A Brief Guide To Zero Trust Network Access

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) separates application access from network access. It works on the assumption that everyone is a threat regardless of their standing in or outside of the company. To uphold safety standards, everyone or every device has to be authenticated before accessing applications while networks are hidden.

How does ZTNA Work?

Zero Trust Network Access delivers secure remote access to applications in a number of ways. We’ll examine them below.

I. ZTNA separates application access from network access. Consequently, networks aren’t exposed to security risks in the first place.

II. ZTNA hides networks from unauthorised users by setting only outbound connections. Not having IPs exposed to the web keeps networks in the dark from criminals.

III. ZTNA only approves network access on a by-need basis. It cuts the spread of malware across the network.

IV. ZTNA establishes an end-to-end encrypted TLS micro-tunnel instead of Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS).

Why is ZTNA Valuable?

The benefits of ZTNA are seen in having secure cloud access, reduced exposure to account attacks and secure remote access. Companies are dependent on cloud computing.

Secure Cloud Access

For businesses dependent on cloud computing, ZTNA reduces the potential for attacks by restricting access to cloud assets like apps and environments. Based on the architecture of their cloud platforms, users and applications are assigned specific permissions and rights.

Account Exposure

When it comes to the company’s network security, ZTNA assumes that individual accounts have already been compromised. Limited permissions and rights for every individual account prevent the spread of an attack so that the attacker impersonating a user account is limited as well.

Secure Remote Access

ZTNA is especially valuable here because of the growing trend towards remote work. Companies with remote workers are struggling with the limitations of VPNs, like scalability and security. ZTNA denies remote users unnecessary access to networks, unlike VPNs.

How To Use ZTNA

There are three steps to implement ZTNA in your organisation. They’re infrastructure analysis, zero trust process and maintenance.

Infrastructure Analysis

Here you assess all assets within the company’s control. Some of these assets include data, mobile devices of employees and clients, tech stack, and IoT devices. Then evaluate your current security policies and processes. Explore current limitations to increase security. And the final part of the analysis is the investigation of data flow.

Zero Trust Process

Having surveyed the assets, risks and data flow of your organisation, implement the zero trust process. There are ZTNA guidelines to follow. There’s the segmentation of your networks to create security policies for each of them.

Insert firewalls for protocol and application-level packet inspection. If your organisation hasn’t installed multi-factor authentication (MFA), this would be the right time to do so. If your company lacks experience implementing ZTNA network guidelines, hire a professional to help.

Maintenance

At this point, you can assess traffic logs and see how your company’s network improves with the ZTNA approach.

Examples of ZTNA Use

There are three use cases of ZTNA. They’re

• VPN Alternatives;
• Restricted User Access;
• Protected Access.

We’ll examine the first.

VPN Alternatives

ZTNA is a better alternative to VPNs and MPLS connections because they’re more secure while reducing network complexity and cost. Unlike the inefficient cloud-first deployments of VPN designs, ZTNA is direct-to-cloud access to company assets. This increase in performance boosts remote work efficiency without increased latency or cost.

Wrapping Up

We looked at what ZTNA is and how they compare to VPNs. We then looked at their benefits, use cases and how to implement them. If you enjoyed this article, let us know in the comments section. If you have any questions, we’d love to answer them.