VPNs' Future: Less Reliant on Users, More Transparent, And Smarter

Interested in what the future has in store for VPNs? Virtual private networking is poised to become more automated and intelligent, especially as endpoints associated with cloud services and the IoT need protection. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this article.

Market consolidation, transparent operation, greater intelligence: If this were Jeopardy, here's where you'd say, "What's the future of the VPN market look like?" Then you'd be on to Technology Forecasts for $500.

What isn't in question is that virtual private networking technology will remain critical to protecting users, organizations, and their data. What is changing, according to industry experts, is the degree of automation and intelligence in VPN technology, not to mention the degree to which VPN functionality resides less in the hands of users (consistently cited as secure networking's weakest link) and more on the back end of the network. But continued growth of cloud services and the Internet of Things (Iot) means secure connectivity will still be needed.