As a cybersecurity architect with over 15 years of experience securing complex global enterprises, I‘ve evaluated countless network and cloud security solutions. Many promise robust protection yet fall short with burdensome complexity, lackluster support, and enterprise scale limitations.
NordLayer stands out by delivering simplified, unified security engineered to grow with modern digital businesses. Backed by Nord Security‘s industry-leading data security expertise, they offer a refreshingly nimble portfolio covering all control points, including network, endpoints, access, and data.
Let‘s dive into NordLayer‘s compelling range of capabilities securing the next-generation workforce.
NordLayer‘s Standout Strengths
Across NordLayer‘s security services edge offerings, three key advantages stand out:
Simplicity Powered by Automation
Maintaining reliable security often came at the cost of usability – not with NordLayer. Through thoughtful information displays and advanced automation, they minimize administrative overhead for critical protections.
Vertically Integrated for Consistency
With a unified admin console and data pipelines correlating insights across solutions, NordLayer delivers consistent visibility, controls, and policies spanning endpoints, networks, access layers and beyond.
Cloud-Native Scalability
Rather than legacy appliances, NordLayer leverages globally distributed cloud infrastructure, autoscaling resources to match demand and accelerating deployment velocities.
These strengths enable NordLayer to secure organizations with dynamics ranging from tens of users to tens of thousands, all from the same holistic platform.
Comprehensive Remote Workforce Enablement
The rise of remote and hybrid arrangements prompted organizations to rapidly patch security gaps, often cobbling disjointed point solutions.
NordLayer‘s integrated secure access service edge (SASE) framework brings enterprise-grade controls built for permanent remote flexibility:
Business VPN and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) establish secure remote connectivity while restricting lateral movement across internal networks.
Cloud firewall and web security filter inbound and outbound channels against the latest threat intelligence.
Cloud access security broker (CASB) centralizes visibility and compliance for sanctioned SaaS apps.
Device posture checks maintain fleet security standards, auto-remediating settings.
This unified approach doesn‘t just facilitate remote work – it optimizes it. Organizations improve security outcomes while enabling greater workforce mobility. Employees stay productive from anywhere on any device.
According to a McKinsey study, over 90% of companies will adopt a hybrid remote work model long-term. NordLayer provides a scalable solution built for this future.
Business VPN: The Foundation for Secure Remote Access
While essential for today‘s dispersed environments, VPNs often introduced usability and scaling challenges. Employees struggle with rigid gateways that hamper productivity. IT admins battle appliance sprawl and capacity constraints.
Architected for cloud elasticity, NordLayer‘s business VPN solves these pain points through user-centric design and versatile deployment. Salient features include:
Simplified Client Apps
Auto-connecting apps with an easy-to-use interface facilitate employee adoption across devices.
Access Flexibility
Contextual access policies balance security with user experience – secured desktops for sensitive business apps, direct connectivity for unclassified browsing.
Infrastructure Agility
NordLayer‘s VPN scales on-demand to support large, distributed connections while adapting across hybrid environments.
These capabilities earned NordLayer recognition as a 2021 Gartner Peer Insights Customers‘ Choice for SD-WAN. As leaders in WAN edge delivery, their VPN carries the same exemplary engineering that delights NordVPN‘s millions of consumers.
Deploying NordLayer conferred 37% time savings for multi-regional configuration management for Proton AG. Other customers tout exceptional support responsiveness – 22 minutes average inquiry resolution time.
For any security leader seeking an enterprise VPN suitable for modern cloud expansion, NordLayer is a top choice.
Unified SASE for Converged Secure Access
As distributed workforces quickly exposed legacy security gaps, the emerging SASE model addresses these cracks with cloud-native convergence.
NordLayer SASE weaves together key capabilities for identity and context-based secure access:
Firewall as a Service inspects traffic and containers against common vulnerability databases, blocking known exploits. integrated web security governs web browsing.
Cloud Access Security Broker logs and controls sanctioned SaaS usage while restricting shadow IT sprawl.
Secure Web Gateways proxy outbound web requests through isolated browser sessions, preventing malware drive-bys.
Zero Trust Network Access strictly validates device health and user identity before granting application access.
