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Many managed security service providers (MSSPs), as well as cloud providers, offer virtual private network as a service (VPNaaS). Effective security mandates the management of VPN environments. Such a mandate can be outsourced to providers that either host a managed VPN solution or ensure the management of the VPN. The VPN tunnels are either terminated at the enterprise perimeter or at the cloud provider. Cloud hosting offers major benefits for enterprises because scalable data management is typically more cost-effective. Furthermore, the existing enterprise data infrastructure can be tied into a VPN service infrastructure via point-to-point VPN.
There are some major security implications that must be addressed in such scenarios. Tunneling cloud-originated traffic into your network requires adequate security design. Also, managing your endpoints is critical in such scenarios. Enterprises may opt to control the VPNaaS management part while taking advantage of the hosted VPN and management software components.
Email your VPN-related questions to editor@searchenterprisewan.com.
This was first published in November 2011