Virtual private networks can be a cost-effective and safe way for different corporations to provide users access to the corporate network and for distant networks to communicate with each other across the Internet. VPN connections are more cost-effective than dedicated personal lines; typically a VPN involves two parts: the protected or "inside" network, which provides physical and administrative security to protect the transmission; and a less reliable, "outside" network or segment (usually through the Internet). Generally, a firewall sits between a distant user's workplace or client and the host network or server.

As the user's client establishes the communication with the firewall, the client may pass verification data to an authentication service inside the perimeter. A known trusted person, from time to time only when using trusted devices, can be provided with appropriate security privileges to access resources not accessible to common users.
Many VPN client programs can be configured to need that all IP traffic must pass through the tunnel while the VPN connection is active, for improved security. From the user's perspective, this means that while the VPN connection is active, all admittance outside the secure network must pass through the same firewall as if the user were physically linked to the inside of the secured network.

This reduces the risk that an invader might gain access to the secured network by attacking the VPN client's host PC: to other computers on the employee's home network, or on the public internet, it is as though the machine running the VPN client just does not exist. Such security is significant because other computers local to the network on which the client computer is operating may be not trusted or partially trusted. Even with a home network that is protected from the exterior internet by a firewall, people who share a home may be simultaneously working for different employers over their relevant VPN connections from the shared home network. Each employer would therefore desire to ensure their proprietary data is kept secure, even if another computer in the local network gets infected with hardware.

And if a travelling employee uses a VPN client from a Wi-Fi right of entry point in a public place, such security is even more significant. However, the use of IPX/SPX is one way users might still be able to access restricted resources.

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