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As enterprise networks grow more complex, more and more CIOs and CISOs are turning towards zero trust security, and for good reason. Zero trust access eliminates the risk of cyber attacks based on user ID and gaps in the traditional transitive trust protocols. However, companies need to trust the ZTNA provider to ensure their safety from complex cyber attacks.

What is Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is also known as software-defined perimeter (SDP) and is a suite of technologies that operate on an adaptive trust model. In other words, with ZTNA tools, trust is not implicit, which means access to information within an organization is only granted on a strict need-to-know basis. With Zero Trust Network Access, organizations are able to provide their employees with secure connectivity to private applications on a need-to-know basis without exposing the network or apps to the internet.

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How Does Zero Trust Network Access Work?

When it comes to securing access to internal applications, ZTNA products take on a different approach as compared to FWs and VPNs. The following are some of the ways in which ZTNA differs from other network security methods:

  • Provides Complete Isolation–ZTNA is able to completely isolate the act of sharing application access from network access. This level of isolation that ZTNA is able to offer is able to significantly reduce the risk to networks, mainly data theft by compromised devices, etc. In this way, ZTNA ensures that access to sensitive information is only granted to those who are authorized within an organization.
  • OutboundOnly Connections–Since ZTNA only enables outbound connections, the application and network infrastructure are both made invisible to any users who are unauthorised from accessing the system. This also means that IPs are never exposed over the internet, making it even more difficult for cyber criminals to attack a business.
  • Native App Segmentation –ZTNA offers a valuable feature known as native app segmentation, which ensures one-to-one basis access once a user has been granted authorization to work on an application. That said, users who are authorized are only granted access to particular applications that are working within an organization instead of access to the entire network. In this way, ZTNA ensures that access to certain information is only given to employees on a need-to-know basis.
  • Uses a User-to-Application Approach–Contrary to other Network security solutions which focus on a network-centric approach, zero trust network access products use a user-to-application approach. This results in the de-emphasis of the network, which makes the internet the new corporate network. In this way, ZTNA tools are able to leverage encrypted TLS micro tunnels rather than just focusing on MPLS, resulting in better overall protection.

Benefits of Zero Trust Network Access

For those who are still on the fence, the following are just some of the benefits of using a zero trust network access strategy.

Keeps Client Data Protected

Once spyware or malware has made its way onto the machine of an end-user that’s within a firewall, it doesn’t take long to exfiltrate data on the business and customers to a command and control server that’s outside the network. This can increase the chances of your customer data along with other highly sensitive information getting leaked out, which can have serious consequences for your clients and the reputation of your business and significant financial loss.

Gain Visibility on Enterprise Traffic

The core principle of the zero trust network access strategy is to always verify and never trust, which makes visibility the core method for verification. After all, location cannot be considered a good indicator of trust, but visibility is. The zero trust network access strategy offers security professionals the visibility they need when trying to identify which employees are accessing the network and whether or not the person accessing particular information has been authorized or not.

Thanks to ZTNA, security personnel are able to monitor all activities that are within the network, such as activities involving users, devices, and the access and sharing of internal and external data. ZTNA then uses predictive analytics tools to evaluate all of the data when it’s time to enforce compliance and security policies to reduce potential risk. During a failure of preventative controls, security professionals usually turn towards network and application visibility for identifying and responding to security threats.

Streamlines the Security Stack

More often than not, business owners employ multiple different types of security products which may or may not play nice with each other while leading to unnecessarily high costs of security products. Not to mention, the implementation of security using legacy technologies is not only highly complex but can also make a dent in your pocket.

To provide complete protection to a business, all of these tools, which include firewalls, secure web gateways, data loss prevention, and other security mechanisms, need to be purchased, installed, and configured according to the specifications of an organization, not to mention ongoing updates and security patches to ensure each and every tool runs smoothly.

Thanks to cloud-based zero trust network access solutions, much of this complexity is removed. This is achieved by simply shifting all these individual functions to a cloud service. The cloud vendor then takes over from there to ensure all ZTNA tools are functioning at optimal levels.

For any business owner, it is getting hard to ignore the evolving landscape of cybercrime which is getting more serious with time. With threats becoming more sophisticated, it pays to invest in ZTNA solutions to get more robust protection.

To find out the best zero trust network access services for your business, visit Cyber Pal to find the best ZTNA solutions for you.

https://cyberpal.io/
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