Try These Virtual Private Network Alternatives Yourself Now

Uploaded on 2024-09-17 in FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-IT & Telecoms

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The Internet, as you know, allows you to connect to and access different web resources across the world.

However, as the Internet became more widely adopted cyber threats and privacy breaches started to eclipse the convenience of the Internet, and so Virtual Private Networks were introduced.

VPNs were created to enforce web security by encrypting the internet connection of your device/s, protecting the data from being accessed by any hackers.

At first, it seems centralized VPNs are a valid solution for web security for a person or an entire organization. However, according to reports, they are unreliable as centralized VPN providers have been known to sell user data. This unethical exposé led VPN users to switch to VPN replacement technologies that offered features like data encryption, secure data routing via tunneling, access controls, and more. Read on!

Why Should You Look For These Alternatives?

Centralized VPNs started off as the saviors that swooped in to protect internet surfers from the dangers of cyber threats. However, as people gradually let their guard down - many centralized VPN providers have reportedly leaked user logs onto the internet. This meant that they were exposing their patrons and defeating the whole purpose of using a VPN.

Other than this major concern, there are some more reasons you should opt for a centralized VPN alternate solution. Those are:-

A VPN does not protect against malware, data exfiltration, or other security risks. Unless an organization has a full security stack deployed between the VPN and the enterprise network, infected remote machines can be used as a stepping stone to attack the enterprise network.

As VPNs were widely adopted by users to bypass the internet access limitations and censorships of their regions, they have been blocked by quite several governments or regulated by law. This includes regions such as China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and more.

Most of the web traffic routed by the unencrypted VPN houses marketing and ad trackers. These trackers silently collect data that belongs to you, that you’d want to keep private.

The Best Solutions Similar To VPNs

Due to the reasons we discussed and other pain points, centralized VPNs have become a technology that is no longer the best option to secure your internet activities. This calls for a different approach in the form of technical replacements. So let’s discuss some of the popular VPN alternatives that rise to the occasion.

Tor

“The Onion Router”, better known as Tor, stands out as an alternative to VPNs. Because, unlike the other services on this list, tor provides its services free of charge as it is an open-source platform. This highly regarded network aims to anonymize users’ internet traffic to provide secure communication. Tor operates by routing your web traffic through its network of relays run by volunteers around the world and encrypting the data at each step.

As we discussed Tor is also open source, which in addition to the free access, allows for transparency and independent security audits. Similar to a VPN, Tor also allows you to get around geographical internet access restrictions imposed by websites or even governments by concealing your IP address and location. In addition to these security features, Tor also offers hidden services in the form of websites and services only accessible via the Tor Network.

Source - Tor Project

As with the rest of these technologies, Tor isn't perfect either as this level of encryption comes at a cost. Because of the multiple layers of encryption and complex routing in this network - Tor tends to be rather slower than your regular internet. Another flaw of Tor is that even though it can be used to bypass censorship, some websites and services can just block access from Tor exit nodes.

SASE (Secure Access Service Edge:

Many companies use VPNs to allow their employees to access company resources remotely. As VPNs encrypt data, they ensure secure access to sensitive data. However, there are many limitations of VPNs which force companies to look for alternative methods.

As a result, SASE was introduced with a new and innovative network architecture, avoiding some of the restrictions VPNs have.

SASE integrates a range of security features, such as SWG (Secure Web Gateway), CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker), and others, which simplifies the management of security within a single framework. This integration allows for the enforcement of consistent policies across the entire network, enhancing security operations. Moreover, by employing a zero-trust model, SASE ensures that all users and devices are verified and authorized before being allowed to access resources. This unified approach not only improves security but also reduces the need for multiple security products and the associated hardware and software, thereby minimizing costs.

Since SASE operates through the cloud, you’ll be able to access your corporate resources from anywhere. This improves user experience as there is no backhaul traffic through a central data center, reducing latency. The cloud-based architecture of SASE also allows for easy scalability, simplifying the accommodation of a growing number of users, devices, and applications.

While SASE offers a range of benefits, it also comes with a fair share of drawbacks. SASE is highly effective, but it is a relatively new technology that is still under development. This means it isn’t polished enough to be free of functioning errors and bugs. The setup process of SASE can be challenging as well because the integration of all these features can be quite complex and time-consuming.

