It’s Time to Rethink VPN

Written by: Aaron Pries, Technology Consultant

Ever since the 2020 pandemic, remote work has become a cornerstone of modern business, prompting organizations to reimagine how they can provide their employees with secure, scalable, and efficient access to the corporate resources they need, regardless of where they’re working from. Ask any seasoned IT veteran, and they’d likely tell you that they relied on RDP over VPN for remote access. Heck, they might even still be using that method. But we’ve come a long way, and these days there are cloud-based RDP solutions that are far more compelling—and secure.

The Vulnerability That Changed The Industry

Even though VPNs are still widely used today, did you know there’s a security flaw that’s technically unpatchable? It’s true—in 2024, a group of researchers discovered an unpatchable VPN vulnerability that they called “Tunnelvision.” This flaw allows cybercriminals to siphon off data without any clear signs of intrusion. What’s even worse is that there is currently no direct fix or patch, and it impacts every product that relies on VPN encapsulation across Windows, macOS, Linux, and iOS. According to the researchers, the stealthy nature of this exploit is one of its most alarming characteristics.

VPNs are also a frequent target for attackers because they require open firewall ports on the VPN gateway, creating additional risk vectors such as brute-force attacks, ransomware, and credential stuffing. Plus, any device that connects to a VPN—be it a laptop in an airport lounge or a home computer on insecure Wi-Fi—essentially becomes an extension of the corporate network. Compromise one endpoint, and the threat can rapidly spread throughout the organization. Since a VPN only provides an encrypted tunnel without securing either endpoint, it serves as an attractive backdoor for malicious actors.

In recent years, VPN vulnerabilities and attacks have been on the rise, largely due to the critical position VPNs occupy as gateways into corporate networks. Cybercriminals exploit unpatched or misconfigured VPN appliances from major vendors such as Pulse Secure, Fortinet, and Citrix, allowing them to quickly pivot into sensitive internal resources. This spike in attacks has been further fueled by the rapid expansion of remote work, making exposed VPN endpoints even more tempting targets for threat actors.

 “VPNs aren’t necessarily security tools. It’s a connectivity tool that IT departments have bolted on and tried to patch things up,” said Dani Cronce, a senior security consultant and author of the research report that discovered the unpatchable flaw.

Embrace Cloud RDP

In contrast to the legacy approach of remote connection via VPN, cloud-based solutions provide access to specific applications, desktops, virtual machines, and more—all built around Zero Trust principles and enhanced security features to reduce your attack surface and limit the damage potential from breaches. Zero Trust flips the script on traditional security approaches by treating every request—inside or outside the network—as untrusted until verified. Rather than relying on a secure perimeter, Zero Trust continuously authenticates users and devices, drastically reducing the impact of credential theft or insider threats. Embracing integrated multifactor authentication (MFA), geo-blocking, and Azure Conditional Access is a great strategy for limiting access to your entire network for remote access.

Key Takeaways

• VPNs connect users to an entire network over a publicly exposed gateway, granting wide-ranging access.
• VPNs are experiencing a rising surge in attacks, highlighting their critical vulnerability potential for corporate breaches and exploits.
• Utilizing cloud-based RDP confines remote sessions to specific desktops or applications, with zero firewall exposure.
• The growing adoption of Zero Trust security models challenges many of the old ways of IT thinking, but significantly reduces the ability and mobility of threat actors to breach a network.
• Find a trusted technology partner if you don't have the technical bench to secure your business and protect your remote workforce.

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