VPNs in 2024: How to stay secure and reduce risk

[Jaye_Tillson]

VPNs in 2024: How to stay secure and reduce risk

In the fast-evolving landscape of remote work, the 2024 VPN Risk Report highlights critical trends, challenges, and solutions shaping the state of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and their alternatives.

As businesses adapt to increased workforce mobility and dynamic changes in resource locations, the report sheds light on the pivotal role played by VPNs and the emerging need for more secure and efficient solutions.

The evolving enterprise

The seismic shift in the business landscape over the past few years reflects the broader digital revolution sweeping across industries. While 71% of organizations continue to run private applications in data centers, there's a clear trend toward cloud adoption.

This shift poses a challenge for legacy VPNs with a shift towards Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) services to effectively bridge the gap between data centers and the cloud.

With 88% of organizations supporting remote workers in North America and varying security standards worldwide, the need for secure, compliant, and available solutions becomes even more paramount.

VPN utilization

96% of organizations leverage legacy VPNs to secure access to private applications. Despite being nearly three decades old, VPNs remain widely used, serving multiple purposes beyond their original intent.

Organizations use legacy VPNs to secure remote employee access (80%), connect multiple sites (43%), and secure third-party access (33%). This diversification in usage highlights the challenge of managing a multitude of different access needs.

VPN frequency and quantity

The majority of end-users (58%) use legacy VPNs daily, emphasizing their critical role in daily business operations. To support a global workforce, 65% of organizations depend on three or more legacy VPN gateways, leading to network complexity.

Larger organizations with five or more gateways (21%) face increased operational challenges, requiring sophisticated methods to manage growing complexities.

Risks and challenges of legacy VPN

Challenges with legacy VPNs include poor user experience (21%), complexity in management (19%), insufficient security and compliance (17%), high costs (15%), and scalability limitations (13%). To address these challenges, organizations are beginning to consider modern access technologies such as scalable Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA).

Legacy VPN security concerns

Security remains a significant concern, with 92% expressing apprehension about legacy VPNs' ability to secure environments. Ransomware (47%), phishing (43%), and malware (42%), are the top vulnerabilities, emphasizing the need for stronger defense mechanisms.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) adoption

As organizations explore alternatives, 56% consider options beyond legacy VPNs. Adopting a Zero Trust strategy is a priority for 75% of organizations, aligning with the move towards more secure and efficient remote access solutions. A majority (59%) plan to adopt ZTNA within the next 24 months.

The future of remote access

While legacy VPNs remain widely used, 81% of users report dissatisfaction, primarily due to slow connection speeds (28%), frequent drops (20%), and authentication complexities (14%). This highlights the need for a more user-centric approach to secure access.

2024 budget allocation

Changes in budget allocation (51% reporting increased budgets) indicate a shift in priorities towards more secure and efficient alternatives like ZTNA. Organizations are evaluating their current investments to optimize costs, security, and user experience.

Conclusion

The 2024 VPN Risk Report emphasizes the dynamic nature of remote access solutions, urging organizations to prioritize a zero trust strategy and consider alternatives like ZTNA.

As the business landscape continues to evolve, adapting to more secure, user-friendly, and scalable solutions becomes imperative for sustained success.