Today’s security needs go beyond legacy technology.
As cyberattacks become more sophisticated and users work from anywhere, the hub-and-spoke networks and perimeter security we once relied on—VPNs and firewalls—fail to provide strong cyber and data protection and deliver poor user experience. Stretching your network like this enables cybercriminals to attack and compromise sensitive data.
“Never trust, always verify.”
Zero trust is a cybersecurity strategy wherein security policy is applied based on context established through least-privileged access controls and strict user authentication—not assumed trust. A well-tuned zero trust architecture leads to simpler network infrastructure, a better user experience, and improved cyberthreat defense.
All traffic will go through the Zero Trust Network Exchange.
All user, workload, and device connections to SaaS and the internet go through the Zero Trust Exchange, which acts as a switchboard, prevents compromise, stops data loss, and eliminates the need for an outbound DMZ.
Zero trust access to internet and SaaS applications is provided by first verifying the identity and context (who, what, where) of the access request. After dynamically computing a risk score, Zscaler inspects traffic inline to protect against cyberthreats and data loss before establishing connectivity to the internet or SaaS apps. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) secures users as well as workloads and IoT/OT devices as they access the internet or SaaS destinations.
Prevent compromise
Minimize attack surface and stop compromise with AI-powered advanced threat protection informed by the world’s largest security cloud inspecting all traffic and block risky sites and files.
Stop data loss
Automatically identify and protect sensitive information from unauthorized or risky transfer
Minimize attack surface
Prevent unauthorized access by making applications invisible to internet scans and users.
Reduce cost and complexity
Eliminate costly, complex networks with fast, secure, direct-to-internet and SaaS access that removes the need for edge and branch firewalls.
You should adopt zero trust because legacy security models, which assume anything inside the network is trustworthy by default, don’t work in the age of cloud and mobility. Zero trust requires verification from all entities, whatever their device or location, before access is granted. A proactive approach such as this minimizes the potential impact of breaches by limiting lateral movement within the network, reducing the risk of insider threats, and enhancing overall security posture.
Zero trust and the secure access service edge (SASE) framework complement each other: zero trust maintains strict access controls and continuous verification, while SASE unifies network security and wide-area networking in a cloud-based service, delivering identity management, role-based access, encryption, threat prevention, and a consistent user experience. Effectively, zero trust provides the access framework while SASE offers the infrastructure and services to support it.
Zero trust security is so important because it provides a solution to the shortcomings of traditional perimeter-based security in our hyperconnected digital world. Based on the premise that threats can come from anywhere—from outside a network as well as inside—zero trust enforces strict least-privileged access controls and continuous verification to help prevent breaches, reduce the blast radius of successful attacks, and hold up a strong security posture to face sophisticated, evolving threats.
Zero trust network access (ZTNA), an extension of the principle of zero trust, is the ideal VPN alternative. Today, private application access is shifting away from network-centric approaches to a user- and app-centric approach, leading to the increased popularity of zero trust and the adoption of ZTNA services. ZTNA enables secure access to private applications by establishing connectivity from user-to-application on a dynamic identity- and context-aware basis, providing reduced complexity, stronger security, and a smoother user experience compared to VPN.
