Virtual Private Network Keeps Clips from Leaking

When you hear the term virtual private network, you may have an idea of what the words mean separately but aren't sure what exactly it is all together. Virtual private network, when it comes to cinema, is a secure way of transferring files to someone without worrying about others getting their hands on it. This is how companies fight clips leaking early for movies or television shows. But how does virtual private network work?

A virtual private network is a way of connection to a LAN (local area network), which we all use in our daily use of the internet. Often, authentication is needed for the right users to be able to access the information and an encryption to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the information and reading the network packets. The internet should never be assumed to be a secure connection and this is why a virtual private network is so important to keeping digital cinema safe.

A virtual private network also has the ability to extend a connection across geographic locations. Often information cannot be accessed by outside regions because of firewalls and other issues blocking the data packets. A VPN does something called tunneling, which lets it bypass firewalls so the person in China can get the information you are sending from the United States without any problems.

There are two types of virtual private networks. Remote-access VPN lets users connect with a remote computer network. Users can then access resources as if they were plugged into the network's servers. This is great for individual clients or employees accessing the information.

The second type of virtual private network is site-to-site. This allows multiple fixed locations to connect with each other over a public network. This is important when you need a variety of offices looking at the same information. Within site-to-site are two sub-types. Intranet-based lets multiple remote locations connect in a single private network. Extranet-based connects two companies LANS while still prevent access to each others separate intranets.

So when is a virtual private network necessary in digital cinema? It is when you need to send your film data to another company for post production. The last thing you need is someone else getting their hands on footage from a television show or movie you worked so hard on, especially unedited and not ready for the public, and find that it's distributed all over the internet. This is how leaks are created and it takes a whole lot of public relations and sometimes re-filming to fix the issue.

Virtual private networks are incredibly important in this age of technology and fast information. You always need to protect your data and it's a very secure and reliable way to do so.


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