Perimeter 81 is a cloud-based community safety resolution designed to assist organizations increase safety on company networks. The answer takes community safety past the capabilities of conventional VPNs and firewalls, with greater than 50 factors of presence worldwide and a spread of security measures. These options embrace a zero-trust structure, superior malware safety and machine perspective management.

Learn on to study extra about Perimeter 81 and what it gives as a community safety resolution.

Perimeter 81 costs

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

Here’s a transient overview of their options and value variations:

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

Perimeter 81 is dearer whenever you stack it side-by-side with Twingate, the best value of which is $10 per consumer/month for annual billing.

Whereas there is no such thing as a free trial accessible, I commend Perimeter 81 for providing a 30-day money-back assure on every of their plans. I additionally recognize how potential consumers can request a demo to hitch 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 secure?

Sure, I discovered Perimeter 81 to be a secure and safe VPN software program resolution. Perimeter 81 has many superior security measures that make it a safe VPN for various organizations. The software options multi-factor authentication (MFA), which prompts staff to undergo a multi-step account login course of earlier than accessing an organization’s sources.

As an enterprise resolution, I recognize that Perimeter 81 gives single sign-on, which integrates with enterprise providers equivalent to Azure, Google Suite, LDAP or OKTA to streamline safe login for firm staff working remotely. Nonetheless, I need to point out that SSO shouldn’t be accessible on the Necessities plan – so preserve that in thoughts when contemplating their subscriptions.

The answer additionally makes use of AES-256 encryption utilizing IPsec or WireGuard protocols and helps community security measures equivalent to break up tunneling, internet filtering, a firewall and an All the time On VPN choice. One other notable safety characteristic is automated Wi-Fi safety, which ensures that staff can not entry firm sources when their connection is uncovered.

SEE: 10 methods a zero-trust structure protects towards ransomware (TechRepublic)

One main safety concern I’ve about Perimeter 81 is its logging coverage. The supplier retains IP log information for as much as 60 days earlier than deleting it. Nonetheless, Perimeter 81 claims that solely the workspace administrator has entry to that information.

Key options of Perimeter 81

Under are some options of Perimeter 81 that I discovered attention-grabbing.

Agentless utility entry

Certainly one 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 provide particular staff browser entry to a particular utility — not the broader firm community. It helps directors monitor worker or third-party contractor entry to firm networks to know the place and the way entry is happening.

SEE: The way to Create an Efficient Cybersecurity Consciousness Program (TechRepublic Premium)

DNA filtering

One other Perimeter 81 inclusion I like is its DNA filtering. This characteristic restricts customers’ entry to unauthorized web sites that might hurt an organization’s community infrastructure. This helps IT groups decide which content material or IP handle will likely be whitelisted or blacklisted on worker units.

I counsel that this will likely be particularly useful for hybrid workforces and companies with absolutely distant staff.

Machine posture verify

In case your division frequently handles delicate information, I counsel you try Perimeter 81’s Machine Posture Verify or DPC. DPC ensures that the corporate’s most necessary sources are secured by strictly granting entry to solely units that meet the safety posture necessities. Perimeter 81 DPC guidelines can verify Android, iOS, Home windows, MacOS and Linux units earlier than and through community entry, and take away units the place there’s a discrepancy between consumer coverage and posture.

Superior malware safety

For extra conventional risk 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 recognize the way it permits directors to simply monitor consumer publicity to malicious content material with in depth studies.

SEE: The way to Inform If Your VPN is Working (TechRepublic)

What working methods, ID suppliers and cloud providers is Perimeter 81 suitable with?

In keeping with my analysis, Perimeter 81 helps all main working methods and units. It particularly 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.

By way of common enterprise purposes and cloud providers, Perimeter One is suitable with Amazon AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. For id suppliers and SAML 2.0 suppliers, I commend Perimeter 81 for total broad help. It’s presently suitable with:

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

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

Circumference 81 advantages

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

Circumference 81 cons

• Free trial and free model not accessible.
• Necessary security measures 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 giant organizations with staff who want safe distant entry to their firm’s inside community. From my overview, Perimeter 81 will not be appropriate for smaller companies except you’re prepared to pay for the upper plans to have entry to its full security measures.

Round 81 options

Whereas Perimeter 81 generally is a good safety resolution for many organizations, there are different notable options to take a look at in case you really feel Perimeter 81 would not suit your wants. Under are two that I’ve analyzed and contemplate to be 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 units and company networks. One extra benefit that NordLayer has over Perimeter 81 is the 24/7 dwell/e-mail help supplied throughout all of its plans. Perimeter 81 solely gives dwell help on greater plans.

Twin gates

If you’re a small workforce or a person on a price range and are searching for a very good community safety various to Perimeter 81 that provides a free plan, Twingate might be a sensible choice. The software is a cloud-based service that gives safe distant entry to a company’s networks. Pricing begins at $5/consumer/month for annual billing. It is less expensive than Perimeter 81, which begins at $8 a month. Moreover, the software gives a 14-day free trial for all its premium plans.

SEE: Completely different Varieties of VPNs and When to Use Them (TechRepublic)

Evaluate methodology

My overview of Perimeter 81 is based on the consumer expertise, integration capabilities, and security measures. Most of my evaluation was finished by gathering info from the Perimeter 81 web site, the place I reviewed and in contrast their capabilities to different related providers equivalent to NordLayer and Twingate. I additionally checked out consumer suggestions on the product from common overview websites to realize perception into what customers are saying concerning the resolution.

I rated Perimeter 81 utilizing an inside algorithm to get a score of three.9 out of 5 stars. The rating is predicated on Perimeter 81 by itself and relative to different VPNs accessible right this moment.