VPNs, or virtual private networks, have become a standard component of corporate network security – and are also frequently used by individuals seeking to access geographically restricted content, such as streaming services. A VPN establishes an encrypted connection between a user’s device, like a laptop or smartphone, and a company’s servers. Essentially, all of your online activity is channeled through the organization’s IT infrastructure, creating a situation similar to being physically present within the company’s offices.

However, despite their widespread use, VPN architectures possess notable shortcomings. Both corporate networks and VPNs were initially conceived with the expectation that the majority of employees would primarily work from a physical office location, utilizing a VPN as an exception for remote access. The recent shift in work patterns, accelerated by the pandemic, demonstrates that an increasing number of individuals are no longer tied to traditional office environments and desktop computers connected via ethernet. Consequently, most devices now operate outside the traditional corporate network boundary.

Furthermore, VPNs can introduce significant performance issues. By directing all internet traffic through a single point, VPNs not only increase latency but also route all user traffic, including personal browsing, through the corporate servers. From a security standpoint, VPNs operate under the assumption that any device connecting to the network is reasonably secure. They do not actively verify network requests to ensure that each device is accessing only authorized resources.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/01/wtf-is-a-vpn/

Twingate is directly challenging the dominance of VPNs in the workplace with a completely redesigned architecture based on the principle of zero trust, functioning as a mesh network, and capable of separating work-related and personal internet traffic to safeguard both organizations and their employees. This approach has the potential to significantly enhance the way millions of people work globally.

This ambitious undertaking is spearheaded by a team of three founders. Tony Huie, the CEO, previously spent five years at Dropbox, leading international and new market expansion. He most recently served as a partner at the venture capital firm SignalFire. Alex Marshall, the Chief Product Officer, was a product manager at Dropbox and later led product development at Quartzy. Lior Rozner, the CTO, brings experience from Rakuten and Microsoft.

The company was established in 2019 and is now publicly launching its product, alongside announcing a Series A funding round of $17 million led by WndrCo, 8VC, SignalFire, and Green Bay Ventures. The Dropbox founders, Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, also participated in the investment.

Huie’s experience at Dropbox, observing its enterprise adoption and the evolving nature of collaboration in the cloud, inspired the creation of Twingate. “During my time there, I remained captivated by the changing dynamics of work and how organizations would adapt to this new landscape,” Huie stated. He explored various projects at SignalFire before focusing on improving corporate network infrastructure.

What does Twingate actually accomplish? It provides corporate IT professionals with a more adaptable method of connecting employee devices to the corporate network than a traditional VPN. For example, individual services or applications on a device can be configured to securely connect to specific servers or data centers. This allows applications like Slack to connect directly to Slack’s servers, and JIRA to connect directly to JIRA’s servers, bypassing the central hub required by a VPN.

This flexibility delivers two primary advantages. First, internet performance is expected to improve, as traffic travels directly to its destination instead of being routed through multiple relays. Twingate also incorporates “congestion” technology that dynamically adjusts routing to optimize performance based on changing internet conditions.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/24/free-vpn-bad-for-privacy/

Crucially, Twingate empowers corporate IT teams to implement granular security policies at the network level, ensuring that each network request is appropriate within its context. For instance, if a salesperson in the field attempts to access the company’s code server, Twingate can identify this as an unusual activity and immediately block the request.

“We’ve taken the concepts of edge computing and distributed computing and integrated them into the software running on our users’ devices,” Huie explained.

This level of customization and flexibility should be highly beneficial for IT staff, providing them with greater control over performance and security, while simultaneously enhancing the user experience, particularly for remote workers who may be geographically distant from a central VPN server.

According to Huie, Twingate is designed for straightforward customer onboarding, although the complexity may vary depending on the diversity of end-users and the number of services each user accesses. Twingate is compatible with popular single sign-on providers.

“Our core belief is that usability, for both end-users and administrators, must be balanced with robust technology and security,” Huie said. With $17 million in funding and a newly released product, the company’s future appears promising – and potentially detrimental to the future of VPNs.