Security-conscious companies know that while WFA can boost employee morale and productivity, it can also open new security risks. ZTNA can address these risks because it provides the same security regardless of where employees choose to work. It also reduces the attack surface by hiding applications from the Internet behind a proxy point.

 

3 Use Cases for Implementing ZTNA to Bolster Work from Anywhere Security

At Home Offices

Employees who work remotely generally log into their networks from a specific location such as their home office. Their environment may include a home network and additional hardware such as a webcam and monitor. A potential downside to these environments is that the home network is often shared by multiple users who may be connecting to IoT devices. Whether they’re streaming videos or gaming, this introduces potential vulnerabilities since their connections are generally outside your clients’ network security and control.

 

Because ZTNA creates a secure tunnel, it protects users from other issues that can impact their home network. The ZTNA client on the endpoint creates the secure tunnel, providing device identity and status reports on that endpoint. This helps determine if the device should be granted access to the requested application.

 

On the Road

If your clients have resumed travel to in-person customer meetings, events and conferences, they often must connect to the network using unknown or potentially unsecured networks at airports, hotels and coffee shops. These are vastly less secure than your clients’ corporate networks or a remote workspace. 

 

ZTNA is based on least privilege access so only authorized people and devices can access the network. Once they are connected, ZTNA provides your clients’ network security teams with visibility and control. If an employee’s device is compromised while traveling, ZTNA detects it quickly so IT teams respond swiftly.

 

At the Office

Today’s employees often work in hybrid environments and split their time between their home and corporate offices. Consistency in security postures is the name of the game here. Fortunately, ZTNA provides seamless access to applications regardless of where the user or application is located. 

 

Even when an employee is working from your client’s office, they must provide access credentials such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and endpoint validation. Once connected, the employee receives least-privileged access so they can access only the applications they need to perform their jobs, and nothing more.

 

Work from Anywhere with Confidence

Boost your clients’ WFA confidence by educating them on ZTNA. Zero-trust security should be an essential component of your clients’ security stacks as it applies a consistent experience for their users and employees, whether they are working from home, on the road or in their office. It also provides secure access to both cloud and non-cloud resources, as well as consistent protocols and policies across your clients’ entire networks.