Alaap B. Shah and Chris D. Taylor, attorneys in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, co-authored an article in OneTrust DataGuidance, titled “USA: Security Considerations for VPNs.”
Following is an excerpt:
Cybersecurity threats have made this a top-of-mind concern for companies of all shapes and sizes, and even more so in today's decentralised work environment. From publicly-traded conglomerates, to venture-backed start-ups, to family-owned small businesses, the COVID-19 pandemic forced thousands of companies and millions of workers to shift to remote work paradigms. This decentralisation of the workplace forced company executives to implement solutions that would not only ensure short-term viability in the face of a global pandemic, but ultimately shape the future of the organisation. While the Chief People Officer was confronting difficult questions over the very nature of work, the Chief Information Officer was focused on how to protect organisational assets from cyber criminals seeking to exploit this new work-from-home environment and the accompanying increase of cyber attacks.
This article will explore briefly some of the tools cybersecurity professionals can employ to confront these challenges, with a specific focus on deploying VPNs. This article discusses what a VPN is, how it functions, potential vulnerabilities impacting VPNs, key considerations for securing VPNs, and responsible use of VPNs.