Perimeter 81 Assessment: Can It Nonetheless Maintain 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 spread of safety features. These options embody a zero-trust structure, superior malware safety, and gadget posture examine.

Proceed studying to be taught extra about Perimeter 81 and what it gives as a community safety resolution.

Perimeter 81 pricing

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

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

The Perimeter 81 pricing construction is much 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 whenever you place it aspect by aspect with Twingate, whose highest pricing 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 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 secure?

Sure, I discovered Perimeter 81 to be a secure and safe VPN software program resolution. Perimeter 81 has a variety of superior safety features that make it a secure VPN for various organizations. The device options multi-factor authentication (MFA), prompting workers to cross by way of a multi-step account login course of earlier than having access to an organization’s sources.

As an enterprise resolution, I respect that Perimeter 81 gives single sign-on, which integrates with enterprise companies like Azure, Google Suite, LDAP, or OKTA to streamline secure login for firm workers working remotely. Nevertheless, I need to point out that SSO isn’t accessible on the Necessities plan — so preserve that in thoughts when contemplating their subscriptions.

The answer additionally employs AES-256 encryption utilizing IPsec or WireGuard protocols and helps community safety features akin to break up tunneling, net filtering, a firewall, and an At all times On VPN possibility. One other notable safety function is Computerized Wi-Fi safety, which ensures that workers don’t get entry to firm sources 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 information for as much as 60 days earlier than it’s deleted. Nevertheless, Perimeter 81 claims solely the workspace admin has entry to that information.

Key options of Perimeter 81

Under are some options of Perimeter 81 I discovered fascinating.

Agentless utility entry

Certainly one of my favourite Perimeter 81 options is its Agentless Zero Belief Community Entry. It really works by giving workers or third-party contractors restricted entry to an organization community. The function can grant particular workers entry by way of 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: Find out how to Create an Efficient Cybersecurity Consciousness Program (TechRepublic Premium)

DNS Filtering

One other Perimeter 81 inclusion I like is its DNS Filtering. This function 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 tackle shall be whitelisted or blacklisted on workers’ gadgets.

I envision this to be particularly useful for hybrid workforces and companies with absolutely distant employees.

Gadget Posture Examine

In case your division usually handles delicate information, I counsel trying into Perimeter 81’s Gadget Posture Examine or DPC. DPC ensures the corporate’s most necessary sources are secured by granting entry strictly to solely gadgets that meet the safety posture necessities. Perimeter 81 DPC guidelines can examine 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 function. 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 monitor consumer publicity to malicious content material with intensive stories.

SEE: Find out how to Inform If Your VPN Is Working Correctly (TechRepublic)

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

Per my analysis, Perimeter 81 helps all the key working programs 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.

In the case of common enterprise purposes and cloud companies, Perimeter One is appropriate with Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. For id suppliers and SAML 2.0 suppliers, I applaud Perimeter 81 for having broad help general. 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

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

Perimeter 81 cons

• Free trial and free model not accessible.
• 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 workers who require safe distant entry to their firm’s inner community. From my overview, Perimeter 81 won’t be appropriate for smaller companies until you’re keen to pay for the upper plans to have entry to its full safety features.

Perimeter 81 options

Whereas Perimeter 81 is usually a good safety resolution for many organizations, there are nonetheless different noteworthy options to take a look at when you really feel Perimeter 81 doesn’t suit your wants. Under are two I’ve analyzed and take into account nearly as good substitutes.

NordLayer

NordLayer is a safe distant entry resolution from Nord Safety. NordLayer’s paid plan lets you create safe connections between distant gadgets and company networks. One added benefit NordLayer has over Perimeter 81 is the 24/7 dwell/electronic mail help offered throughout all its plans. Perimeter 81 gives dwell help on increased plans solely.

Twingate

In the event you’re a small group or a person on a price range and in search of a great community safety different to Perimeter 81 that gives a free plan, Twingate may be a great decide. The device 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 device gives a 14-day free trial throughout all its premium plans.

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

Assessment methodology

My overview of Perimeter 81 relies totally on the consumer expertise, integration capabilities, and safety features. Most of my evaluation was carried out by amassing data from the Perimeter 81 web site, the place I reviewed and in contrast their capabilities with different comparable companies like NordLayer and Twingate. I additionally appeared into consumer suggestions on the product from common overview websites to realize insights into what customers are saying in regards to the resolution.

I rated Perimeter 81 utilizing an inner algorithm to get a score of three.9 out of 5 stars. The scoring was based mostly on Perimeter 81 by itself and in relation to different VPNs accessible at the moment.