Maintenance of the University’s “VPN” network, through which the Information System of our University (ISU) operates.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) enables multiple remote locations – in our case, faculties, academies, and administrative units spread across eastern Republika Srpska – to communicate as if they were all part of the same local network, even though they are physically separated by tens or hundreds of kilometers.

The basic principle of how a VPN works is as follows:

All data traveling between the University’s locations passes through a so-called encrypted tunnel. Before the data leaves one location, it is encrypted using strong algorithms (e.g., AES-256). Only when it reaches the destination location is the data decrypted and made readable again. In this way, the intermediate internet infrastructure (ISPs, public internet) sees only encrypted, unintelligible traffic and has no access to the actual content – passwords, student records, grades, financial information, personal data of employees, etc.

In addition, the VPN provides:

• secure data exchange between all 17 organizational units and the central ISU server,
• centralized access control (only authorized users with valid certificates or correct username/password can enter the network),
• protection against eavesdropping and tampering with data in transit,
• the ability to use internal services (databases, web applications, shared folders, printers…) exactly as if the user were physically present at the University, even when working from home or any other location.

Thanks to this VPN infrastructure, all data of the University Information System (ISU) – from student records, through finances and HR data, to the eZaposleni and eStudent portals – resides in a secure, centralized, yet always accessible place. Communication between locations meets high standards of security and reliability.

In short: the VPN transforms the public internet into a “private” and fully encrypted pathway through which our faculties, academies, and central services exchange thousands of sensitive pieces of data every day – without any risk of someone intercepting or altering them from the outside.