How to Configure a Leased Line with Maximum Security to Protect Your Business?

  • 5 min read
Leased Line Security

Data is the key to every business. With that comes the need for effective data transfers between endpoints like computers, laptops, and mobile devices to the data centres. Now, for fast and reliable connections, businesses choose leased lines.

Businesses like financial institutions, government institutions, large and small scale industries, and offices that need a massive amount of data use leased lines for proper connectivity.

But even with leased lines, there are some windows of opportunity for hackers who can exploit the data for financial gains. So, in this article, we will learn how to configure leased lines for maximum security.

How secure are leased lines?

Leased lines are basically connections between you and the service provider like Airtel. That means only your business and the service provider have access to the network. If you buy a leased line of 100 Mbps, that means you get a total bandwidth of 100 Mbps. Even if the other users of your ISP are maxing out their connection with a dedicated leased line, you are utterly unaffected by it.

So, leased lines are secure and private in nature. Tapping into a leased line is difficult as someone needs to be at the physical location of the office, but that does not stop determined hackers from attempting to steal your information.

Though these kinds of hacks are very rare, it is recommended that businesses draw up a plan for unexpected situations and take measures so that their leased line is as secure as possible.

Configure leased line for maximum security

As mentioned above, leased lines are secure, but there is no harm in setting up additional leased line security. Here are some processes you can use to set up a leased line for maximum protection.

Encrypting the network

This is the easiest way to set up a security layer for your leased line. With a corporate VPN, you essentially encrypt all the data in your network. That means even if a hacker attempts to tap into your network, the information is essentially gibberish to him and utterly useless to the hacker.

Now, setting up encryption is easy and can be done using 3 simple steps.

  1. In your device settings, select Network & Internet, and then VPN.
  2. Next, select the VPN connection you want to use, then select Connect.
  3. If you’re prompted, enter your username and password or other sign-in info.

You are good to go, and the VPN will automatically encrypt all your data before transmitting it.

Enforce Strong Passwords

Hackers can tap into your network by phishing attacks which can be done by stealing overly trusting employees’ login credentials. So, a periodic review of VPN login is necessary, where unknown IPs are flagged.

Moreover, enforcing a strong password which is hard to guess, is a basic requirement. Also, ensuring that passwords are changed regularly will discourage employees from using the same login credentials on different platforms. We know nobody likes changing passwords on a regular basis, but it is essential for ensuring maximum security to protect your business.

Use Layer 2 VPN to go incognito

Your IP address is available publicly when using traditional VPN solutions with a private leased line. Hackers can use this to plan a malicious attack. They can make the gateway inaccessible by orchestrating a denial of service attack (DoS) or making requests to exploit the security of the router’s software.

So, a layer 2 VPN solution is the best strategy to secure a leased line. It works like a wire and an Ethernet switch to safeguard the network by connecting all your sites together without a single visible IP address.

This way, hackers cannot send malicious traffic to the sites even if they want to because the site is not visible without access to the network. Moreover, with layer 2 VPN, you do not need firewalls at each site. So, this is a cost-effective security setup for the leased lines.

For setting up a Layer 2 VPN solution, you need to connect to your service provider like Airtel. They will help you set up a private connection between two endpoints.

Use Dynamic IP address

Business broadband connections come with static IP addresses, which are more stable and allow businesses to run their own networks. In comparison, dynamic IP addresses are significantly cheaper. They offer more security and privacy as they ensure that hackers do not know which IP address will be assigned to them.

Special Routers

Routers with military-grade security can be added to your leased line SLA. Along with that, you can have firewalls set up which will act as an added security, though this will vary from provider to provider. Do your research to find the perfect fit for your business.

Use your SLA

When you sign a leased line SLA with a reputed service provider like Airtel, they provide you with bundled security features for safeguarding your network. You can have a dedicated business connection with a speed between 2 Mbps to 100 Gbps. Also, you can opt-in for DDoS protection and firewall services for leased connections.

Along with that, Airtel provides a managed Unified Threat Management (UTM) value-added service with all of their Leased line SLAs. UTM is an industry-leading appliance for providing multiple security functions from a single point on the network.

Conclusion

When it comes to securing data and sensitive information, corporates should always be a step ahead of hackers who want to gain their private data for financial gains. In fact, hacking attempts and data breaches have increased substantially every year.

Another thing businesses can do is upskill their employees as most hacks on business are due to human error. Training your employees is a good investment when it comes to securing leased lines.

Using your own DIY security measures along with the industry-grade security measures offered with your SLAs by Airtel is a must when it comes to the security of the leased lines.