Are you looking to beef up your company’s security? If so, you may want to consider implementing a zero trust network access policy. But what is zero trust network access, and what are the benefits?
In this post, we’ll answer those questions and more. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about zero trust network access.
Zero Trust Network Access and Cybercrimes
Business resource risks are increasing at an exponential rate. Cybercrime has become a $600 billion industry, impacting one in three Americans. According to Verizon’s 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report, the number of reported data breaches increased by 34% from 2016.
With the prevalence of threats and attacks, protecting your business resources has never been more important. So, 40% of organizations claim that a breach poses a critical threat to their businesses. So how can you protect your business?
The answer is “Zero Trust Network Access.”
What is Zero Trust Network Access?
Zero Trust Network Access is a network security model. It treats all network connections as untrusted. Then only allows access to what is necessary for business purposes.
It takes into account both user and device identity. This is where something is located and how it is behaving on the network, and what resources are needed to conduct business functions. If a user needs access to make a payment, they are granted access to the payment system.
This is based on that transaction only. If they want to download an app, they are granted access based on the app itself and its purpose.
It’s similar to the way we grant access for employees to physical spaces at work. If you need to be in building 1 or 2 during work hours, you have access based on your job role and what time of day it is. Also, if you want to enter our lunchroom during work hours, you can enter but only by swiping your card through our electronic lock.
Your device (the computer or phone bearing your identity) will be recognized by the door lock and granted access. That is based on where it’s located and what time it is. If you’re accessing during lunch hour but live in building 3, you won’t be granted access because you don’t have the required permissions for entry!
Elements of Security
These are just a few examples: think about that same level of granularity applied to every single user on your network. This is from devices to applications that fit their role and company information needs. This level of security gives you complete control over who can access what data from where and when from any device type.
You can apply this level of security across devices, users, applications, or any other identifiable element in your environment.
Benefits of Zero Trust Network Access
ZTNA can identify rogue devices and users, allowing you to block their access before they can cause damage.
ZTNA can prevent data leakage by restricting access to classified data for users who haven’t been granted the appropriate authorization. So, you can increase your security posture by limiting the number of network resources that are available for employees to connect to.
Moreover, it provides stronger authentication, which means passwords and other forms of authentication don’t need to be stored. So, it provides for Multifactor Authentication. That means that you have an added layer of protection on your most sensitive data and applications.