Tuesday, March 29, 2022

ZTNA vs. VPN - What is the Difference?

By: Sentia   Categories:Security, Cyber Security, Data Security

ZTNA vs. VPN - What is the Difference?

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many companies to adopt remote working strategies in line with social distancing and isolation regulations implemented to combat its spread. As of March 2021, approximately five million Canadian workers, or 20% of Canadian employees, were working from home. In contrast, only 4% of employees worked remotely in 2016. Now, most COVID restrictions have been lifted, but many companies have allowed their workforce to continue working remotely. A 2021 study found that only 9% of Canadian workers expressed interest in working from the office fully, 15% wanted to work from home all the time, while 40.8% of workers suggested a hybrid working model. 

That said, secure remote access is essential to enabling remote working strategies, but it has remained a challenge for most organizations. Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions have been the de-facto tools for providing employees and companies with secure remote access since the 1990s. However, although still deployed in many organizations, VPN solutions have presented several risks to the confidentiality and integrity of data and information systems. As a result, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), deemed to provide higher security, is gradually replacing VPN providers as the preferred method for enabling secure remote access.


Differentiating VPN and ZTNA

A VPN solution provides an encrypted, tunneled connection between devices connecting to a network via the internet. Also, a VPN tool hides users’ online activities to disguise their identities and make it harder for third parties, cybercriminals, or the government to censor or track their activities. At the same time, a VPN endpoint and the VPN client software establish an encrypted organizational network channel for all transmitted data. As a result, VPN is a robust solution that companies use to protect against eavesdropping attacks and ensure all network traffic is inspected using perimeter-based security deployments despite the source.

On the other hand, ZTNA is a secure approach to remote access that implements the principles of a zero-trust security architecture. ZTNA permits enterprises to enforce context-aware and granular policies to provide secure zero-trust access to a corporate network’s data and applications. While a VPN provides users with complete access to a network, ZTNA solutions deny such access and only provide access to users with exp0licit permissions. In addition, the ZTNA service must first authenticate a user before establishing access through a secure and encrypted tunnel. As such, ZTNA provides an additional security layer for corporate services and applications.


Issues with Using VPNs

The unprecedented uptake of working from home strategies has put a spotlight on VPN limitations and issues. Experts have recommended VPN solutions, but in light of the modern, sophisticated IT ecosystems, VPN solutions have several drawbacks. Chief among the issues is VPNs provide a perimeter-based security approach. A VPN client permits users to connect to a corporate network securely, but once they access the perimeter, they can have broad network access, potentially exposing it to threats. Thus, each time a device or user has such a level of trust, it exposes company sensitive information, applications, and data to multiple security risks.

In addition, most companies today operate highly distributed networks. Therefore, critical data, applications, and resources are spread across multi-cloud ecosystems, distributed home offices, and data centers. Unfortunately, most of the available VPN solutions cannot manage such complex networks, making it almost impossible to securely manage access to what remote users require. Moreover, backhauling all network traffic through a centralized VPN client for inspection is often infeasible, resource-intensive, and challenging. Also, split tunneling features introduce a set of problems as a VPN may direct traffic to a data center without passing it through a firewall. These challenges may increase security risks and expose data and company systems to attacks.


Why ZTNA is a Viable Replacement for VPNs

Most organizational networks have numerous edges making it difficult to implement a single defensible perimeter. Despite this, implementing a secure access approach and enforcing consistent policies is critical for modern digitized organizations. Since VPNs provide users with unrestricted access to data and critical applications externally, the cybersecurity community has been pushing for a need to do away with the open network access paradigm based on inherent trust recommending a zero-trust network access model. A VPN client assumes that any user or device can be trusted, but a zero-trust network access model does not trust any user or device unless proven otherwise.

Suppose a user has access privileges for a specific network or application area. A ZTNA approach will permit the authenticated user to access that area only and deny access permissions to any other resource. Although the concept is not easy to implement, especially in a highly-distributed network environment, it enables network admins to control what users or devices can access despite their location. ZTNA leverages the least privilege access principles that implement rigorous access controls to prevent unauthorized access to and secure endpoints, cloud accounts, users, devices, and infrastructure. 

Additional advantages of using ZTNA over traditional VPN deployments include:

  • Highly scalable: ZTNA is cloud-native and therefore available in multiple geo-locations. Also, ZTNA can scale automatically to accommodate an increasing number of remote users.  
  • Enables adaptive security: ZTNA authenticates and validates devices and users continuously, enhancing security. Moreover, ZTNA does not connect devices and users to internal networks but instead allows them to access only a specific network area.


Complementing Your VPN or ZTNA with Sentia

Whether your organization opts for a VPN or ZTNA to enable remote secure network access, you require additional network security services to realize a resilient and scalable IT network. At Sentia, our acclaimed network security services include a secure network-managed solution with built-in security customized to meet specific needs. Also, our next-gen firewall provides cloud-delivered threat intelligence, integrated intrusion prevention, and application awareness control. Coupled with Cynet’s XDR platform designed to detect and respond to network security threats in real-time, Sentia will deliver robust security across all network endpoints. In addition, Sentia’s round-the-clock network monitoring and Cynet’s 24/7 managed detection and response are vital to securing your networks from emerging threats, malware, and intrusion tactics.

Start the conversation with a Sentia expert today.

Sentia
Sentia

Sentia

We are a high-value, trusted, Canadian IT solutions provider dedicated to delivering secure and reliable IT solutions across a wide variety of industries. We are committed to helping our customers meet and optimize their business goals.

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