Businesses have had to adapt to change quicker than usual with the rapidly evolving cybersecurity climate. While navigating difficult times – especially since 2020 – most organizations have required more from their network security solutions, with legacy perimeter security lacking the fluidity needed to keep up with modern-day security demands. As a result, NordVPN Teams has grown from being only a business VPN and recently relaunched as NordLayer. The product is now a far more comprehensive, contemporary, and dynamic adaptive network access solution for organizations of all sizes.

Since remote work has become part of everyday life, traditional VPN tools have become less optimal to protect business networks while complying with security requirements and policies. Outdated infrastructure, the continual risk of security breaches, and time-consuming, complex network upgrades are ongoing challenges for any modern organization.

The new era of cybersecurity comes in the form of Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) infrastructure and the Zero Trust model. SASE combines multiple security elements to form a robust online defense against known and unknown threats. Zero Trust focuses on user authorization and identification to ensure secure access to vital assets.

NordLayer – presented by the world’s most trusted cybersecurity brand, Nord Security – offers more advanced business-oriented network security solutions than ever — designed to reflect a layered approach to security that sits within the SASE framework. Leaning on Zero Trust principles, NordLayer adapts to the demands of business and remote teams to provide maximum protection and secure access.

NordLayer offers a range of flexible security features that are efficient to implement while being easy to combine and scale according to your company’s requirements. It’s also hardware-free, cost-efficient, and simple to use — suitable for ad-hoc and long-term needs alike.

Whatever the security concern, NordLayer has a solution to it.

The problem with change

Many businesses faced difficulties supporting remote users and enabling company network access when the world began to adopt hybrid work setups. New security measures were needed to ensure business continuity and maintain high-security levels to prevent potential threats. Implementing and overhauling entire network security products were often overly complex and time-consuming.

Simplified installation and configuration are now some of the main factors encouraging businesses to change. Despite having their hand forced into radically upgrading their current cybersecurity measures during the pandemic, a simple solution – like NordLayer – alleviates the challenges previously faced by IT admins.

What’s new with NordLayer?

Easily scalable and adaptable depending on company needs — NordLayer is a dynamic network security solution for modern businesses. Formerly known as NordVPN Teams, it began as a business VPN adaptation of a B2C NordVPN product. NordLayer is developed for organizations of all sizes and designed to meet every business need — whether large-scale or ad hoc.

NordVPN Teams recently rebranded to NordLayer — with a more dynamic and layered security approach for existing business networks. The product offering is refreshed and adheres to the best practices of SASE and Zero Trust-defined frameworks. NordLayer makes implementing extensive security measures straightforward.

NordLayer is hardware-free and can be deployed within minutes — reducing the hassle and disruption to everyday working that has proved a challenge for other such services. On top of the seamless setup experience, the solution provides a centralized management system allowing accessible and sustainable company growth.

What features does NordLayer offer?

The NordLayer solution fits in and around your existing architecture to enable a fluid transition to SASE-aligned security. Private gateways, site-to-site linkage, and fixed IPs enhance service quality and create virtual locations to make company resources easy to reach for remote employees.

Smart Remote Access by NordLayer protects file-sharing between multiple devices when connected to the application. The convenient NordLayer Control Panel has everything needed for IT admins to manage the entire company network and who’s accessing it in one place. They also offer centralized billing to reduce workload, and simple license transferability allows for quickly adding or removing access to work resources.

Familiar features remain available with NordLayer, like AES 256-bit traffic encryption, business VPN capabilities, and user validation tools Multi-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Single-Sign-On (SSO). With shared server locations in over 30 countries worldwide, plus optional dedicated servers available, company data, activity, and security are kept safe.

Hybrid environments function on secure BYOD policies, seamless integration with various operating systems and infrastructures, compatible with major service providers. Remote workforces and company network infrastructure operate under regulatory compliance following data protection, identity, and security requirements.

Pricing plans

The Basic plan starts from as little as $7 per user per month and contains most business-first features. The Advanced Plan starts at $9 per user per month, with the added benefit of a dedicated server, allowing the implementation of custom private gateways for all teams and a custom IP allow list for complete network access control.

Basic plan subscription integrates major operating systems, multi-cloud resources, and user authentication, compatible with leading service providers. Besides network security and protection features such as malware detection and data encryption, NordLayer provides 24/7 tech-savvy support, an intuitive control panel with centralized settings, and a billing feature.

Advanced plan has all the Basic features plus fixed IP addresses, IP allowlisting, and private gateway set up to provide seamless access to company infrastructure and network segmentation.

For the Enterprise plan, reach out to their sales team for a quote — the premium plan for larger companies specifically. Customizable to individual businesses, this option includes additional features tailored to more extensive company security needs. NordLayer provides expert, technically-minded support to address any questions or further requirements with any of the three plan options.

NordLayer pricing plans also come with a 22% discount if you pay annually.

Why choose to use NordLayer?

The surface areas for external cyberattacks and internal data breaches have grown with increasingly distributed workforces. As the traditional company network perimeter has changed — so has NordLayer.

Built around the Zero Trust principles of ‘deny all, permit some’, NordLayer allows for segmenting certain areas of the network with access control. Every user outside of the network must meet a strict set of authorization criteria to be allowed inside the perimeter. Admins can create teams and group user access permissions only for resources to fulfill their duties — keeping the network more secure.

NordLayer hides the network and makes it inaccessible to outside entities, offering businesses greater control overseeing network activity and who is accessing what. It takes less time to detect the source of any potential breaches should they occur, and admins have a holistic overview of the activity across the company network.