Secure work from home (L2TP)

17.04.2020

The situation occurred due to the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the importance of having remote access for employees to the company resources. Which of course, has to be easy, convenient and secure.

Recently remote access technology was a privilege mainly for top managers and administrators. Now, it is a vital need even for an ordinary employee.

The technology itself and different ways of remote connections already exist for a long time. However, due to its weak spread, most managers don’t understand which equipment is needed and how such access can be set up. And most importantly – how much does it cost?

What do we offer

For those companies and managers, who value their time and resources, my colleagues and I offer a turnkey solution for establishing remote access VPN based on the Cisco Systems equipment.

Solution includes:

Analysis of the existing company network infrastructure
Plan and design of the individual solution
Help with the choice of the equipment models and their purchase
Equipment set-up and configuration
Support of the whole solution after implementation
Preparation of the detailed documentation, which includes the description of the system and the network diagram.

Note that sometimes the purchase of additional equipment is not necessary at all. Perhaps, remote access VPN can be set up even on the existing network equipment.

As a basis, we always suggest Cisco Systems equipment. However, the cases, when companies got similar products of other manufacturers aren’t rare. We will help to organize secure remote access of employees on it, as well, if it’s possible.

Types of remote access technology

Two most popular technologies for organizing remote access VPN are connection by L2TP protocol and via the Cisco Anyconnect application. These solutions are time-tested and have already proven their effectiveness, simplicity of set-up and ease of the support.

L2TP

To connect, the employee uses the standard client, which is available on every operating system, whether it’s Windows or MAC. No additional installation on the workstation is required. You only need to enter the company router’s address, login and password. No additional licenses required.

Anyconnect

Particular client for VPN using SSL protocol by Cisco Systems. When connecting for the first time, installation on the workstation is required. The client is easy and convenient at work. Creating a secure connection is reduced to the simple pressing of a “Connect” button. Additional hardware licenses may be required.

The options of connection aren’t limited with these two ways so far. If necessary, we can offer you another ones as well.

How much does it cost

The final price consists of the following components:

The equipment price
The price of the configuration services
The price of the support

As discussed above, buying the brand-new equipment may be not necessarily at all, and what for the support of the solution – company’s own IT specialists may be able to conduct it. Concerning the price of the setting, it will be approximately twice cheaper, than if your company decided to hire the specialists with the required knowledge, experience and qualification. In this case, there are no problems with staff search, additional tax deductions, employees’ day-offs, bonuses, and other issues.

Trying to spend less

For sure it is possible to organize the employee’s access to company resources in more straightforward ways. For example, recently, one company’s staff opened access for the employees from the outside to a terminal server via Remote Desktop (RDP). The very next day, as a result of using one of the server’s vulnerabilities, attackers hit absolutely all workstations and almost all servers. Malware software (“virus”) encrypted all data on the hard drives, which completely stopped the company work for a couple of days.

But how much does at least an hour of company downtime cost? Such security savings are costly for any kind of business.

How to reduce the costs

Price of one Cisco router with all the required licences can exceed 5k-10k USD (the price of models for small and medium-sized companies). However, such costs are affordable not for everyone. One of the ways for reducing the expenses – is to get used equipment. These are the devices which were used in banks and other large companies and which eventually are decommissioned, replaced with modern models and sold on the market.

The price of such devices of comparable performance is several times lower and ranges from 500$ to 2000$ for similar models.

For sure the risk of failure of such equipment is higher than of the brand-new one but still minimal, especially if there is a guarantee from the seller. Besides, such a difference in price allows you to potentially purchase two devices and configure them in fault-tolerant mode.

Additional benefits

In addition to creating a system for secure remote access for employees, you will receive an external audit of your network, which in any case is carried out while studying the company’s network infrastructure.

Also, after the implementation of the remote access system, along with its support we can support the entire network of the company. Read more about this service on the “Cisco Outsourcing” page.

Contacts

To get started, contact us via Skype, Whatsapp or Telegram. Tell us about your needs, and we will surely find a common language and an occasion for long and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Skype – nevidimkastd