In a mobile network where the wireless connections are less consistent, less secure and the speed is slower than a wired network, the conventional Virtual Private Network (VPN) performance is not consistently up to the mark. It often leads to low productivity, data loss, and transaction failure.
VPNs are changing in order to cater to these new mobile needs, including adjusting to the connectivity needs of geographically spanned mobile users in a wireless environment, validating the identity of the sender and encrypting the data to be sent in transit web.
Currently, these four mobile VPN technologies are trending, as they meet consumer’s needs and continue to provide safety and reliability:
IPSec VPNs
Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a protocol suite for secure Internet Protocol (IP) communications that works by authenticating and encrypting each IP packet of a communication session. These VPNs allow the user to connect through any internet connection, but authenticates strongly for triggering a bond of trust between the parties and securing the applications from a few security breaches such as replay attacks. It also implements a means to set up a point-to-point security and ensures privacy and data integrity via several encryption algorithms.
IPSec is a good option if you are the owner of a network and do not mind installing the VPN software on the devices of your users. IPSec requires unchanged IP addresses at the endpoints, and if they change, re-authentication is required.
SSL VPNs
An SSL VPN (Secure Sockets Layer virtual private network) is a form of VPN that can be used with a standard Web browser. In contrast to the traditional IPsec VPN, an SSL VPN does not require the installation of specialized client software on the end user’s computer. It’s used to give remote users with access to Web applications, client/server applications and internal network connections.
Securing online traffic, SSL VPNs are ideal for interacting with the resources from a personal device such as a PC in a café or at a kiosk. They also offer more benefits than the IPSec VPNs, including easier deployment and more secure access rules. However, they need client software and ensure that the proper security software is running on the device. However, an SSL VPN does not deal well with roaming between networks and sporadic connectivity.
MOBIKE or IKEv2 VPNs
IKEv2 is a diversified version of the IPSec’s IKE protocol, which is faster than other VPN protocols. It is designed to support a mobile device that tends to change its IP address often and prevents re-authentication. IKEv2 does not, however, shelter applications when the device is in the hibernate mode or out of reach, as it is only a key exchange protocol.
Purpose-built SSL VPNs
Most of the SSL VPNs that are generic fall short in performance in the areas of scalability, positive end-user experience and bringing all users onto a single VPN platform. These issues are best addressed by a specifically built SSL VPN.
VPNs are important as users are constantly on the go with mobile devices. As the holiday season is quickly approaching, it’s hard not to think about data breaches with mobile shopping and payments. Here are a few steps to keep yourself safe this holiday season during mobile use.
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