Insights for CISOs—Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

There is no denying that the cybersecurity industry has a rapid and ever-changing pace of its own. On top of it, the outbreak of COVID-19 accelerated some very significant changes: numerous employees are now working remotely, companies are undertaking digital transformation initiatives, and many applications are being moved to the cloud. In this context, organizations’ network perimeters have blurred, thus enlarging the attack surface to an unprecedented scale. The increased interest in Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) can only be understood in this background; one in which it is impossible to determine what is inside and outside of the organization.

As a consequence, CISOs are looking for new ways to reduce their companies’ attack surfaces. If they want to prevent lateral movement, they cannot make decisions based on traditional security models, designed to protect boundaries which have now disappeared, and trust can no longer be granted on an inside-versus-outside-the-perimeter basis. Therefore, CISOs need to adapt to this new security environment and face its growing complexity; ZTNA has emerged as one of the top security solutions which can help CISOs in this challenging quest.

Like the context in which it was developed, the concept of ZTNA is also complex; it has evolved over the years, and there is a lot of confusion about its definition. For that reason, the following study aims to provide a clear overview of this groundbreaking solution. As part of the research for this insight, Frost & Sullivan spoke with leading cybersecurity experts including Appgate, Broadcom, Check Point, Cisco, Forcepoint, Fortinet, Jamf, Menlo Security, Palo Alto Networks, Sophos, and VMware to examine different views about ZTNA.

The aim of this study is that CISOs understand how ZTNA can help their companies grow by securing granular access control, enhancing user experience, and preventing lateral movement. Furthermore, ZTNA can be a major step toward SASE and the implementation of a successful Zero Trust strategy across the company. It is clear that ZTNA has a bright future ahead, so CISOs should have a clear understanding of this powerful solution, which can be the answer to many of their current problems.