VPNs boast a bevy of security benefits
Q: Why does my company make me use a VPN when I am working from home?
A: Most organizations protect their data by keeping it on servers that are protected by a firewall. This, along with other restrictions, is to keep unauthorized people from accessing the information.
When you are at your office and connected to the company network, your computer is behind that firewall. When you are working from home, your computer is not behind that firewall and it is blocked by that very same firewall from accessing the company data.
As data moves to and from your PC over the internet, it has to pass through various servers and relays, and there is the potential for those to be compromised and listening to the data traffic that is passed through them. A VPN, which stands for Virtual Private Network, is a means for your computer to connect to the company network using an encrypted network tunnel.
What this means is that the data sent to and from your computer is protected against any possible network eavesdropping as data is transferred between your PC and the office.
It’s similar to websites that use HTTPS as opposed to HTTP. The S in HTTPS stands for secure, and it means that data between your computer and the Web site you are visiting is encrypted so that hackers can’t see things such as passwords and other sensitive data you send to or receive from the Web site.
Q: A family member is going to buy a new PC and I’ve read some PCs sold with Windows 10 may not be upgraded to Windows 11. How can you tell?
A: All the details for Windows 11 have not been publicized just yet. Experts anticipate that the rollout should begin later this year.
When buying a new PC you may want to check with the vendor to see if the computer will support Windows 11 when it is released.
You can also go to this link at tinyurl.com/helplinewin11 for more information about Windows 11 and information about Windows 10 PCs that can upgrade for free when Windows 11 rolls out.
They also list the minimum system requirements and will be publishing a health check tool to see if a computer will run the new operating system.
Windows 11 looks like it could be pretty exciting and a worthy upgrade. But I always urge caution with an update like this. If your new computer comes with Windows 11, that’s probably fine. But upgrading existing computers should be carefully considered as new Windows operating systems have a tendency to have problems when they are first released.