Security Overlay Network for Ultimate Security
Protecting Traffic Across the Legacy WANs Using SD-WAN Overlays
by Mark Snodgrass, Managing Director, Hararei Inc.
As of 2025, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency (CISA) now recommend End-To-End Encryption!
Volatile corporate environments with a high number of mergers and
acquisitions, with outsourced operations or with a significant number
of contract staff are challenging companies to provide remote access
to private corporate applications in a safe and secure manner.
The traditional approach is to provide a Virtual Private Network
(VPN), however this has one glaring deficiency. It is a network
connection! A connection that can be used by any bad actor.
A pipe through the perimeter that can allow any traffic to reach into
the heart of the organization. It is a connection that can be
inadvertently abused because end users, who in this case are not part
of your company, have become infected with spyware, ransomware or any
other form of malware. In short, VPNs are not a good solution for any
company that require robust security.
Companies are often challenged during a merger/spinoff process to
provide access to certain corporate applications, with no assurance
that the environment to which they are connecting is itself secure.
With no visibility on the network controls of the acquired company,
they are asked to open a trusted network connection. Similarly, in a
spinoff, cutting the trusted network may be held up because key users
still require access to some internal applications.
Contractor access via VPN is another area fraught with risk, with
several highly visible breaches directly attributed to this vector.
The temporary access given to contractors poses a significant
ongoing risk to companies, and as temporary often becomes
ongoing, the risk never goes away.
So how do we provide a secure remote access solution that addresses
the risks with traditional VPN solutions? The answer is Zscaler
Private Access (ZPA).
With ZPA, all your remote access use cases are covered:
- Provide partner application access, not network access
- Migrate private apps to AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Compute without network infrastructure changes
- Allow application access for acquisitions and divestitures
- Replace legacy VPN replacement
The ZPA architecture is a more secure and agile approach that funnels
end user traffic through a security layer that insulates and protects
the company from all but authorized traffic between specific outside
endpoints and specific internal applications, enforced by the Zscaler
Cloud. In effect, ZPA implements a Dark Net
that ensures that only the intended end points are communicating, with
no visibility to the rest of the network. Users with access to specific
applications cannot just start browsing through the network because
ZPA is enforcing the control to both ends of the connection.
In addition, ZPA provisions outside user access to sensitive internal
applications on a per-user basis, with real-time visibility on
user connectivity, and with full auditing of every access. With the
added benefits associated with a Cloud service (no CapEx, low OpEx,
dynamic scaling, flexibility, pay per user subscription, etc.), ZPA
significantly improves your security posture at a lower TCO compared
to your current VPN solution.
To explore possibilities with Zscaler Private Access, contact
Hararei for a free and confidential initial discussion.
Contact Us Please contact Hararei
for an in-depth discussion on using any of our Cloud or Cybersecurity products or services.