Would you be appalled to know that data breaches occur every 39 seconds?[1] In this high-risk environment, VPNs provide the essential encryption and secure connections businesses need to protect sensitive data from these relentless threats.
According to the 2023 cybersecurity report, 92% of organizations rely on VPNs for data protection[2]highlighting their importance, especially as remote work becomes more widespread. However, there’s a downside: finding the balance between top-tier security and optimal performance can often be a trade-off.
Split Tunneling VPN solves this issue by allowing you to route sensitive traffic through the secure VPN tunnel while letting non-sensitive traffic bypass it, boosting both security and performance.
For businesses wanting to simplify Split Tunneling, Scalefusion Veltar has you covered. It offers a simple, scalable solution that removes the hassle of setting up Split Tunneling, so you can enjoy both security and speed—without the headache.
Let’s take a closer look at how exactly it happens.
The growing need for VPN split tunneling flexibility
The shift to remote work and cloud services has expanded the attack surface for many businesses. According to Cybersecurity Ventures[3], cybercrime will cost the world $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, highlighting the urgent need for robust network security solutions.
One of the most effective ways to address these growing threats is by implementing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which provide encrypted communication between employees, external partners, and cloud services.
VPNs are a critical component of any security strategy. However, VPNs can also cause network slowdowns due to the overhead of encrypting all traffic. For an IT admin or CTO, ensuring that employees can access both secure resources and local services efficiently can be a significant challenge.
This is where VPN Split Tunneling becomes a valuable tool.
With it, organizations can route sensitive traffic through an encrypted tunnel while allowing non-essential traffic to bypass it, improving both security and performance. Solutions like Scalefusion Veltar offer businesses the ability to implement split tunneling, helping to balance security needs with operational efficiency.
What is VPN Split Tunneling?
In simple terms, VPN Split Tunneling is a feature that enables organizations to manage their internet traffic in two ways: routing some through the secure VPN tunnel, while letting the rest bypass it. This can significantly boost performance for non-sensitive activities while ensuring security for high-priority business applications.
Why does this matter for your business?
VPN encryption often leads to noticeable performance lags—particularly with high-bandwidth applications like video conferencing, media streaming, or cloud file transfers. A 2024 new report[4] found that VPN usage can result in a 50% reduction in internet speed.
By using VPN Split Tunneling, businesses can minimize these performance issues by ensuring only sensitive traffic (such as work emails or internal file servers) goes through the encrypted VPN, while leaving non-sensitive traffic (like streaming services) unaffected.
For example, let’s say your sales team is using a CRM system (Customer Relationship Management) that requires encryption, but they’re also streaming a training video. With Split Tunneling, they can securely access the CRM while enjoying uninterrupted video streaming.
Who needs VPN split tunneling?
As CTOs, IT administrators, and CEOs of SMBs, your goal is to provide your teams with the best tools to stay productive and secure. Here’s a look at the scenarios where VPN Split Tunneling can be most beneficial:
Remote and hybrid workforces
The rise of hybrid and remote workforces means employees can access sensitive corporate data from varied locations. The 2023 Gallup poll reports that at least 59% of employees still work remotely at least part-time[5]. Scalefusion Veltar offers an easy-to-configure VPN solution with Split Tunneling that lets employees access company resources securely while maintaining optimal speeds for personal use (browsing, streaming, etc.).
Cloud and SaaS applications
Many organizations now rely on cloud-based applications for everything from project management to communication. These services don’t always need VPN protection, but employees still need a secure connection for accessing corporate networks. With Scalefusion Veltar’s Split Tunneling, businesses can securely connect to internal networks while still maintaining the speed necessary for external cloud services.
Employees accessing local resources
Often, employees need access to local resources such as printers, file servers, or even IoT devices that are not connected to the internet. However, routing this local traffic through a VPN can slow down network speeds. With Scalefusion Veltar’s VPN solution, non-essential traffic can bypass the VPN, helping to keep local services running smoothly while ensuring that sensitive communications are still securely routed.
