Digital Anonymity Experts Note Significant Spike in VPN Usage Across UK

Liberty Shield, an Edinburgh-based online privacy and digital anonymity firm, notes that VPN usage across the UK is rising significantly during the UK’s lockdown. A VPN – or Virtual Private Network – is used to create a private network from a public internet connection, and it is believed that the spike is due to an increasing number of organisations requiring remote employees to use a VPN when accessing on-site machines or confidential company data.

Sales of the Liberty Shield VPN router have risen by more than one third since workers across the country were advised to work from home where possible, and statistics show that between March 8th and March 22nd 2020, the UK’s VPN usage rose by an average of 18% per week as employees began to shift from the office to the home. Today, an estimated 60% of British workers are operating from home, and VPN services are rapidly emerging as the most secure method of protecting private company data from remote risks.

Greg Murphy, Liberty Shield’s Chief Technology Officer said, “A year on from the first UK lockdown, and we are no longer in emergency response territory; we’re now at a time when businesses need to be thinking more closely about creating an agile, remote workforce that has safe, secure, and efficient access to corporate intranets as needed, and that’s resulting in a widespread shift to VPN solutions. We’re thrilled that so many are taking appropriate measures to protect themselves from costly and potentially devastating attacks, and our hope is that VPN usage will continue to increase as more and more businesses understand – and address – the risks of remote. The great thing about a VPN is that when work is done, it can also be used for entertainment purposes for those who want to stream TV, movies or music.”

Using home Wi-Fi networks to send and receive confidential business data could expose organisations to data breaches and attacks. Unfortunately, while some businesses are increasing their use of VPNs, others are lagging behind, and it’s these organisations that are leaving themselves vulnerable to the growing number of cyber crimes taking place. There has been a notable and worrying 31% increase in cyber crime during the pandemic, with insights firm PwC assigning at least part of the rise to opportunistic hackers ‘identifying vulnerabilities related to rapidly stood up remote working practices’.

The Liberty Shield VPN network runs 256-bit military grade encryption with zero logging, ensuring that data can be sent, received, and accessed safely and securely. As part of an exclusive offer being run by Liberty Shield, interested parties can request a free Liberty Shield VPN router to test and review.