SD-WAN (Software Defined WAN)

SD-WAN is a worthy alternative to VPNs because it easily overtakes the limited performance of VPNs which can be slow due to its heavy encryptions. It also comes with the security and scalability to take on critical business applications. The following is a more detailed look at the benefits that SD-WAN has to offer.

SD-WAN allows organizations to connect users from around the world, applications, and data centers over connection types like MPLS, broadband, and LTE. These connection flexibilities allow SD-WAN to strategically route traffic through the most ideal connection type based on real-time performance metrics. It also comes with centralized control and automation capabilities, which makes it easier for you to provision resources and make time-sensitive configuration changes. SD-WAN is very cost-effective as it can reduce costs by allowing you to access lower-cost internet connections along with MPLS lines.

On the negative side, SD-WAN does have a few cons such as its complexity in the understanding of SDN principles. This can be considered counterproductive as this is a system designed for simplicity. The complexity can introduce misconfigurations to the equation, which is especially dangerous because misconfigurations could create security concerns.

SDP (Software Defined Perimeter)

Although VPNs create a secure tunnel to send your data to the entire network, anyone who can get in has access to all your data. This is different in SDP as it follows a zero-trust approach. You can use an SDP to do this because rather than relying on a physical network location, SDP controls access to resources based on the user’s identity. This virtual secure zone comes with a range of advantages, let’s take a look.

As the spearhead of SDPs, the granular access controls allow you to implement a zero-trust approach. By limiting access to specific resources SDPs can help you reduce the attack surface in case of an attempt. To make things easier, SDPs can simplify management through their central control capabilities that you can use to enforce access policies.

While SDPs are a valid VPN replacement, it does tend to come with a few drawbacks that should be considered before adoption. This includes transition challenges in terms of cost and time especially for organizations that adopt legacy infrastructure. There is also the issue of vendor dependency, which means that in case their service goes down, so does your access to critical resources. SDPs are also a relatively new technology, so the learning curve should be considered as your It staff needs time to properly configure the setup.

CASBs (Cloud Access Security Brokers)

While VPNs offer some level of protection for your data, it isn’t designed to keep up with the computing trend of today - cloud computing. CASBs operate by staying between your employees and the cloud service they use like SaaS applications. It does so to enforce company security policies when they try to access cloud resources within or outside the company network. The following are some of the advantages that CASBs bring to the table.

Similar to SDPs, CASBs offer user access controls to make sure that only authorized users can access the cloud services and the data in it. This is especially advantageous when compared to VPNs’ all-or-nothing access. CASBs are built specifically to secure cloud application access, provide comprehensive visibility into what cloud service employees are using, and detect and block security threats. You can also enforce security policies and implement encryptions to protect sensitive data within the applications.

As organizations that use cloud services rarely use only a few applications, implementing and managing a CASB would be rather complex, the complexity increasing with the diversity of the cloud environment. Another issue you need to consider before implementation is the cost. This is because a good CASB solution with a good set of features can be quite expensive. Other than that, CASBs could also potentially introduce latency to the system due to their security techniques.

MPLS

Multiprotocol Label Switching, abbreviated as MPLS, is a networking technology that controls your network traffic flow and speeds it up. It follows its own technique by directing the data through network-based labels instead of depending on IP address routing. This gives MPLS the speed and reliability to beat VPNs in terms of working with large datasets and data transfers across geographically dispersed locations.

Because MPLS prioritizes performance over security, it doesn't encrypt its data by default. This coupled with the usage of labels instead of IP addresses for routing saves you processing time and streamlines the flow of traffic. MPLS is also well known for its quality of service as it offers a much better QoS compared to VPNs as they prioritize certain types of traffic and make sure your critical data stays smoothly flowing even in the event of network congestions.

Although MPLS offers promising solutions to some challenges faced by VPNs, they do come at their own costs - particularly, the actual cost. Because it runs on its own dedicated infrastructure and relies on service providers that charge premium prices for no downtime, MPLS can be more expensive than VPNs.

dVPN As An Alternative

Out of all of these alternatives, decentralized VPNs emerge as the technology best suited for the role. For a detailed look at how it compares to traditional VPNs, take a look at the table below.

