Zscaler Private Access—Remote Access without the Security Risks of VPNs

Zscaler, the leading cloud security provider, today announced the introduction of Zscaler Private Access, a new service that enables organizations to provide access to internal applications and services while ensuring the security of their networks. 

In today’s rapidly evolving and increasingly mobile business environment, companies need to enable access to internal data and applications from anywhere. The traditional solution of choice has been the Virtual Private Network (VPN), which adds convenience and security, but also introduces significant risk. Typical VPN implementations give users access to the entire network they are connecting to, a fact that has been exploited in a number of recent security breaches featuring major companies. 

To address this issue, Zscaler Private Access takes a distinctly innovative approach by using the global Zscaler cloud infrastructure to enable application access independent of network access. Zscaler Private Access decouples applications from the physical network to deliver granular, per-user access to apps and services running in the internal corporate network, in a data center, or in a public cloud like Amazon. The service is based on Zscaler’s global cloud, so there is no requirement for additional hardware or forklift upgrades of existing hardware, enabling rapid and unobtrusive adoption to support business needs. This enables an enterprise to allow employees, customers and business partners to securely access internal applications without any need for refactoring or implementing proprietary hardware

“MAN is always looking for the state of the art in security technology and have been searching for an alternative to our global VPN solution,” said Tony Fergusson, IT Infrastructure Architect for MAN Diesel & Turbo, the multinational market leader for large diesel engines for use in ships and power stations, and one of the leading supporters of turbo machines. “In general, legacy VPN technology is extremely complex, doesn't scale well, and, most importantly lacks application-centric security. Traditional VPNs extend the network perimeter to any user that connects, which is a security risk. Zscaler Private Access allows me to give users access to a single application, and not to my entire network. This granular application control is also perfect for the growing demand of contractors and partner access.”

SAS, the leader in business analytics software, tested Zscaler Private Access for the security benefits of microsegmentation, according to Brian Wilson, SAS Sr. Manager, IT Information Security. “Microsegmentation, particularly when combined with remote users, could historically be hard to achieve because it often required a combination of VPN and Network Access Control,” said Wilson. “With Zscaler Private Access, ensuring granular, application-layer access to authorized users is just part of the product, and may contribute to a speedier deployment than either VPN or NAC.”   

“Zscaler Private Access combines user access controls with restricted visibility to applications to increase the security of these private applications,” said Patrick Foxhoven, CIO of Zscaler. “With Zscaler Private Access, you essentially make your most precious internal assets dark to the outside world, because unless a user is authorized to access an asset, they won’t even be able to see that it exists. Even when a user has access to an application, they will not be able to route back to it. This not only secures the application but also allows you to move the application between data centers or into the cloud without breaking user access.”

“Zscaler Private Access extends Zscaler’s security capabilities across the entire spectrum of enterprise traffic, including Internet traffic and private application access,” said Jay Chaudhry, CEO of Zscaler. “This break-through technology further consolidates point security appliances, simplifies IT and enhances security.”