Geoblocking & content access
Employees in different regions often face geo-restrictions, whether it’s accessing global news or corporate media. With Split Tunneling, organizations can route region-specific traffic through a VPN tunnel while allowing global traffic to bypass. Scalefusion Veltar enables businesses to seamlessly manage this with split tunneling for better access to global content and services without compromising security.
How does VPN Split Tunneling work?
To understand VPN Split Tunneling, you need to know how it functions within the network infrastructure. Here’s a high-level breakdown:
- VPN connection setup: Employees first establish a VPN connection, which encrypts their traffic to protect sensitive information.
- Traffic routing configuration: Scalefusion Veltar enables the IT Admin to configure rules to direct specific traffic through the VPN while allowing other traffic to bypass it.
- Automatic traffic management: Once configured, Scalefusion Veltar automatically manages the routing of traffic to the appropriate destinations. Employees don’t need to do anything to enjoy optimized speeds.
Scalefusion Veltar’s VPN service offers an intuitive interface that lets IT administrators easily configure VPN Split Tunneling, making it simple to prioritize critical applications and ensure non-sensitive traffic flows smoothly.
Types of VPN Split Tunneling
App-Based Split Tunneling: With this configuration, you can specify certain applications to use the VPN while others bypass it. For instance, you might want email clients or file-sharing apps to be secured, while web browsers can access the internet directly.
Illustration: Use Scalefusion Veltar’s Split Tunneling to direct your email and company chat apps through the VPN, while allowing video streaming apps to bypass it for a faster experience.
URL-Based Split Tunneling: In URL-based Split Tunneling, you set up rules that route traffic from specific websites or URLs through the VPN for added security, while non-sensitive traffic from other sites bypasses the VPN, ensuring better speed and performance.
Illustration: Ideal for businesses that need secure access to sensitive resources (like internal or financial sites) while allowing less critical traffic, such as general browsing, to bypass the VPN for better speed.
Inverse Split Tunneling: Inverse Split Tunneling is the reverse of regular Split Tunneling. In this case, all traffic goes through the VPN except for specific apps or websites you choose to exclude from the tunnel.
Illustration: Use Scalefusion Veltar to route all traffic through the VPN, except for non-sensitive local services like printers or file servers.
Split Tunnel vs. Full Tunnel
As an IT professional, you’ll often find yourself weighing the tradeoffs between Split Tunneling and Full Tunnel VPN configurations. Here’s a quick comparison to guide your decision-making:
| Feature | VPN Split Tunnel | Full Tunnel |
|---|---|---|
| Security | Secures only selected traffic | Encrypted traffic |
| Performance | Improved speed for non-sensitive traffic | Potential performance slowdown |
| Easy of use | Requires configuration | Simple and more secure default setup |
| Risk | Potential for unprotected traffic | Lower risk of exposure (more secure) |
Benefits and Risks of VPN Split Tunneling
With VPN split tunneling, companies can strike the perfect balance between security and performance, ensuring smooth and efficient operations without compromise. By allowing certain traffic to bypass the VPN while keeping sensitive data secure, businesses gain the flexibility to optimize their VPN usage. This not only improves speed but also helps manage bandwidth more effectively and provides greater control over which traffic is routed through the VPN.
Now, let’s take a closer look at how the benefits of VPN split tunneling come into play.
Improved speed and performance
When you use a VPN, all your internet traffic typically gets routed through the encrypted tunnel, which can slow things down. But with a split tunneling VPN, you get the best of both worlds. You can still send sensitive data through the VPN to keep it secure, but things like streaming or browsing that don’t need that extra protection can go straight through your regular connection. This means you’re not dealing with that VPN slowdown for stuff that doesn’t require encryption, giving you faster speeds where it matters.
Optimized bandwidth usage
We all know how frustrating it is when your internet speed drops, especially when you’re trying to handle multiple things at once. With VPN split tunneling, you can prioritize traffic to make sure the critical stuff – like work apps or secure communications – gets the bandwidth it needs, while less important activities, like watching Netflix, can bypass the VPN and free up resources. This way, you don’t waste bandwidth on things that don’t need to be encrypted, and your connection remains smooth and responsive.