Centralized vs Decentralized VPNs

Centralized VPN Decentralized VPNCentralized servers that are owned by the provider.Network of ‘node’ devices connected to the internet and run by users.Servers located in data centers.Nodes can be any device including laptops, desktops, smartphones, etc.The provider is in charge of the servers
Users run the nodes, so no central ownershipPrivacy and anonymity depend on the provider’s policiesBetter privacy due to distributed nodes
Not effective in getting around censorshipBetter for bypassing restrictionsKeeps centralized logsNo central control so it can't keep logs

dVPNs offer a more decentralized and user-centric solution with their user-operated nodes. This means there isn't a central server that your data passes through, preventing it from a single point of failure and any cyber threats. In addition to this, users of dVPNs will be able to avoid censorship better too owing to the lack of a server that the government could target. All of this indicates that a dVPN (or DPN) fill in the gaps that traditional VPNs have left.

SSH Tunnels

Also known as SSH port forwarding, SSH tunnels are secure tunnels created within an already secure connection. It routes traffic from your local machine to a remote server, and similar to VPNs, it does so through an encrypted channel. But the reasons for switching from a VPN to an SSH tunnel don't stop as they’re easier to set up, offer granular control, and use up fewer resources, which makes it a good alternative for organizations looking for a VPN replacement. The following are some more advantages of SSH tunnels that make it a valuable tool.

As we briefly glossed over, SSH tunnels facilitate data encryption for all the data passing through the tunnel. They also allow you to remotely access the network resources in a secure manner, which is particularly useful for remote administration of servers and accessing resources from outside the network. In addition to this, SSH tunnels can also bypass firewalls and content filters to access blocked services and mask your IP address by routing internet traffic through a remote server.

On the off-side, SSH tunnels require a considerable amount of technical literacy in SSH keys, server addresses, and command line tools. This would require you to hire a technically proficient team which could be expensive. There is also the challenge of potential latency as SSH tunnels deal with encryption, which could be especially noticeable for larger files.

VPN Alternatives To Avoid

As you can see there are many options that you can choose from when it comes to picking an alternative for VPNs. While the alternatives we mentioned above can give you some sort of upper hand against centralized VPNs, there are some alternatives that you should steer clear of. The following are the alternatives that you should avoid.

Smart DNS

This is a service that allows users to access geo-restricted content on websites and streaming services. It does so by replacing DNS servers with their own, which allows them to direct their traffic accordingly. While it is a popular solution to bypass censorship and is generally faster than VPNs, it is highly unreliable. For starters, the reason why Smart DNS is faster than VPNs is that it doesn't encrypt any of the data, and on top of this, Smart DNS doesn’t hide your IP address either like VPNs generally do. This leaves your data entirely vulnerable and gives you little to no privacy protection

Browser Extensions

As VPNs became increasingly mainstream for regular internet users, the browser started adding VPN extensions that claimed to have the same functionality as a VPN. They offer free versions with basic geo-restriction bypassing and premium versions with higher functionalities on a subscription-based payment. However, contrary to their claim browser extension can only encrypt the internet traffic within your browser which leaves your other applications like email, messaging, and downloads vulnerable. When it comes to free extensions, most of the time they’re riddled with ads or even inject trackers into your browsing. With their barely functional services and low success rates, browser extensions are a poor alternative for VPNs.

Free VPNs

When users adopt free VPNs instead of paid VPNs, the providers let you assume that you’re just getting a few lesser features along with some advertisements. While this might seem like good bargaining at first glance, it is in fact far from it. They use outdated internet protocols to encrypt your data, which is likely to still leave it vulnerable. While it is implied that the free VPN provider is making money from your usage through advertisements, they also collect and sell your browsing data to advertisers - defeating the whole purpose of using a VPN.

Do VPN & Other VPN Alternatives Have A No-logs Policy?

Most VPNs are notorious for collecting connection logs like the amount of data transferred, the server used, and activity logs such as browsing history, downloads, applications used, and content accesses. Some centralized VPN services have genuine no-logs policies, but there is no way to confirm it.

With the VPN alternatives that we discussed above, it is mostly not possible to keep track of your logs, especially with decentralized VPNs where the distributed nodes remove the need for any sort of central control as the name suggests.

Image: Hakinmhan

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