The way we work has been drastically altered. Remote work, once a convenient option, has emerged as the new norm. The increase in telecommuting, catalyzed by the pandemic, has seen a meteoric rise, with numbers from a U.S. Census Bureau survey revealing a staggering increase from 5.7% (around 9 million people) to 17.9% (27.6 million individuals) between 2019 and 2021. This unprecedented shift has nudged organizations to revisit and revamp their existing, often outdated, systems to support the continuity and productivity of their remote workforce. But is resorting to FTP or an expensive and insecure proprietary SSL VPN the best solution? Definitely not. Here we are in 2023, and if your business is persisting with these legacy systems just because "they work", you're playing a risky game. Remember, in the realm of cybersecurity, "if it's not broken" doesn't mean it won't break soon. The key to resilience is proactive modernization.
Waiting until a security breach occurs can lead to substantial financial losses and irreparable damage to your business's reputation. It is always prudent to stay one step ahead, even if it means causing minor disruptions to operations or slight inconveniences to employees with new software.
But My SSL VPN License Still Works... Or Does It?
Yes, your trusty old SSL VPN subscription is still ticking away. It might have been through a few major zero-day patches in the last couple of years, but it still manages to get the job done, and everyone on your team knows how to navigate it. Plus, you've already invested in their hardware appliance, which guards your edge networks. Dismantling and setting up new systems sounds like a lot of work, and there's always the fear of disrupting business operations.
However, this cautious approach can be a massive liability when it comes to hardening your network security. Instead of settling for 'just enough', businesses should continually question the status quo: Can we do better? Is there a more efficient, secure solution out there? Could we replace our decade-old systems with something cutting-edge? What about the cost factor - could we save by swapping out our high-priced proprietary software and hardware firewalls with affordable and sometimes free open-source alternatives?
Sure, introducing a new system might entail some initial hiccups and learning curves, but these pale in comparison to the potential disaster of your business coming to a grinding halt due to a security breach. Just imagine if your dated remote access protocol were to let an attacker through. The ensuing chaos would necessitate immediate shutdown of your company's access to the compromised remote VPN gateway. The productivity loss in such a worst-case scenario could be catastrophic, even terminal.
On the other hand, a well-executed migration to an enhanced, secure system allows for a seamless workflow, ensuring that any network upgrades are carefully planned and controlled. This strategy mitigates the risk of abrupt interruptions, enabling a smooth transition to a more robust and secure networking solution. In essence, the inconvenience of a slight disruption is a small price to pay for the assurance of long-term network security and continuity.
Meet WireGuard VPN
The presence of IPSec and SSL/TLS in the business VPN world is undeniable. These legacy protocols have had a wide reach, supporting a multitude of authentication methods and cryptographic protocols and ciphers. However, their long-standing tenure has resulted in extensive code bases, not all of which have been consistently well-maintained. The vast quantity of code behind these protocols implies an increased likelihood of bugs creeping in, each one a potential vulnerability that can be exploited.
In contrast, WireGuard VPN was designed with simplicity, efficiency, and speed at its core. The revered Linux creator, Linus Torvalds, not only championed WireGuard as the best protocol to use, but also integrated it into the Linux kernel in 2020, underscoring its reliability and credibility.
"Can I just once again state my love for it and hope it gets merged soon? Maybe the code isn't perfect, but I've skimmed it, and compared to the horrors that are OpenVPN and IPsec, it’s a work of art." -Linus Torvalds 8/2/18
In a message to David Miller, who oversees the Linux networking stack, Torvalds candidly expressed his admiration for WireGuard, "Can I just once again state my love for it and hope it gets merged soon? Maybe the code isn't perfect, but I've skimmed it, and compared to the horrors that are OpenVPN and IPsec, it’s a work of art." Clearly, WireGuard's thoughtful coding and design have made it a front-runner in the VPN space.
WireGuard presents a simpler and more lightweight solution to remote VPN than traditional packages like IKEv2 and even OpenVPN. While the latter require hundreds of thousands of lines of code, WireGuard operates with a few thousand lines. This compact package incorporates contemporary cryptographic methods such as Curve25519 for ECDH key exchange, ChaCha20 for swift symmetric key encryption, Poly1305 for AEAD methods, BLAKE2s for hashing, SipHash25 for hashtables, and HKDF for key derivations.
Opting for a connection-less approach with UDP, WireGuard generally offers faster performance than other TCP-based methods. The realities of the VPN landscape suggest that legacy VPN tunnelling methods might have outlived their usefulness, weighed down by outdated methods, resource inefficiencies, and recurring security vulnerabilities.
WireGuard simplifies the choice, offering a single, secure, and proven encryption method. By condensing the codebase from a staggering 100K lines to a few thousand, WireGuard not only simplifies but also revolutionizes the approach to networking and firewall security. It's time to embrace simplicity without sacrificing security.
Here Comes the Sales Pitch...
Yes, you've landed on the TorGuard blog, and as huge fans of WireGuard (much like Linus Torvalds himself), we do indeed have an affordable remote networking solution to offer that's built upon WireGuard. However, we understand that every business is unique and has different needs. So, while we'd be thrilled if you chose us, it's essential to emphasize that the benefits of migrating your VPN infrastructure to WireGuard are not exclusively tied to our services.
WireGuard is a free and open-source software, meaning if your company already possesses robust network resources and skilled system engineers, you can deploy WireGuard in-house without shelling out for VPN subscriptions or license fees.
If you're an enterprise system administrator still tangled in the webs of legacy SSL VPN, it's high time to advocate for a swift migration to WireGuard. Start by devising a comprehensive step-by-step plan.
For small and medium-sized businesses grappling with time, resource, or manpower constraints, fear not. TorGuard offers a solution tailored just for you - our Private VPN Cloud service, built on the foundation of WireGuard. For a fraction of the cost of other licensed options, we offer a customizable private WireGuard service that caters to the exact requirements of your organization.
With TorGuard, you have the freedom to deploy multiple WireGuard gateways in selected regions, securely enabling your employees to access internal LAN resources from anywhere. You can control employee access through the firewall by allowing only trusted IP addresses to log into your WireGuard server. Moreover, our service provides easy access to port forwarding, enabling you to share access to select protocols only, while applying stringent firewall rules to deter malicious actors.
But that's not all (this is a sales pitch, after all). Our latest offering allows you to link multiple TorGuard WireGuard nodes. This capability means your business can easily connect on-site and off-site resources, all securely encapsulated within the WireGuard framework. The ease of establishing these connections simplifies network management, and underpins the secure, flexible remote work environment that modern businesses require.
Choosing TorGuard isn't just about purchasing a product; it's about partnering with a dedicated team that accompanies you on your journey towards enhancing and securing your business's remote access infrastructure. Our expert support team is on standby, ready to help you set up a tailored solution and provide the guidance necessary for any implementation requirements. For a deeper understanding of how we can propel your business forward, please visit our product page: TorGuard Private VPN Cloud. The future of secure networking is here, and we are ready to navigate it with you.