Better user control
One of the key advantages of VPN split tunneling is the level of control it offers. Instead of automatically routing everything through the VPN, you can pick and choose what goes through and what doesn’t. This means you can send sensitive things like emails and file transfers through the VPN while letting your casual web browsing take the faster, direct route. It’s all about customizing your VPN experience to fit what you’re doing, making it more flexible and efficient.
Risks
Compliance risks: Certain industry regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) mandate that all traffic, especially sensitive data, must be routed through a secure VPN to ensure compliance. Split Tunneling in a VPN can route certain traffic outside the secure VPN tunnel, potentially violating regulatory requirements for data protection.
Impact: Non-compliance with legal standards can result in fines, penalties, and loss of trust from clients or regulatory bodies.
Network infiltration: VPN Split Tunneling routes some traffic outside the secure VPN tunnel, leaving it unprotected. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities in this unsecured traffic path to access internal systems.
Impact: Network infiltrators gain unauthorized access to sensitive systems, causing data breaches, theft, or malicious attacks on the internal network.
Business use cases for VPN Split Tunneling
Routing sensitive data through a secure VPN allows non-sensitive traffic to bypass. It optimizes bandwidth usage, reducing congestion and improving speeds, especially in high-traffic environments. VPN Split tunneling enhances user experience by providing seamless access to both corporate and personal content. It plays a crucial role in industries like education, payments, and remote work, balancing security, performance, and convenience.
Let’s deep dive into how Scalefusion Veltar’s VPN Split Tunneling is empowering businesses in various sectors:
Reduced bandwidth strain in high-traffic environments: In environments like video conferencing or data-heavy applications, split tunneling helps avoid overloading the corporate VPN by routing video and file-sharing traffic directly through the internet, ensuring the VPN is only used for critical business communication.
Secure access to educational resources: In a hybrid learning setup, students and teachers access both sensitive school resources (like gradebooks) and external content (such as educational websites). VPN split tunneling securely routes sensitive data through the VPN while allowing non-sensitive traffic, like videos, to bypass it. This optimizes performance, reduces VPN load, and ensures seamless access to external resources.
Employee access to personal apps while on VPN: An employee may need to access personal services such as banking or streaming, while also connected to the corporate VPN for work. With split tunneling, personal traffic can bypass the VPN, allowing secure corporate access without restricting the employee’s personal needs.
Secure payment transactions with VPN Split Tunneling: In the payments industry, VPN split tunneling ensures secure access to internal payment systems and transaction data via the VPN, while allowing non-sensitive tasks (like browsing vendor websites) to bypass it. This reduces VPN load, speeds up transactions, and keeps critical payment data protected.
The Scalefusion Veltar advantage
When it comes to VPN Split Tunneling, Scalefusion Veltar offers an unmatched combination of customization, security, and performance. Whether you’re a small business or a growing enterprise, Scalefusion Veltar makes it easy to configure and implement VPN Split Tunneling to match your specific needs.
- Advanced configuration: Easily set up app-based or URL-based split tunneling, providing a streamlined experience for both administrators and users.
- Security & Speed: Ensure that your sensitive data stays encrypted, while non-sensitive traffic remains lightning fast, optimizing your network for both performance and security.
- Scalable for SMBs: As your business grows, Scalefusion Veltar’s flexible VPN solution scales with your needs, making it ideal for SMBs with hybrid teams or remote workforces.
Final words
For IT leaders, system administrators, CTOs, and CEOs focused on balancing security and efficiency, VPN Split Tunneling offers the perfect solution. By enabling you to control the flow of traffic, it allows your organization to maximize performance while ensuring that sensitive data remains secure.
As businesses continue to rely on remote work and cloud-based services, Scalefusion Veltar’s VPN Split Tunneling solution provides the flexibility and scalability needed to optimize your network security and performance. Whether it’s securing business-critical applications or enhancing employee productivity, Scalefusion Veltar is a trusted partner in helping organizations achieve their goals in an increasingly complex digital world.
