Can It Nonetheless Hold Up in 2024?

Perimeter 81 is a cloud-based community safety resolution designed to assist organizations enhance safety on company networks. The answer takes community safety past the capabilities of conventional VPNs and firewalls, with over 50 factors of presence worldwide and a variety of safety features. These options embody a zero-trust structure, superior malware safety, and gadget posture test.

Proceed studying to study extra about Perimeter 81 and what it affords as a community safety resolution.

Perimeter 81 pricing

Perimeter 81 affords 4 paid plans: Necessities, Premium, Premium Plus, and Enterprise.

Right here’s a quick overview of their characteristic and worth variations:

The Perimeter 81 pricing construction is just like a few of its rivals, like NordLayer. For instance, the annual billing within the Premium and Premium Plus value $12/consumer/month and $16/consumer/ month respectively. In the meantime, their equivalents in NordLayer — Core and Premium — value $11 per consumer/month and $14 per consumer/month, respectively.

Perimeter 81 is costlier once you place it facet by facet with Twingate, whose highest pricing is $10 per consumer/month for annual billing.

Whereas there is no such thing as a free trial obtainable, I commend Perimeter 81 for providing a 30-day money-back assure for every of their plans. I additionally respect how potential patrons can request a demo to affix a name and obtain a 15-minute walkthrough of the VPN.

SEE: Free VPN vs Paid VPN: Which One Is Proper for You? (TechRepublic)

Is Perimeter 81 protected?

Sure, I discovered Perimeter 81 to be a protected and safe VPN software program resolution. Perimeter 81 has quite a lot of superior safety features that make it a protected VPN for various organizations. The instrument options multi-factor authentication (MFA), prompting staff to cross via a multi-step account login course of earlier than having access to an organization’s assets.

As an enterprise resolution, I respect that Perimeter 81 affords single sign-on, which integrates with enterprise companies like Azure, Google Suite, LDAP, or OKTA to streamline protected login for firm staff working remotely. Nonetheless, I wish to point out that SSO isn’t obtainable on the Necessities plan — so maintain that in thoughts when contemplating their subscriptions.

The answer additionally employs AES-256 encryption utilizing IPsec or WireGuard protocols and helps community safety features equivalent to break up tunneling, internet filtering, a firewall, and an At all times On VPN choice. One other notable safety characteristic is Computerized Wi-Fi safety, which ensures that staff don’t get entry to firm assets when their connection is uncovered.

SEE: 10 Methods a Zero Belief Structure Protects In opposition to Ransomware (TechRepublic)

One main security concern I’ve about Perimeter 81 is its logs coverage. The supplier retains IP log knowledge for as much as 60 days earlier than it’s deleted. Nonetheless, Perimeter 81 claims solely the workspace admin has entry to that knowledge.

Key options of Perimeter 81

Beneath are some options of Perimeter 81 I discovered fascinating.

Agentless utility entry

One in every of my favourite Perimeter 81 options is its Agentless Zero Belief Community Entry. It really works by giving staff or third-party contractors restricted entry to an organization community. The characteristic can grant particular staff entry via the browser to a selected utility — not the broader firm community. This helps admins monitor worker or third-party contractor entry to firm networks to know the place and the way entry happens.

SEE: How you can Create an Efficient Cybersecurity Consciousness Program (TechRepublic Premium)

DNS Filtering

One other Perimeter 81 inclusion I like is its DNS Filtering. This characteristic limits customers’ entry to unauthorized web sites that might hurt an organization’s community infrastructure. It helps IT groups decide which content material or IP handle might be whitelisted or blacklisted on staff’ gadgets.

I envision this to be particularly helpful for hybrid workforces and companies with totally distant staff.

Machine Posture Examine

In case your division commonly handles delicate knowledge, I recommend trying into Perimeter 81’s Machine Posture Examine or DPC. DPC ensures the corporate’s most necessary assets are secured by granting entry strictly to solely gadgets that meet the safety posture necessities. Perimeter 81 DPC guidelines can test Android, iOS, Home windows, MacOS, and Linux gadgets earlier than and through community entry, and take away gadgets the place there’s a discrepancy between consumer coverage and posture.

