Sophos ZTNA Extends Adaptive Cybersecurity Ecosystem

Sophos has unveiled Sophos ZTNA, (zero trust network access) offering that fully integrates with an industry-leading, next-generation endpoint solution – Sophos Intercept X – providing advanced endpoint protection and zero trust network access with a single agent. Sophos ZTNA introduces a transparent and scalable security model for connecting users and devices to applications and data, improving and simplifying protection against ransomware and other advanced cybersecurity threats.

“Many traditional remote access solutions, like remote desktops and IPsec and SSL-VPN, provide strong encryption, but very little else in defense against modern threats. We see attackers increasingly exploiting these limitations, stuffing credentials into RDP and VPNs to gain access to victim networks, and then moving freely once inside, all too often culminating in costly data theft and ransomware incidents,” said Joe Levy, chief technology and product officer at Sophos. “People, applications, devices, and data aren’t constrained to offices anymore – they’re everywhere, and we need more modern ways to secure them. Zero trust is a very effective cybersecurity principle, and ZTNA embodies it in a practical, easy to use way, ensuring that users have secure access to only the resources that they need.”

Sophos ZTNA micro-segments networks to protect against intrusions, lateral movement and data theft. It constantly authenticates user identities with multiple factors, and validates device health, delivering tighter access controls for users and fewer footholds for cybercriminals. Unlike VPNs that provide broad network access, ZTNA eliminates implied trust and only authorizes user access to specific applications and systems on the network. By trusting nothing and verifying everything, ZTNA improves protection, simplifies security management for IT managers, and creates a smooth experience for remote workers.

“The future of work will be hybrid, making it imperative that organizations are able to protect remote workers, remote data and remote applications,” said Christopher Rodriguez, research director, Network Security Products at IDC. “By integrating ZTNA with endpoint protection, Sophos ZTNA enables risk-appropriate access to resources from any device, at any time and from any location. Trust is a key factor in business today – one that requires critical security controls to protect against business-impacting events, such as ransomware and data compromise.”