A Beginner's Guide to VPNs (IPsec, OpenVPN) for Securing Your Industrial Network

This beginner's guide to VPNs explains what a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is and why it's a non-negotiable security tool for any VPN for industrial network applications. We'll cover how a VPN creates a secure, encrypted tunnel for your data over the public internet, protecting it from unauthorized access. We'll also provide a simple breakdown of the most common types, like IPsec for site-to-site connections and OpenVPN for remote user access, to help you make the right choice.

I've had this conversation many times. A company connects a critical piece of machinery at a remote site to the internet. It works, and they can see the data. The problem? They've just left the digital front door to their factory wide open for the entire world to see.

Let's be clear: connecting an industrial device to the internet without a VPN is an act of extreme negligence. It’s a massive security risk that no modern business should take.

The good news is that the solution is built right into any professional industrial router. That solution is a VPN, and understanding the basics is easier than you think. This guide will demystify what a VPN does and why it's your first and most important line of defense.

A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, creates a secure and private connection over a public network (the internet).

Here’s the best analogy I've found:

• The Internet is a Public Highway: Sending data without a VPN is like sending a postcard. Anyone who intercepts it can read the contents.
• A VPN is Your Private Armored Truck: A VPN takes your data, puts it inside a locked, encrypted box, and then places that box inside an armored truck to travel down the public highway. Even if someone could stop the truck, they can't open the box to see what's inside.

This encrypted tunnel is the heart of what a VPN does. It makes your private data completely unreadable and secure as it travels over the public internet.

When you're looking at a guide to VPNs, you'll see many acronyms, but for industrial use, they generally fall into two main categories.

• What it is: IPsec is a very robust and highly secure, industry-standard protocol. It's often the preferred choice for creating a permanent, always-on connection between two networks.
• The Analogy: Think of it as building a permanent, secure, private bridge between your remote factory and your main corporate headquarters.
• Best For: A VPN for industrial network scenarios that require a fixed, site-to-site connection that is "always on."

• What it is: OpenVPN is an extremely flexible, open-source, and highly secure protocol. It's incredibly popular for scenarios where an individual user needs to connect to a remote network.
• The Analogy: Think of it as giving a trusted engineer a secure, encrypted key card. They can use this key card from their laptop at home or in a hotel to securely open a door into the factory network.
• Best For: Providing secure remote access to individual users like technicians and engineers who need to troubleshoot or manage remote equipment.

The real 'aha!' moment is realizing you don't need a dedicated, complex security appliance for this. The industrial router that provides your cellular connectivity is also your VPN security gateway.

• All-in-One Solution: A professional industrial router comes with a full suite of these VPNs (IPsec, OpenVPN, WireGuard, DMVPN, etc.) built directly into its operating system (like RobustOS).
• Simple Configuration: You can typically configure these complex VPN tunnels through a user-friendly web interface, without needing to be a command-line expert.
• Cloud Simplification: For large fleets, a cloud platform like RCMS can further simplify the process with tools like RobustVPN, which can automate the setup of an OpenVPN network for hundreds of devices with just a few clicks.

In the modern IIoT landscape, a guide to VPNs is essential because this technology is not an optional add-on; it's the fundamental price of admission for securely connecting your industrial network to the internet. By choosing an industrial router with a comprehensive suite of built-in VPN protocols, you are empowering your business with the secure remote access needed for efficient modern operations, while protecting your critical assets from the ever-present threats of the digital world.

Learn more in our main guide:

• Industrial Router 101: A Beginner's Guide to Choosing the Right Device