Superior Malware Safety

For extra conventional menace safety, Perimeter 81’s Superior Malware Safety is a welcome characteristic. It makes use of a mixture of signature-based detection, heuristics, and superior machine studying to establish and block malware and zero-day assaults. Personally, I respect the way it allows admins to simply observe consumer publicity to malicious content material with in depth stories.

SEE: How you can Inform If Your VPN Is Working Correctly (TechRepublic)

What working methods, ID suppliers, and cloud companies is Perimeter 81 appropriate with?

Per my analysis, Perimeter 81 helps all the main working methods and gadgets. Particularly, it helps the next:

• Home windows 10 or later.
• macOS 11 or later.
• Linux 7 or later.
• iOS 15 or later.
• Android 8.1 or later.

With regards to in style enterprise purposes and cloud companies, Perimeter One is appropriate with Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. For identification suppliers and SAML 2.0 suppliers, I applaud Perimeter 81 for having broad assist total. Proper now, it’s appropriate with:

• Google.
• Auth0.
• Azure AD.
• ADFS.
• Rippling.
• Okta.
• OneLogin.
• JumpCloud.
• PingIdentity.
• PingFederate.

As a disclaimer, the above listing displays IdPs supported as of October 2024.

Perimeter 81 professionals

• Person interface is simple to know.
• Integrates with many third-party options like Azure, Google Suite, LDAP, and OKTA.
• 50+ international knowledge facilities.
• Provides unsegmented community entry.
• Helps a number of platforms and working methods.
• Provides a 30-day money-back assure.

Perimeter 81 cons

• Free trial and free model not obtainable.
• Important safety features not included in some plans.
• Retains IP logs for as much as 60 days relying on plan.

Who’s Perimeter 81 for?

I like to recommend Perimeter 81 for medium to massive organizations with staff who require safe distant entry to their firm’s inside community. From my assessment, Perimeter 81 may not be appropriate for smaller companies except you’re keen to pay for the upper plans to have entry to its full safety features.

Perimeter 81 alternate options

Whereas Perimeter 81 is usually a good safety resolution for many organizations, there are nonetheless different noteworthy alternate options to take a look at for those who really feel Perimeter 81 doesn’t suit your wants. Beneath are two I’ve analyzed and contemplate pretty much as good substitutes.

NordLayer

NordLayer is a safe distant entry resolution from Nord Safety. NordLayer’s paid plan allows you to create safe connections between distant gadgets and company networks. One added benefit NordLayer has over Perimeter 81 is the 24/7 stay/e-mail assist supplied throughout all its plans. Perimeter 81 affords stay assist on increased plans solely.

Twingate

Should you’re a small workforce or a person on a price range and on the lookout for a great community safety various to Perimeter 81 that provides a free plan, Twingate may be a great decide. The instrument is a cloud-based service that gives safe distant entry to a company’s networks. Pricing begins at $5/consumer/month for annual billing. That is less expensive than Perimeter 81, which begins at $8 per 30 days. Moreover, the instrument affords a 14-day free trial throughout all its premium plans.

SEE: Completely different Forms of VPNs & When to Use Them (TechRepublic)

Evaluate methodology

My assessment of Perimeter 81 is predicated totally on the consumer expertise, integration capabilities, and safety features. Most of my evaluation was accomplished by amassing data from the Perimeter 81 web site, the place I reviewed and in contrast their capabilities with different related companies like NordLayer and Twingate. I additionally regarded into consumer suggestions on the product from in style assessment websites to achieve insights into what customers are saying in regards to the resolution.

I rated Perimeter 81 utilizing an inside algorithm to get a ranking of three.9 out of 5 stars. The scoring was primarily based on Perimeter 81 by itself and in relation to different VPNs obtainable at this time.