VPN Services

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) creates an encrypted tunnel between a user or network and a remote server or corporate environment, allowing data to traverse public internet infrastructure securely and privately. VPNs have long been a cornerstone of enterprise remote access strategy, enabling employees to connect to internal systems and applications as though physically present in the office. The widespread shift to remote and hybrid working across the UK has placed VPN services under significant scrutiny. During the rapid move to distributed working, many organisations discovered that their legacy VPN infrastructure — often designed for occasional remote access by a fraction of the workforce — could not scale to support the entire organisation connecting simultaneously. This has driven both investment in scaling existing VPN capacity and evaluation of alternative zero-trust access models. Traditional corporate VPNs operate by granting authenticated users access to the broader network, effectively extending the corporate perimeter to the remote endpoint. This model provides robust connectivity for complex on-premises applications but carries inherent security risks: a compromised endpoint with VPN credentials can potentially access far more of the network than intended. Modern VPN architectures, and the broader shift towards Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) models, address this by applying granular, identity-based access controls that limit lateral movement. Beyond remote access, site-to-site VPNs remain widely used to connect branch offices, cloud environments, and data centres securely over the public internet — often as a more cost-effective alternative to dedicated MPLS circuits for lower-criticality traffic. For UK businesses evaluating VPN services, several factors warrant careful consideration. Encryption standards — at minimum AES-256 with strong key exchange protocols — should be verified, as should the provider's approach to logging and data retention, particularly given GDPR obligations. For cloud-hosted VPN services, the location of VPN servers and whether UK or EU data processing commitments are available is important. Performance characteristics under high concurrent user loads matter significantly for organisations with large remote workforces. Integration with identity providers, multi-factor authentication support, and the sophistication of split tunnelling capabilities all affect both security posture and user experience. Assess whether the solution supports a roadmap towards ZTNA, ensuring it remains fit for purpose as security architectures evolve.