Imagine an isolated fortress on a vast plain. Protected by an order of well-armored knights, it is regarded as impenetrable. That is until an intelligent attacker appears and breaks the perimeter. Those fortified walls are suddenly obsolete, and the armor of the knight’s standing guard does little more than weigh them down.
This is the current state of cybersecurity in many organizations. The advent of cloud architecture meant the end of the “walled fortress” security model. The rapid transition to a remote workforce has only brought home, even more, the idea that the perimeter as we once knew it disappeared.
The world has evolved and companies need to evolve with it.
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Zero Trust Network Access is a crucial first step in this evolution. Modern and remote hybrid work environments are to adopt the principles of Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). Enterprises need to rethink their network approach. Approach, Monitoring, and reimagine fundamentals of user management, endpoint security, and access control. This requires organizations to stay away from technology. Technology that has recently become a reality: virtual private networks (VPNs).
Built for a Bygone Era
The first VPN invents in 1996. While it is true that technology has evolved considerably since then. Evolution from an access point of view, its basic functionality has changed little. A VPN grants a user access to a corporate network by extending it (and by association, its security perimeter) to the user.
From a security perspective, it is usually based on granting implicit trust to anyone within a perimeter. Unfortunately, like the fortress on the plain, that perimeter is no longer secure. To get evidence of how this can go wrong, one needs to look no further than last year’s Colonial pipeline breach. Investigators determined the relation to the company’s legacy VPN.
It’s not the security angle that accelerates the demise of VPNs. Advances in cloud virtualization have also played a role. Infrastructure and network functions can be offloaded to the cloud. It is with critical workloads such as packet forwarding and traffic management. Management is handled across cloud devices.
Hybrid work is at the heart of this evolution. It requires the adoption of virtual infrastructure and cloud software. The pandemic forced the closure of many corporate offices. It created a massive transition to a remote workforce. BlackBerry looks for ways to help its customers cope with secure operations beyond the perimeter. They apply their expertise to develop a new product built on the foundation of ZTNA. They then embark on an aggressive “zero customer” program. A program implements the technology in-house to optimize and modernizes their hybrid environments.
Devising the Foundation for Zero Trust
They use CylanceGATEWAY to optimize their hybrid environment for distributed work. Optimize, while taking a more cloud-centric approach to our operations and security. This allows them to reduce the workload of their IT operations and security operations teams. More importantly, They have balanced zero trust with “zero-touch,”. Balance, helps them ensure that their safety practices empower their employees as well.
One of the most significant changes they saw in the implementation of CylanceGATEWAY was in their network monitoring practices.
Most companies have relied on a very network-centric monitoring model. It examines traffic to identify suspicious activity. With the inclusion of remote staff and the Internet of Things, the network has become so large and complex. Impossible, That monitoring it in its entirety borders. There is too much noise and too much “junk data” that has little to do with real security.
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Leveraging CylancePROTECT and CylanceOPTICS, CylanceGATEWAY provided them with a starting point from which their SecOps team could pivot to ZTNA. By extending security to the endpoint, they can investigate potential incidents. CylanceGATEWAY gives them more control over how and when people connect.
A New Approach for a New Landscape
Their zero-client program has been a resounding success for both operations and ends users. It has also helped them optimize CylanceGATEWAY in many ways. While reviewing and revising their internal practices. Through CylanceGATEWAY, they have pivoted to adopt a new and more modern approach to network access.
Now that they have demonstrated the value and effectiveness of the solution. They are ready to install CylanceGATEWAY to support the retirement of outdated VPNs. And the adoption of a modern ZTNA approach for our customers.
The perimeter walls break, leaving that once impenetrable fortress open and unprotected. VPNs can no longer maintain the security of an extended and geographically dispersed workforce. It’s time for a more modern, agile, flexible, and safe approach.
That’s exactly what CylanceGATEWAY stands for.
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