If not VPN, then what? The undeniable benefits of Zero Trust solutions

New challenges result from remote work that many company have chosen due to the COVID-19 situation. It also pertains to the key business information resources. How can one securely access internal systems from outside the company’s network? Which tools should be used to avoid cyberattacks?

It is not a completely new problem. Before the pandemic, remote access to corporate resources was also needed, though to a lesser extent. Examples include employees on business trips or external contractors connecting to the company systems. Most of the time they used VPN channels.

VPN? Not so secure after all

The recent period of intensified remote work has exposed imperfections of this solution. VPN (Virtual Private Network) allows for the encryption of the entire communication. However, one still has to use logins and passwords. Multi-factor authentication is not a requirement. How does it affect companies?

Firstly, it takes a long time to make a service available to employees. Access granting, account creation and providing credentials is a time-consuming process. It can be even several days. This, in turn, disrupts the work flow.

Secondly, system access data can leak out. Passwords and logins are weak security features. Hackers can steal them and get access to a company’s key information resources.

Traditional methods of authentication fail to provide sufficient protection to business resources. From the security perspective, it is necessary not only to secure the logging process to internal systems, but also to control when and who accesses what data, says Krzysztof Andrian, CEO at Concept Data. The market offers Zero Trust solutions which ensure business security in this respect. We recommend the technology by CyberArk to our customers.

The Zero Trust approach

Zero Trust means strict access control and default mistrust towards everyone who operates in the network or tries to get access. Including employees. It is no wonder that such solutions are actually used. Cisco surveys show that employees like comfort. They do not want to log into systems via multi-step processes or wait for the assignment of access privileges and account creation. That is why they sometimes make mistakes that cost their company a lot of money. They share their logins and passwords or connect to the internal systems outside VPN channels.

CyberArk Zero Trust eliminates these problems in three ways.

1. It does away with passwords and VPN.
2. It introduces multi-factor authentication based on dynamically generated QR codes and biometrics. An employee uses a fingerprint or a facial scan to get access to systems.
3. It reduces the time of access granting. It operates on the basis of groups of privileged users instead of individual accounts. Adding employees to such groups is quick and easy,

Moreover, the CyberArk platform provides full visibility of the user activity: it records sessions and generates alarms in the event of unusual or unwanted actions. So it not only protects access to systems. It also detects irregularities in the activities of those users who have already accessed corporate resources.

Our team has extensive experience in solutions which safeguard the access to key information resources. If you are unsure about the security of your internal systems or the sufficiency of VPN for your business, feel free to contact us at: info@conceptdata.pl. We will be glad to answer questions and suggest solutions best suited to your company.

More about Zero Trust:

Rethink cybersecurity. The Zero Trust evolution

Secure access to data. Why is it so important now and how to implement it in a business setting