ZTNA provides secure remote access to internal applications for any user, from anywhere, without putting critical resources at risk. To accomplish this, it starts with an architecture that's fundamentally different from a network-centric solution. Relying on a software-defined perimeter (SDP) , ZTNA enforces secure, identity-based access controls. This helps organizations replace their VPNs while reducing dependence on tools like DDoS protection, global load balancing, and firewalls. Following four core principles, ZTNA: Completely isolates app access from network access. This reduces risks such as infection by compromised devices, granting only authorized users access to specific applications. Makes network and app infrastructure invisible to unauthorized users. Outbound-only connections ensure IPs are never exposed to the internet, making the network impossible to find. Grants authorized users app access on a one-to-one basis. Native app segmentation means users only have access to specific apps, not the full network, eliminating the risk of lateral movement. Takes a user-to-app approach, not a perimeter security approach. The internet becomes the new corporate network, using end-to-end encrypted microtunnels instead of dedicated MPLS.

/ What Is Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

What Is Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?

Q: What’s the Difference Between VPN and ZTNA?

Feature VPN ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) Access Type Access to a network and its resources through an encrypted, private tunnel. Secure least-privileged access to applications based on context verification. Scalability Lacks scalability, making it difficult to apply security policies for remote workers and clouds. Highly scalable with context-based controls, supporting distributed ecosystems. Maintenance & Cost Time-consuming and expensive to deploy and maintain across distributed environments. Easier to manage and more cost-efficient in secure, cloud-based environments. Attack Surface Broad attack surface, enabling lateral movement for users with valid credentials. Granular access controls restrict users to specific resources, preventing lateral movement. User Experience Can hinder user experiences due to performance limitations and inefficiencies. Direct user-to-application connections improve performance and optimize experience. Authentication Relies solely on credentials for access validation. Context-based authentication verifies multiple factors (device, location, identity) for added security.

Zero trust network access (ZTNA) is a set of technologies that enable secure remote access to internal applications. Trust is never granted implicitly, and access is granted on a need-to-know, least-privileged basis defined by granular policies. ZTNA gives users secure connectivity to private apps without placing them on the network or exposing apps to the internet.

Master the Zero Trust Approach to Security

Zero Trust Hybrid Workforce Digital Experience Monitoring

Why It Matters
How It Works
ZTNA vs. VPN
Benefits of ZTNA
Use Cases
Implementation
Zscaler ZTNA
Suggested Resources
FAQ
Related Topics

Why Does ZTNA Matter Today?

The future of work is distributed, and remote workforces and cloud workloads demand secure remote access. However, traditional remote access solutions like virtual private networks (VPNs) are not flexible or granular enough for distributed environments, increasing breach risks. This is a key reason 65% of enterprises recently reported plans to replace their VPNs with a solution such as ZTNA.

How Does ZTNA Work?

ZTNA provides secure remote access to internal applications for any user, from anywhere, without putting critical resources at risk. To accomplish this, it starts with an architecture that's fundamentally different from a network-centric solution.

Relying on a software-defined perimeter (SDP), ZTNA enforces secure, identity-based access controls. This helps organizations replace their VPNs while reducing dependence on tools like DDoS protection, global load balancing, and firewalls.

Following four core principles, ZTNA:

Completely isolates app access from network access. This reduces risks such as infection by compromised devices, granting only authorized users access to specific applications.
Makes network and app infrastructure invisible to unauthorized users. Outbound-only connections ensure IPs are never exposed to the internet, making the network impossible to find.
Grants authorized users app access on a one-to-one basis. Native app segmentation means users only have access to specific apps, not the full network, eliminating the risk of lateral movement.
Takes a user-to-app approach, not a perimeter security approach. The internet becomes the new corporate network, using end-to-end encrypted microtunnels instead of dedicated MPLS.

What’s the Difference Between VPN and ZTNA?

The key difference between these remote access solutions is how they provide that access.

VPN

VPNs give users access to a network and its resources through an encrypted, private tunnel. For many years, they were sufficient for users who worked remotely on occasion. However, cloud and remote work trends in the mid-to-late 2010s began to highlight shortcomings in the VPN approach.

Lack of scalability makes it difficult to apply security policies for remote workers and clouds, and hinders user experiences.
Deploying and maintaining VPNs across sprawling distributed ecosystems is time-consuming and expensive.
VPNs create a broad attack surface, enabling any user with valid credentials to move laterally throughout the network.

ZTNA

ZTNA provides secure least-privileged access. Instead of granting trust based only on credentials, it verifies users based on a breadth of context, including device, location, and identity, for every access request. Once verified, users receive direct application access rather than network-wide access.

Granular access controls prevent lateral movement by restricting users to only the resources they need.
Direct user-to-application connections improve performance and optimize user experiences.
Context-based authentication enhances security by verifying multiple factors before granting access.

Operational Advantages of ZTNA

With VPNs creating serious compliance and security risks, more and more organizations are discovering the advantages of ZTNA. Here are some of the top reasons to make the switch:

No need for legacy appliances: Completely replace legacy remote access appliances, such as VPNs, with a 100% software-based solution.
Seamless user experiences: Stop backhauling user traffic through the data center. Instead, grant users fast, direct access to applications.
Effortless scale: Scale with ease as needs change over time, only requiring provisioning of additional licenses, not new deployments.
Fast deployment: Deploy anywhere in just days, unlike appliance-based solutions that can take weeks or months to deploy.

