The CommandLink Five-Minute Guide To ZTNA

ZTNA stands for Zero Trust Network Access, and is a way of applying secure access for users - and remote users in particular - to internal applications. It takes the general principles of zero-trust access and applies them to every user and every device before every single session in every application. No access is taken for granted (hence ‘zero trust’) and both users and devices must be verified, and meet the security policies of the organization, to gain access.

ZTNA works by separating application access from network access. Instead, application access is treated as a completely stand-alone process, assuming that every device and user attempting to connect is a potential threat unless they can prove otherwise. ZTNA only uses outbound connections, so that unauthorized users can’t glean any information about the network or the application infrastructure, or IP addresses.

The way that the world of work has changed in recent years has made ZTNA a business-critical security function. The rise of remote and flexible work prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic means that more employees are accessing sensitive business data and applications from different locations, with different connections and often from personally-owned devices. Businesses can’t always be sure of the level of security applied to these devices and connections, and so can’t take any chances in granting access.

While ZTNA is an important part of business security, it shouldn’t be considered as a stand-alone solution. ZTNA can also be integrated into a wider Secure Access Network Edge (SASE) solution, forming one part of a more comprehensive, cloud-based approach to network and application security.

When making vendor choices for ZTNA, this level of integration is one of the key factors that should be taken into account. It’s also worth considering whether a ZTNA offering is able to support legacy data center-based applications as well as those hosted in the cloud, the authentication standards applied, and whether an endpoint agent has to be installed.

CommandLink delivers industry-leading ZTNA technology as part of our wider subscription-based SASE solution, integrating ZTNA with Secure Web Gateway, SD-WAN, Cloud Access Security Broker, Firewall-as-a-Service and more. We provide a monthly service that includes all hardware, software, design engineering, project management/deployment and CommandPOD support.

When you partner with CommandLink, you get a choice of two innovative ZTNA solutions to integrate into your software platform. Choose either Versa Secure Access, with its comprehensive range of security services, or FortiTrust Access to accelerate deployment and maximize uptime.