technology.  Depending on where you are willing to compromise for safety and security, these ‘negative’ characteristics of a VPN may be the deciding factor. 

• Slower speeds. Speeds to connect and perform regular tasks online will be slightly slower than without a VPN.  This is expected because your data has to travel to a VPN server where it gets encrypted and decrypted. 

• VPNs can sometimes be flagged by websites and due to being on a known VPN server IP list.  

Some websites like Netflix can temporarily shut down your account, however, you can get back to business as usual by simply verifying that you connect to a server that is within the same region or country that you reside in. (Also, your team probably shouldn’t be watching Netflix while working anyways!)

While I would love to say that a VPN is for every active internet user, it is safe to say that not everyone can see the value or benefits that one can provide.  In a perfect world, I would prefer to see that our collective privacy is a standard and not something we can buy, but the fact remains that people pay top dollar for information.  Until we can guarantee that our data is safe and unexploitable, I shall continue to look for things that can keep unwanted out of our business.

Some VPNS With our Seal of Approval

Cisco AnyConnect Apex SSL VPN

• 5-Year Subscription license for 25 to 99 users available on Tech Soup for $160

NordVPN 

• Offers 6 month free for nonprofit organizations and could be free for educational institutions

ExpressVPN

Scalable pricing model available with extended contracts for additional savings