Security Benefits of ZTNA

ZTNA helps organizations strengthen their overall security posture and agility by delivering:

Invisible infrastructure: ZTNA gives authorized users access to applications, not the corporate network. This eliminates risk to the network while keeping infrastructure hidden.
More control and visibility: A centralized admin portal offers simpler management and granular controls, with real-time visibility into all user and app activity, and dynamic policy enforcement for users or groups.
App segmentation made simple: ZTNA enables granular segmentation at the application level, with no need to manage complex network-level segments.
Integrated with SASE: ZTNA is a key part of the secure access service edge (SASE) model, combining with tools like SD-WAN and next-gen firewall (NGFW) in a unified, cloud native platform.

Top ZTNA Use Cases

While ZTNA has many use cases, most organizations start with one of these four.

VPNs are inconvenient and slow for users, difficult to manage, and offer poor security. More than half of organizations cite security and poor user experiences as the top challenges of VPN solutions.

Most third-party users receive overprivileged access, and they largely use unmanaged devices, both of which introduce risks. ZTNA significantly reduces third-party risk by never providing direct network access and enforcing least-privileged access to apps.

M&A integrations can span multiple years as organizations converge networks and deal with overlapping IPs. ZTNA can provide direct app access with no need to converge networks or resolve IP overlap, significantly simplifying and speeding up M&A value capture.

Securing hybrid and multicloud access is the most popular place for organizations to start their ZTNA journey. As more companies adopt the cloud, the vast majority are turning to ZTNA for security and access control for their multicloud strategies.

How Does ZTNA Simplify Multicloud Access?
ZTNA simplifies multicloud access by providing secure, direct connections between users and specific apps, wherever they are. It eliminates the need for complex network-level configurations or redundant VPNs, using identity-based authentication and granular access controls to unify security across clouds.

How to Implement ZTNA

Implementing ZTNA follows a phased approach designed to ensure smooth adoption, enhance security, and reduce risks:

Phase 1: Start with remote users. Replace existing VPN solutions for remote access and map private app usage across your environment. Begin by defining access levels similar to current VPN settings to maintain productivity as users transition.
Phase 2: Introduce microsegmentation. Identify critical applications and create granular access policies for specific user groups. Prioritize segmenting infrastructure servers and management ports to protect high-value resources first.
Phase 3: Expand ZTNA to all users. Transition private app access for both remote and on-site users to ZTNA by configuring segments to route all resource access through encrypted microtunnels. Ensure context-based policies are applied universally.

Key Considerations for Choosing the Right ZTNA Solution

In today's crowded marketplace, it's important to consider several other key criteria when evaluating ZTNA solutions against your unique needs:

Client requirements: Does the solution need an endpoint agent? What devices are supported? Agentless ZTNA is often critical for unmanaged device scenarios like BYOD and third-party access.
Application support: Can both web and legacy (data center) applications benefit from the same security features?
Cloud residency: Is the solution cloud-based? Does it meet security and residency needs? Cloud-delivered ZTNA often simplifies deployment and enhances DDoS resilience.
Authentication standards: What protocols are supported? Can it integrate with on-premises directories, cloud identity services, or existing identity providers?
Edge locations: How globally diverse are the vendor’s points of presence?
Access control and posture: Does the offering evaluate device health and security posture? Can it integrate with unified endpoint management (UEM)?

Keep these things in mind as you look for the vendor that complements your goals and vision.

Zscaler Zero Trust Network Access

Zscaler Private Access™ is the world’s most deployed ZTNA platform, built on the unique Zscaler zero trust architecture. As a cloud native service, ZPA can be deployed in hours to replace legacy VPNs and remote access tools with a holistic zero trust platform.

Zscaler Private Access delivers:

Peerless security, beyond legacy VPNs and firewalls: Users connect directly to apps, not the network, minimizing the attack surface and eliminating lateral movement.
The end of private app compromise: First-of-its-kind app protection, with inline prevention, deception, and threat isolation, minimizes the risk of compromised users.
Superior productivity for today's hybrid workforce: Lightning-fast access to private apps extends seamlessly across remote users, HQ, branch offices, and third-party partners.
Unified ZTNA for users, workloads, and devices: Employees and partners can securely connect to private apps, services, and OT/IoT devices with the most comprehensive ZTNA platform.

Schedule a live demo of Zscaler Private Access today

Suggested Resources

Why IT leaders should consider a zero trust network access (ZTNA) strategy

Read our white paper

Securing Cloud Transformation with a Zero Trust Approach

Read the white paper

10 Must-Have Capabilities for Securing Hybrid Work with ZTNA

Read the ebook

FAQ

ZTNA is more secure than VPNs because it gives access only to specific apps instead of entire networks. This reduces risks like lateral movement, hiding sensitive systems from attackers, and shrinking the attack surface for better protection.

Industries like healthcare, finance, and tech may gain the most from ZTNA. However, for any organization that depends on remote teams, strict rules, or large networks, ZTNA helps them keep data and apps safe with least-privileged access.

ZTNA is simple to set up and oversee. It works with cloud-based systems, so it deploys in days, not weeks. Its portals offer quick control of policies, instant user insights, and easy scaling for growth.

ZTNA boosts security for hybrid work by limiting access to apps, stopping lateral movement, and changing policies based on device and location. It guards systems without slowing down or complicating user access.

ZTNA is ideal for replacing network segmentation. It uses identity-based app permissions instead of complex network setups, removing over-access risks while simplifying security for workflows and cloud setups.

What Is Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)?