What is the difference between remote-access and site-to-site VPNs?

A remote-access VPN connects an individual user's device to a network, while a site-to-site VPN connects two entire networks together over the public internet.

Is a VPN the same as Zero Trust?

No. A traditional VPN typically grants broad network access once connected, while [Zero Trust](/glossary/zero-trust) verifies every individual request and grants only the minimum access needed, regardless of network location.

Do consumer VPN services work the same way as corporate VPNs?

They use the same underlying tunneling technology, but consumer VPNs are primarily used to mask a user's IP address and location for privacy rather than to access an internal corporate network.

Cybersecurity

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Q: What is a VPN?

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates an encrypted tunnel between a device and a remote network or server, protecting data in transit and letting the device appear as if it's on a different network.

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A Virtual Private Network (VPN) creates an encrypted tunnel between a device and a remote network or server, protecting data in transit and allowing the device to appear as if it is connected from a different network location.

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Definition

Overview

A VPN works by encrypting all traffic leaving a device and routing it through a secure tunnel to a VPN server, which then forwards the traffic to its destination on the user's behalf. Because the traffic is encrypted, anyone intercepting it — on a coffee-shop Wi-Fi network, for example — sees only unreadable ciphertext rather than the actual data being sent, protecting against eavesdropping in ways similar to how TLS protects individual web connections. VPNs serve two broad purposes. Remote-access VPNs let individual employees securely connect to a corporate network from home or while traveling, as though they were plugged in at the office, historically the dominant model for securing remote work before the rise of Zero Trust access architectures that verify every request individually rather than trusting anyone "inside" the VPN tunnel. Site-to-site VPNs instead connect two entire networks — for example, linking a branch office to company headquarters, or connecting an on-premises data center to a cloud provider — over the public internet as if they were on the same private network. Common VPN protocols include IPsec, OpenVPN, and the newer WireGuard, which offers stronger performance and a simpler codebase than older protocols. Consumer VPN services also use this same underlying technology to route a user's traffic through a third-party server, primarily for privacy and to mask the user's originating IP address and geographic location. While VPNs remain widely used, security practitioners increasingly note their limitation: once connected, a VPN user typically has broad network access, which conflicts with the least-privilege principle at the heart of Zero Trust. As a result, many organizations are supplementing or replacing traditional VPN access with more granular, per-application Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions.

Key Concepts

Encrypts all traffic through a secure tunnel between device and server
Remote-access VPNs connect individual users to a corporate network
Site-to-site VPNs connect two entire networks over the public internet
Common protocols include IPsec, OpenVPN, and WireGuard
Masks the user's originating IP address and location
Historically the dominant model for securing remote work access
Increasingly complemented or replaced by Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Use Cases

Letting remote employees securely access internal corporate resources

Connecting branch offices or data centers to each other over the public internet

Protecting sensitive traffic on untrusted public Wi-Fi networks

Linking on-premises infrastructure securely to a cloud provider

Allowing consumers to mask their IP address and location for privacy

Providing encrypted connectivity for legacy applications not built for the internet

Frequently Asked Questions

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