Secured.22: Shifting to a Zero Trust, Secure Service Edge architecture

Cyber crooks continue to penetrate networks and cause costly data breaches at alarming rates. As they adopt new, more sophisticated tactics, and as your IT infrastructure changes in response to evolving business conditions, you need to make sure that your security strategies and solutions keep up.

Industry analysts tell us that a Secure Service Edge (SSE) architecture is the new gold standard in security. And Zero Trust Access (ZTA) is a fundamental component of an effective SSE architecture. But what do those terms actually mean? Why are they needed now? And how, exactly, can you most efficiently shift to this new security model?

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Get answers to these and other questions by watching the recording of one of the most popular sessions at last September’s Secured.22 virtual customer conference: “Shifting to a zero trust, secure service edge architecture.”

Presented by Barracuda Vice President for Zero Trust Access Sinan Eren, the session is packed with eye-opening information, presented clearly and in detail.

Sinan covers the granular specifics of why and how criminals are focusing on identity as the key to successfully breaching corporate networks, and he presents an analysis of two major recent breaches. In the process, he demonstrates why multifactor authentication (MFA) is an inadequate defense against the abuse of stolen credentials.

And in a segment that I found particularly enlightening, Sinan explains why in today’s environment effective security depends on a reconceptualization of what constitutes the perimeter to be defended. Instead of a network-centric idea of the perimeter, today we need to adopt an identity-centric approach. That is, we must recognize that identity itself — understood to include not just users, but also devices, services, and even some data stores — is the new perimeter.

Here's a brief clip that I suspect will make you want to watch the whole session:

What is Zero Trust Access?

Sinan then goes on to explain in detail what exactly ZTA is and how it works — and why it is more secure than traditional single sign-on (SSO) and MFA schemes on their own. He uses the analogy of airport security, explaining that ZTA uses continuous monitoring to authenticate the identity of users, devices, and services — just as your ID authenticates to airport security that you are who you say you are. And then it also verifies users’ and services’ roles and devices’ security postures to make sure they are authorized to access the resources they are trying to access — just as your boarding pass tells airport security that you are authorized to enter the boarding area.

Obviously there’s a lot more to it, and Sinan provides all the details, but I found the analogy useful and clarifying.

SSE and the platforming of security

In the final segments, Sinan explains what SSE is and the role that ZTA plays within it. The bottom line is that SSE involves the integration of a lot of different components: identity protection, ZTA, web security, email protection, device monitoring, and more.

And he lays out the ways that modern security combines these capabilities into a platform model. In terms of cost and overhead, this is far preferable to purchasing, deploying, and maintaining many different point solutions. And it’s also more effective, as it allows integration of ZTA capabilities into multiple security capabilities.

In closing, Sinan provides a detailed overview of how Barracuda’s ZTA solution, CloudGen Access, delivers complete identity protection that is very easy to procure through the AWS and Azure marketplaces. In addition, he reveals the latest innovation from Barracuda, namely the integration of CloudGen Access ZTA capabilities directly into Barracuda Email Protection — bringing Zero Trust Access protection to all your Microsoft 365 services.

If you’re ready to start making the shift to ZTA and a Secure Service Edge architecture — or if you’re just interested in gaining a better understanding of what those technologies are, how they work, and why your peers are adopting them at a rapid clip — take half an hour to watch this important and informative presentation.