What Is Zero Trust Network App Access

Zero Trust network app access, also known as Zero Trust Application Access (ZTAA), is framework for securing applications within an IT environment by applying Zero Trust principles when granting access to users or devices.

The principles of Zero Trust invert traditional models of security by assuming that anyone or anything inside or outside the organization may be a threat. Instead of implicitly trusting users and devices within the network perimeter and granting unrestricted access, a Zero Trust solution requires users and devices to be continually authenticated and validated for each request. Zero Trust also limits access to only the resources needed to perform a specific task, and only for a limited period of time.

Zero Trust network app access protects applications from a wide variety of threats by applying Zero Trust policies when determining whether to permit access for users, devices and other apps. Policies are applied by Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) tools – a super lightweight, cloud-native and container-based proxy that is responsible for authenticating each request from a user or device.

Zero Trust network app access policies are based on the following Zero Trust principles:

• Trust nothing implicitly. In Zero Trust solutions, every request is considered suspicious, no matter where the request comes from or how often a user or device has been granted permission in the past.
• Assume that a breach is already happening. By starting with the assumption that attackers or malware are already within the network, security teams are prompted to take more aggressive actions to find them and to restrict access more carefully.
• Grant the least number of privileges needed. When users or devices are authenticated and validated, they’re given access only to the resources they need at the moment, rather than broad access to large parts of the network indefinitely. This limits the point of entry for attackers.
• Limit the attack surface and impact of attacks. Using microsegmentation, Zero Trust solutions strictly limit access to apps and IT assets, minimizing the attack surface and preventing threat actors from inflicting more damage after they have successfully breached one part of an IT environment.
• Continuously monitor the environment. Through constant and real-time monitoring, security teams can identify and remediate threats earlier.

Zero Trust network app access offers several significant advantages for IT security teams charged with application security.

• More control. This Zero Trust technology enables IT teams to create more granular control policies when managing access for users, groups or devices.
• Greater visibility. Zero Trust solutions give administrators deeper visibility into network resources and application activity from a single, centralized console.
• Stronger security. By strictly limiting access and continuously monitoring activity, security teams can minimize the attack surface and quickly identify and block potential threats.
• Easy scalability. As a cloud-based security technology, Zero Trust network app access can easily scale to provide security as more applications are added to the security stack.
• Support for hybrid workforces. Zero Trust network app access enables organizations to provide users with fast and secure access to the resources they need to stay productive.
• Improved compliance. By making it harder for threat actors to access applications and steal data, Zero Trust solutions make it easier to achieve and demonstrate compliance with regulatory frameworks.

As organizations move to a Zero Trust environments, IT teams may deploy technologies for both Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and Zero Trust network app access. While they operate with similar principles, these two technologies are distinguished by their focuses on network security vs. application security, respectively. 

ZTNA solutions are designed to apply Zero Trust principles for users seeking remote access to a network. ZTNA replaces VPNs and grants access to a network only after users have been authenticated and verified. ZTNA typically controls access only to the network, rather than to specific applications.

Zero Trust network app access takes Zero Trust one step further, applying Zero Trust principles when granting access to specific applications. Zero Trust network app access protects individual applications without requiring any network infrastructure changes. Compared to ZTNA, Zero Trust network app access offers more granular control to sub-application resources and requires fewer components to function, minimizing overall complexity. As a result, Zero Trust network app access may be better at handling hybrid cloud setups and integrating with Kubernetes, containers and other cloud-native technologies.

As a leading Zero Trust company, Forcepoint provides multiple solutions that help organizations to implement Zero Trust network app access. Forcepoint’s Zero Trust platform enables security teams to automatically control access and usage based on user behavior and to replace implicit trust with explicit permission verified on each request.

• Forcepoint Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). Forcepoint ZTNA provides controlled access to private apps from anywhere, enabling advanced management of Zero Trust network app access for both managed and unmanaged devices.
• Forcepoint Zero Trust CDR (Content Disarm & Reconstruction). Forcepoint Zero Trust CDR blocks malware in downloads by extracting the valid business information from files and verifying the extracted information as well-structured. CDR then builds new, fully functional, malware-free files that enable users to safely access content.
• Forcepoint Data Loss Prevention (DLP).  Forcepoint DLP protects intellectual property and sensitive information from being purposefully or inadvertently leaked or lost.

Along with solutions for Zero Trust network app access, Forcepoint also provides solutions for Zero Trust data security and Zero Trust cloud security.