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50 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2020 help keep hackers at bay. It also provides a fast and reliable platform for your remote work- force to plow forward despite their location. Though many businesses may have offered up a VPN for their traveling salespeople, many companies failed to provide them to all of their remote workers when the COVID-19 pandemic began. This failure can be dangerous, as many un- fortunate organizations have already learned. While working from home without the cover of a VPN, people are working on computers with unsecured networks. Cybercriminals can easily take advantage of such unsecured net- works to access your company's valuable data from personally identifiable information (PII), such as employee social security numbers to proprietary information and trade secrets that could cost your business millions of dollars or worse. This is one reason VPNs are so vital to any- one working remotely. A VPN is a private net- work that can attach to a public network such as the internet to securely connect remote sites and users. The VPN uses a "virtual" connec- tion routed through the internet from a busi- ness's private network (or a third-party VPN host) to your remote workforce. This VPN of- fers additional security for your business data by encrypting it so that it can't be read by a hacker. Today's VPNs feature lightning-fast speeds, unlimited access for a multitude of remote workers, and advanced security, including military-grade encryption, privacy safeguards, and TrustedServer technology. Modern VPNs allow remote workers access to a business's in- tranet resources so they can continue to work as if they were at their office desktop. Further- more, if your business conducts communica- tions and/or online transactions, a VPN really is a must to ensure that your business remains private, and your data is secure even when your employees are working from home. Once this health crisis subsides, you can continue to utilize your VPN to boost your business. Imagine allowing your employees the ability to flexibly work from home for any reason, such as caring for a sick child, while away on vacation, or while ill themselves. Ad- ditionally, you can continue to use it for your traveling salesforce. Multifactor Authentication Multifactor authentication is another securi- ty feature that should accompany the use of a VPN. This technology ensures that the people logging into your network are who they say they are. It works by requiring additional au- thentication from anyone attempting to access your company's information. Computer users (your remote workers) are required to successfully present two or more forms of evidence (factors) to be given access to your business network. The first is some- thing only your employees should know, such as their personal login and password. Now, we all know these can be stolen pretty easily by a seasoned bad actor, but that's where the sec- ond factor comes in. After providing the first key pieces of infor- mation, multifactor software will ask for ad- ditional authentication, such as a one-time ac- cess code that is sent to the employee's mobile device. Once they provide additional informa- tion, your employees will be granted access. The odds that a cybercriminal could crack the login and password of your employee while also stealing their mobile device are slim to none. Authentication factors can be implemented in multifactor software or applications in the four following ways: 1. Something You Have: Some physical object the user has in their possession, such as a secret token, bank card, key, etc. 2. Something You Know: Some bit of knowledge only the user would know, such as a password, login, personal identification number (PIN), etc. 3. Something You Are: A physical character- istic, such as biometrics, including voice patterns, fingerprints, typing speed, etc. 4. Somewhere You Are: This is the connection to a specific network or global positioning satellite (GPS) signal to authenticate your location.