What is a Remote Access Service? 

Remote access is the ability to access information from an off-site device.

Perimeter 81

31.05.2024

6 min read

A Remote Access Service allows users to access your organization’s data and corporate network from anywhere at any time while keeping the remote connection secure and minimizing your attack surface. 

Benefits of Remote Access Service

As the number of people seeking jobs that allow remote or hybrid work increases, businesses that want to hire need to consider offering remote days as a benefit. 

The easiest way to do this is to implement a Remote Access Service. 

Although remote access has not always been advisable in the past, it addresses several of the issues with remote access, making it a more viable solution for organizations planning to increase their remote workforces. 

• Enhanced User Experience: A Remote Access Service allows users to easily access data and traverse your network without incurring significant security risks.
• Increased Productivity for Remote Users: Productivity may increase when employees work remotely. Some users indicate that home provides a more comfortable work environment, and some find themselves working more than they would if confined to an office. 
• Secure Access to Resources Anywhere, Anytime: When you’re on a tight deadline, it helps speed things along if all of your users can access important data at the drop of a hat. 

Cost Savings and Efficiency

Many enterprises have found that although they are paying periodically for Remote Access Service, the costs are outweighed by the improved efficiency in other areas. 

Remote work decreases the need for office space, driving down building rent or purchase costs. Using Remote Access Service also decreases the amount of hardware your office needs to have because it relies on cloud infrastructure rather than more traditional data storage methods. 

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The 3 Key Components of Remote Access Service

There are three essential components to Remote Access Service: servers, protocols, and tools. Each of these is critical for the success of your solution.

• Remote Access Servers: The servers, essentially, are the central hub or host for the data that your team needs to access. 
• Remote Access Protocols: When endpoints and servers communicate, it’s imperative to have controls that prevent unauthorized access or use. These protocols ensure that data remains safe during access.
• Remote Access Tools: Once you’ve set up your Remote Access Service, there are applications that you can use to customize your experience and to best take advantage of its functions. These tools can do everything from remotely controlling another machine to logging network activity.

Types of Remote Access Service

There are a few options that may work for you, depending on your company’s current infrastructure and working environment.

• Virtual Private Network (VPN): If you want to maximize your security, using a VPN as a remote access tool may be the way to go. A VPN provides an encrypted tunnel for data, which prevents unauthorized access, and improves your privacy. 
• Remote Desktop Connections: These are typically applications that connect one remote device to another device. For example, you could access your locally stored documents on your computer, at work, or from your laptop at home. This works well if you aren’t using cloud storage extensively or if you don’t have a particularly large team.
• Cloud-Based Remote Access Services: While the other two services primarily focus on access to your resources, cloud-based remote access services focus on providing those resources. For example, the servers and data storage that you need for cloud-based infrastructure are resources. You can access those resources via a VPN. You could also do this with remote desktop connections, but it typically isn’t necessary as cloud servers can be accessed from anywhere. 

Security & Authentication in a Remote Access Service

Whichever solution(s) you choose, your top priority should be security. 

Using a remote access VPN provides extensive security that can minimize the risk of a successful attack, especially when combined with security best practices. 

Encrypting Network Traffic and Ensuring Secure Connections

Using public Wi-Fi to access your resources is usually risky as these networks typically are not secure, and bad actors could be observing your activity. However, using a remote access VPN will hide your activity and encrypt your connection so the data is well-protected. 

Something worth considering is that any connectivity problems could interrupt your session and weaken that protection, so it’s best to only access your data when you have a reliable connection. 

Authentication Protocols and Multi-Factor Authentication

When considering remote access VPNs, make sure that the one you choose provides centralized access control.

This allows you to constantly monitor activity and control access to your network and endpoints. All members of your organization should have MFA enabled, and they should follow all company protocols for storing and using their credentials. 

Network Traffic Management and Subnets

Attackers are everywhere, but there are tools you can use, often part of a good SASE solution, that can keep them away from your network. A firewall, for example, can help detect and block unusual activity without sacrificing legitimate traffic. 

You can also use subnets and segmentation to isolate traffic from sensitive areas, preventing some users from accessing data that they shouldn’t. 

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Remote Access Service for Mobile Devices

As the workforce becomes increasingly mobile, companies need to invest in remote access to ensure all employee activity is secure. Increasingly, workers are using their phones and tablets to check email and work on collaborative projects rather than computers. 

Remote workers need a streamlined, efficient, and safe way to access your enterprise’s data and networks, and the solution needs to be compatible with mobile devices.

The Danger of Public Networks

Another important component of a good Remote Access Service is creating secure connections on public networks. 

Most public networks are fundamentally unsafe for sensitive data, but using a remote access VPN can solve this issue by creating an encrypted tunnel for the data. Although employees should use secure networks when possible, the VPN provides a layer of protection that is necessary in places like coffee shops and airports. 

Remote Monitoring and management

Remote monitoring and management of mobile devices is another important component of security for remote workers. You should ensure that you are regularly checking alerts and reinforcing a zero-trust environment, which will reduce your risk of a successful social engineering or compromised credential attack. 

When you choose a Remote Access Service, ensure that it provides a centralized platform where you can monitor and manage access, especially access from mobile devices, which are at high risk of loss or theft. 

Create a Bulletproof Security Strategy with Perimeter 81

Although many organizations use remote desktop software to connect remote employees to the office, a Remote Access Service does not provide a single connection between two devices. Rather, it allows employees to securely access all of the data relevant to them in your organization while providing a platform for access control and monitoring. 

Ultimately, this increases efficiency for the employee, who can quickly access data from anywhere, and for the organization’s security team, which can easily monitor activity and minimize security risks. To get started with a solution that integrates your remote access needs with bulletproof security, try Perimeter 81’s VPN solution today. 

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