It's been two decades since the introduction of virtual private networks (VPNs), and they are still the go-to solution for many organizations that need to connect remote users to company resources. But while VPN technology remained relatively static — grounded on the principle that your resources are primarily located on a corporate network — remote work requirements have changed dramatically.
Your data has left the premises. While virtual private networks (VPNs) used to be the go-to solution for extending access to private apps to remote users, they aren't a sufficient solution for securing a hybrid workforce. Because they place so much trust in users and devices, they end up granting overly permissive access to everything inside the perimeter, putting your data at risk.
These days, mobile devices are integral to the way we work, and many employees spend their days switching between their phones and their computers. While most organizations have a robust cybersecurity strategy in place to protect their laptops and corporate networks, mobile devices are often left underprotected. And that’s a big problem because mobile devices are frequently faced with risks like phishing attacks and operating system vulnerabilities.
When organizations were forced to shift to remote work during the pandemic, they needed a quick-fix solution that would enable their remote employees to securely access work resources. For many, this solution came in the form of VPNs. However, VPNs were not designed for the bring your own device (BYOD) and cloud app security use cases. While VPNs can provide remote access, it may come as a surprise that they fall short when it comes to security.
SaaS applications like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce are now a ubiquitous part of business. With so much corporate data now residing in the cloud, a perimeter-based approach to security doesn’t cut it. To enforce cloud data protection policies across SaaS apps, a cloud access security broker (CASB) has become a necessity.
In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, SaaS applications have been essential in driving efficiency and promoting collaboration. But the benefits of the cloud also bring new risks, and securing your organization against a vast array of cloud security threats can be a unique challenge.
The rise of hybrid work has accelerated digital transformation for organizations of all sizes. As a result, more and more applications and data are moving to the cloud. While this has created a number of benefits — including cost savings, ease of access, and increased operational efficiencies — the cloud has also made it more challenging to protect sensitive data.
Today, cybersecurity companies are in a never-ending race against cyber criminals, each seeking innovative new tactics to outpace the other. The newfound accessibility of generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) has revolutionized how people work, but it's also made threat actors more efficient. Attackers can now quickly create phishing messages or automate vulnerability discoveries.
With the rise of hybrid work, data leakage has become a significant issue. Employees are now working from a variety of locations, including their homes, coffee shops, and even public libraries. This makes it more difficult to keep track of data moving between managed endpoints and your organization's SaaS applications or private apps. Shadow IT, the use of unauthorized or unapproved software and services by employees has always been a challenge for IT departments.
For more than two decades, virtual private networks (VPNs) have been the go-to technology for enterprise remote access — and by extension, for enforcing remote access security. Even ubiquitous internet connections are often redirected via VPN to a central data center, where security enforcement occurs through various hardware appliances. From there, the traffic is forwarded onward to the internet. Of course, it must follow the same indirect path back on the response side.