Managed Threat Response applies the latest threat intelligence across enforcement points while SOCs triage and tune defenses.
Blending these at the cloud edge strengthens security postures. According to Gartner, "By 2025, 60% of enterprises will phase out most of their remote access virtual private networks (VPNs) in favor of zero trust network access (ZTNA)."
NordLayer‘s unified SASE platform provides a simplified, scalable architecture ready for the zero trust transition. With over 50 global points of presence, they deliver low latency performance with redundancy to support mission-critical use cases.
As industry analysts affirm, SASE adoption is imperative for securing modern work – NordLayer brings a proven solution.
Cloud-Delivered Security Built for Elastic Demand
Transitioning to the cloud unlocks scalability and resiliency impossible with appliances. NordLayer harnesses global infrastructure to extend robust capabilities including:
Cloud Firewall
Cloud-based network security groups dynamically scale to match VPC traffic spikes, preventing droughts. Latency-optimized MDR augments native controls with managed threat hunting.
Cloud Web Security
By proxying web requests through isolated browser environments, SWGs drain malware threats before reaching endpoints. NordLayer‘s SWG autoscale to handle spikes across regions, maintaining low latency.
Cloud Access Security Broker
NordLayer CASB governs sanctioned SaaS apps through inline proxies fortified by threat intelligence, ensuring consistent security. Cloud delivery absorbs volatile usage surges.
Such resilience allows organizations to dictate policy by identity, not network location – a perquisite of zero trust. As leaders in scalable VPN infrastructure, NordLayer raises the bar for elastic cloud security.
Industry analysts agree – Gartner named NordLayer a represenative vendor in the 2021 Market Guide for Cloud Web Application and API Protection (WAAP).
Effortless Device Security and Compliance
Endpoint risks have ballooned with remote work. A staggering 70% of security professionals reported an increase in endpoint attacks last year according to Ponemon Institute. Unsecured personal devices connecting to corporate assets present prime threats.
NordLayer shrinks these vulnerabilities through continuous device security checks and automated remediation. Posture management capabilities include:
Contextual Policy Enforcement
Define automated actions based on device state across vectors – configuration, encryption standards, outdated OS versions, etc. Restrict access for non-compliant endpoints.
Self-Healing Remediation
Program policy remediation allowing non-compliant devices to achieve conformance through assisted reconfiguration.
Unified Compliance Reporting
Instant visibility into fleet security posture via executive or technical reports on policy conformance rates.
These capabilities mitigate vulnerabilities introduced by employee-owned endpoints without impeding productivity through seamless, self-service controls.
Forrester reported that 33% of security decision makers name device compliance validation as a top priority for 2021 – NordLayer provides a seamless solution.
The Next Frontier: Zero Trust Journey Readiness
While zero trust network access represents the future for access security, the transition journey can seem daunting. Holistic visibility, microsegmentation and continuous verification impose added complexity.
Purpose-built for zero trust, NordLayer accelerates secure architecture modernization through:
Unified Identity
Connect to leading single sign-on providers like Okta, bridging disjointed identity systems under established session policies.
Gradual Segmentation
NordLayer‘s microsegmentation visualizer illuminates application flows, guiding logical grouping to methodically refine boundaries based on trust levels.
Cohesive Auditing
NordLayer‘s control plane seamlessly correlates telemetry across endpoints, networks and users, providing unified visibility to help track effective controls.
Rather than a disruptive rip-and-replace overhaul, NordLayer allows organizations to steadily progress toward zero trust aligned with business readiness.
While still an emerging model, zero trust momentum is picking up pace – over 60% of organizations now have formal zero trust initiatives based on a recent Pulse and cyberCXO surveys. NordLayer provides a smooth pathway to future-proof security.
Final Verdict
Over years assessing hundreds of security solutions, few check every box – robust protection, frictionless automation, enterprise scale, and helpdesk-caliber support. NordLayer stands apart as a refreshingly uncomplicated suite ready to lock down modern workforces.
Backed by Nord Security‘s 15 years perfecting consumer VPN technology trusted by millions, NordLayer represents the enterprise-hardened evolution tuned for business needs. As threats grow more potent amidst digital acceleration, their vertically integrated security mesh warrants serious consideration.
