Zero trust network access (ZTNA) has emerged as a critical cybersecurity tool for organizations in 2024 and beyond. With the surge in cyber threats and remote work, traditional security models like VPN no longer provide adequate protection for today‘s distributed workforces.
ZTNA offers a much-needed solution. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll leverage my expertise from over a decade in data extraction to explore what ZTNA is, key benefits, and how companies can deploy it.
What is ZTNA & How Does it Work?
ZTNA creates a secure work environment for remote employees, as if they were on corporate devices inside headquarters. It authenticates users and grants access to applications and data based on identity, not network location.
Specifically, ZTNA is an IT security framework that enables protected remote access to an organization’s apps, data, and services. Access is based on granular application control policies defined by administrators.
ZTNA aligns with a zero trust approach, assuming no individual, device, or network can be fully trusted. It constantly verifies and monitors them through contextual awareness.
Rather than granting network-level access like VPNs, ZTNA uses the application layer to provide secure connections. This adheres to the principle of least privilege in zero trust models.
Users can only access the minimal data needed to perform authorized tasks. This gives administrators enhanced visibility and control over access. ZTNA authenticates users and devices continuously in the background.
From any location and device, ZTNA allows access to private apps in clouds and corporate data centers. It inspects all traffic to block threats.
Key Differences Between ZTNA and VPN
While ZTNA and VPN both enable secure remote connections, ZTNA offers significant advantages that address VPN limitations:
Network vs. Application Level Access
VPNs operate at the network level. Once granted VPN access, users can access the full resources and apps on that network.
ZTNA only allows access to specific authorized applications and resources. Nothing is available by default. This shrinks the attack surface and limits lateral movement.
Device Security
VPNs were designed for corporate-managed devices on office networks. There was no need to verify device security since everything was controlled centrally.
But today‘s remote employees regularly use personal, unmanaged devices. ZTNA‘s continuous device posture assessment is critical for validating devices before granting application access.
Latency and User Experience
Funneling application traffic through private VPN tunnels, especially across continents, increases latency. This leads to lag, buffering, and poor performance.
By connecting authorized users directly to apps over the internet, ZTNA optimizes traffic flow. This reduces latency for better user experience.
Risk of Data Loss
Data traversing global private networks has a higher risk of being lost or intercepted. ZTNA‘s direct connections minimize this risk of data loss.
Based on these limitations, many organizations have transitioned from VPNs to ZTNA solutions. According to Gartner, ZTNA adoption increased from 5% to over 30% from 2020 to 2022.
Key Benefits of Adopting ZTNA
Beyond addressing VPN weaknesses, ZTNA delivers numerous advantages:
1. Microsegmentation
ZTNA enables constructing software-defined perimeters to divide the network into microsegments. This significantly limits an attacker‘s ability to move laterally and reduces the attack surface.
Microsegmentation contained the 2021 SolarWinds hack to just 3% of its networks. This could have been far worse without ZTNA.
2. Protection Against Malware & Ransomware
ZTNA boosts malware protection by continuously verifying devices before granting application access. Microsegmentation also minimizes lateral damage if malware gets through.
By hiding applications from the public internet, ZTNA reduces external attack surface. This safeguards against devastating ransomware attacks.
3. Insider Threat Protection
Legacy security models lack visibility and controls to combat insider threats. ZTNA‘s least privilege access and enhanced monitoring make it much easier to detect and limit rogue employees.
A 2022 Insider Threat Report found that 90% of organizations feel vulnerable to insider attacks. ZTNA is the solution.
4. Secure Access to Cloud Apps
Traditional network security models don‘t translate well to cloud environments accessed externally over the internet.
ZTNA secures cloud application access while avoiding the need for inefficient cloud VPNs. This enables adopting cloud apps without compromising security.
5. Expanded Talent Pool
Per Prudential‘s 2022 Pulse of the American Worker Survey, over 70% of workers prefer a hybrid model allowing remote work.
By securely enabling work from anywhere, ZTNA gives organizations access to the entire global talent pool – not just those who live close by.
6. Better User Experience
ZTNA‘s direct application access optimizes traffic flows for reduced latency. This results in much better performance and user experience compared to VPNs.
7. Compliance & Governance
ZTNA‘s least privilege access and continuous verification improve compliance. Organizations control and validate who can access which apps and data.
According to McKinsey, 63% of organizations say ZTNA improves compliance outcomes and breech avoidance.
Deploying ZTNA Solutions
Organizations have two main options for deploying ZTNA:
Standalone ZTNA
Building standalone ZTNA entails constructing internal infrastructure and network architecture to run the ZTNA software.
This allows complete control over the solution. But it requires substantial capital investment and technical expertise that may be prohibitive.
ZTNA-as-a-Service
With ZTNA-as-a-Service, organizations pay a subscription to a ZTNA vendor to access its solution hosted on cloud infrastructure.
Comparing Standalone vs. ZTNA-as-a-Service
Standalone ZTNA Pros:
- Total control over the ZTNA environment and policies
- Ability to customize the solution to organization‘s needs
- Avoid recurring SaaS fees
ZTNA-as-a-Service Pros:
- Fast and simple deployment without major capital costs
- Leverages vendor‘s cloud infrastructure expertise
- More seamless integration with other cloud security tools
- Access to latest features and upgrades
For most organizations, ZTNA-as-a-Service provides the fastest time-to-value and greatest security posture improvement. It allows focusing on defining smart security policies rather than building infrastructure.
Top ZTNA-as-a-Service vendors include Zscaler, Netskope, Perimeter81, and Proofpoint. Choosing an experienced vendor is key to successful adoption.
Conclusion
ZTNA provides the identity-based secure access required for the modern distributed enterprise. As cyber threats proliferate and workforces get more mobile, ZTNA will become an essential component of defense-in-depth security frameworks.
Now is the time for leaders to evaluate ZTNA benefits and make plans to implement it ahead of the curve. Done right, ZTNA can enable digital transformation and hybrid work models without introducing additional risk.
If you have any other questions about successfully leveraging ZTNA, please reach out. I enjoy helping companies understand and adopt technologies like ZTNA to empower business growth.