Nominations are open • Enter by February 27, 2027 • Time left: Start a nomination
Award categoryCybersecurity Product / Service
The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards recognize virtual private network products. The category covers products that create encrypted connections for remote access or between sites, for businesses or consumers.
Nominations are open
Enter this category by February 27, 2027. Anyone can submit an entry: the company, the nominee, a colleague or an agency.
The Virtual Private Network (VPN) category covers products that protect traffic with an encrypted tunnel. Business entries connect remote users to the corporate network or link sites and clouds to each other; consumer entries protect people's privacy on public networks. Typical features are strong encryption, fast and stable connections, support for many devices, and, for consumer VPNs, a clear and verified no-logging policy.
VPNs typically connect a user to a network or network segment, while Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) grants access one application at a time. Business VPNs are one way of providing access and can also enter Secure Access, and consumer VPNs can also enter Consumer Cybersecurity. VPN delivered with SD-WAN and cloud security fits Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
Each category is judged separately, so you can enter a product in every category that matches what it does, with a separate nomination for each. Tailor each nomination to that category's focus. Entering several related categories gives the product more than one chance to be recognized.
An independent jury of security practitioners, analysts and CISOs scores each nomination on leadership, innovation and impact. Each nomination competes in its category against organizations of similar size and region, so a mid-sized firm is not ranked against a global enterprise. Your entry package, any sponsorship and public votes do not affect the jury's scores.
Strong entries in this category show:
The jury awards Gold, Silver or Bronze, or a Finalist badge, and results are published on this site and announced to the 600,000+ member Cybersecurity Insiders community. Every approved nomination also enters the separate Community Choice award, decided by public votes.
A vendor can enter its own product or service, and a PR agency can enter it on a client's behalf. The nomination form has a confidential field for detail that is shared with the judges and not published, such as customer names, deployment figures or roadmap. Deadlines, pricing and entry steps are on the How it Works page.