5 Zero Trust Remote Access Solutions Your IT Team Needs to Know

In the past, organizations could control how, when, and where their employees accessed sensitive data. Now, in the age of hybrid and remote work, employees can connect to company networks from any location over nearly any device. Safeguarding data while granting  employees the access they need is a delicate balance. That’s where zero trust remote access solutions come into play.

Rather than a single piece of hardware or software, zero trust solutions are a collection of tools and processes that help organizations balance remote access and cybersecurity. The zero trust philosophy operates under a simple principle: “Never trust, always verify.” We’ve outlined five solutions that your organization can implement to strengthen its security posture without burdening your staff. Stringent authentication procedures, least-privilege access principles, and sophisticated analytics can empower employees while hindering potential threat actors.

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What are zero trust remote access solutions?

Zero trust remote access solutions refer to any practice or piece of technology that distrusts users by default. While many systems allow a user full access as long as they provide a legitimate username and password, a zero trust system assumes that the username and password are compromised until proven otherwise.

Workers can verify their identities in zero trust systems by using multi-factor authentication (MFA), company-issued machines, known IP addresses, and familiar login locations. The system may also log them out after each session and demand credentials at regular intervals. These occasional challenges are minor inconveniences for employees, but huge stumbling blocks for threat actors — even if they obtain a username and password.

To find the best zero trust solutions for your organization, assess your current security practices and build a strategy from there. Implement these new solutions one at a time and ensure that your employees are still able to work with the files they need. Work with your employees to find the right balance between access and zero trust principles.

Before you start, be aware that you may have to phase out some of your existing tools. For example, if you’re searching for a zero trust VPN, you might not find one. VPNs are older tools that tend to favor access over security. Implementing zero trust protocols means being open to new software, best practices, and workflows.

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5 zero trust solutions to implement

Multi-factor authentication

Of all the potential zero trust remote access solutions, MFA is one of the simplest to implement. In an MFA setup, simply entering a username and password isn’t enough. A system will demand a secondary access code, usually delivered via text message, email, or some other dedicated application. While a potential attacker may find still-valid usernames and passwords from high-profile data breaches on the dark web, MFA codes expire and regenerate every minute or so.

More than half of businesses worldwide use MFA, and every smartphone has access to a bevy of reliable authenticator tools. And while MFA isn’t impenetrable, it does add an extra layer of security between a threat actor and an organization’s sensitive data. Google determined that basic MFA practices can deter 100% of automated bots and more than two-thirds of other targeted attacks.

Principle of least privilege

Not all employees need admin-level privileges to do basic work. Before implementing a zero trust security solution, talk with your employees to determine which programs, files, and permissions they need to do their jobs. When logging in remotely, they should be able to access these tools and nothing else. This is known as the principle of least privilege. By limiting remote access to specific apps and data, you limit the amount of sensitive information a threat actor can extract.

If and when legitimate users need additional permissions, they can ask IT directly, or log in from company-issued machines on known networks. Few threat actors are sophisticated enough to pull this off.

User analytics

Workers tend to access data in predictable ways through their basic productivity apps, over the same regular networks, and from the same locations. User and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) helps organizations identify access that falls outside of that normal.

For example, if someone poses as an employee from a location where they don’t live or work, requests information that falls outside of their responsibilities, or logs in through a new device, UEBA would identify and analyze that activity. This process employs artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to flag unusual user behavior. If IT spots suspicious behavior, the department can lock down access pending further investigation.

Continuous authentication

Another key component of zero trust remote access is continuous authentication. When a user logs in from a remote machine, the system may occasionally log them out and require them to re-enter their username, password, and MFA credentials. 

With a zero trust network access (ZTNA) solution, organizations can grant granular, context-aware access based on the risk levels of end-user devices and can terminate access and ask for re-authentication if risks are detected.  

Threat containment

Despite your best efforts, a threat actor may gain access to your systems and circumvent your zero trust protocols. Before that happens, you should try to gauge how much damage they could inflict. Assign an employee or hire a consultant to “infiltrate” your system. See how long it takes to spot them and lock them out, and what kind of data they can extract before you do.

Cybersecurity experts call this assumed breach testing, and it can help you develop countermeasures for a worst-case scenario. Remember, the time to craft a response for a potential data breach is now — not after it happens.

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Secure your data with zero trust solutions

As you research zero trust remote access solutions for your organization, consider how you currently protect your data and whether your strategy has any shortcomings. Perhaps your average employee has more permissions than they need, can stay logged into a remote machine indefinitely, or uses a VPN that gives them full access to your organization’s network. If so, your sensitive data might be one compromised account away from a significant breach.

Zero trust solutions can help you balance access and security. Through frequent and stringent user verification, you can make your workplace safer for employees — and much more resistant to cyber attacks. For more information, read our e-book, The Data Protection Playbook: How to Enforce Zero Trust to Your Private Apps.