A secured website on the Internet for customers or business partners and not the general public. To gain access, users must establish an account with identification and an authentication method such as a password, security token or biometric. An extranet can provide access to research, current inventories, internal databases, electronic teaching platforms, virtually any information that customers or associates have permission to view. Many extranets use virtual private networks (VPNs) to encrypt data in transit. Contrast with
intranet. See
Microsoft SharePoint,
EDI and
virtual data room.