Key Benefits of Zscaler’s Do-It-All Agent, Client Connector

Client Connector is one of the core Zscaler technologies that enable organizations to embrace zero trust architecture. It is a lightweight yet multi-faceted software agent that is installed on end users’ devices. As a result, their traffic can be routed through the Zero Trust Exchange, Zscaler’s global security cloud, which serves as an intelligent switchboard and provides secure any-to-any connectivity—without extending the network to anyone or anything. 

While there are other mechanisms for routing traffic through Zscaler and giving users least-privileged access to IT resources (like Zero Trust Browser), Client Connector is the primary technology Zscaler customers use to secure their workforces. In light of its importance for countless organizations around the globe, let’s discuss a few of its key benefits. 

Zero trust connectivity to any destination 

To secure user access to different types of destinations, organizations often rely on multiple tools from multiple vendors, each with their own endpoint agent. For example, they might use a secure web gateway (SWG) agent to secure web access, a cloud access security broker (CASB) agent to secure the use of SaaS apps, and a zero trust network access (ZTNA) agent to secure access to private apps. 

Since its inception, Zscaler has always aspired to provide direct, any-to-any connectivity without providing network connectivity. Naturally, that includes providing secure user access to any destination. As such, Client Connector is designed to facilitate that overarching goal. Whatever users may be accessing, they only need this one agent for secure zero trust connectivity (which also checks the boxes for security service edge (SSE)). 

Zero trust connectivity for any device

In today’s technology landscape, employees can use countless different devices to do their work. So, just as users need zero trust access to any destination, they also need zero trust access from any device. Fortunately, Client Connector can secure any user device, including mobile phones, laptops, and tablets, and supports a breadth of operating systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, and ChromeOS. 

Protection for data on endpoints

As a part of securing any-to-any connectivity with zero trust, Zscaler helps customers enforce least-privileged access to data and secures any potential leakage path. To address the challenge of data leakage via user devices, organizations typically deploy a dedicated data loss prevention (DLP) agent onto said devices.

Client Connector circumvents that need with its own endpoint DLP functionality. It identifies sensitive information and prevents it from leaking via removable storage, printing, personal cloud storage, and network shares. This both simplifies and enhances data protection—particularly when combined with the other components of Zscaler’s comprehensive data protection offering. 

Deception and detection of hidden adversaries

To further enhance organizations’ security postures, Zscaler’s deception technology takes a proactive approach to stopping stealthy, advanced cyberthreats. Stated simply, it places realistic decoys throughout the IT ecosystem to lure hidden attackers and generate high-fidelity alerts. Client Connector plays a key role in this capability: Zscaler Deception uses the agent to deploy decoy app bookmarks, cookies, sessions, and passwords on users’ devices. Then, if malicious entities search for potential targets on an endpoint, they will encounter decoys and be caught red-handed.

Superior user experience and productivity

Security is often seen as the enemy of productivity, as something that merely adds latency and slows users down. But the opposite is true with Zscaler—and not just because of its high-performance cloud, resilience functionality, intelligent traffic routing, and “single scan, multi-action” approach to security. It is also, in large part, due to Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX), a digital experience monitoring (DEM) solution built directly into Client Connector. 

While conventional monitoring efforts entail siloed point products and blind spots, ZDX has full hop-by-hop visibility across the entire user connection. Because of Client Connector, that includes visibility into the performance of users’ devices. As such, IT teams can see device health metrics associated with CPU, memory, active processes, disk I/O, and more, helping them to identify and resolve user experience issues quickly. 

Wrap-up

By providing all of the above functionality and serving as a do-it-all agent that consolidates point products, Client Connector offers other benefits, as well: 

• It cuts down on endpoint agent bloat, freeing up endpoint resources so employees can have a better user experience and work more productively.
• It reduces the management burden for IT teams, who no longer have to oversee myriad point product agents—streamlining deployments, troubleshooting, and software updates.
• It optimizes technology costs, reduces overhead costs, and saves money in multiple other ways for organizations. 

In summary, Client Connector plays a key role in securing, simplifying, and transforming Zscaler customers. If you would like to learn more about it, click here. 

Or, if you would like to learn more about zero trust, sign up for our webinar series, Zero Trust, from Theory to Practice, which is designed to guide you throughout your entire zero trust journey.