What are the differences between VPN and ZTNA?

The COVID-19 pandemic, without any doubt, made several Companies in the market to identify improvement points that previously haven’t been mapped precisely.And one of those points was the manner that the remote user connects in the private environment of the Company. As well as what are the types of accesses that such user utilizes when there is a need to access the private network.

Many companies adopt as a form of remote connection, the VPN which allows the user to authenticate in the private network of the Company so that he/she might be able to access the necessary services.

VPN

But what a VPN is all about?

Let us recapitulate.

VPNs are connections accomplished through tunneling and cryptography protocols. Therefore, allowing a safe connection to a private network.

As an example of utilization, we may quote a remote user with Internet access, who uses a VPN based on a software installed in the machine. In this manner, after putting the respective credentials, it will authenticate in the private network from the Company and starts getting access to the internal network.

With the utilization of VPNs, the Companies are able to manage the respective users that have connection to the network. Therefore, imposing restrictions according to the characteristics of the private network.

However, considering the current scenario, the utilization of VPNs bring some points that are worthy of attention for the Companies. Let us see some of these points:

Complexity in adding new users

During the pandemic of COVID-19, Companies needed to adapt to the system of remote working. Therefore, many of those Companies also needed to enable the usage of the VPN for users that previously didn’t have such necessity. However, the task of adding new users to a VPN is not easy at all. The user or the device itself needs to be enabled for using a VPN and integrated to the security environment of the Company, respectively.

This process makes every the attribution of new users to a VPN to become prolonged. Because, in addition to the respective additions of users, it will be necessary to verify if all the users will be able to access their respective services. In this point, it is important that we consider also that the complexity for the usage of a VPN might be an additional point of difficulty for the users and for the IT technical team consequently.

Moreover, it is important that we are able to evaluate even during the pandemic, several companies went on hiring new professionals. Accordingly, increasing the demand of the IT technical team in the sense of enabling the usage of VPNs for everyone.

Traffic for the utilization of the Internet

Sometimes, the connection with a private network (through a VPN) can result in a diminishing of speed for utilizing the Internet in the machine of the user.

This without a doubt, it will diminish the performance of the user during the execution of tasks. As well as, preventing the user from accessing certain services on the Internet, when connected to the VPN.

Another important point is that depending of the type of service, a fall in the output can happen in case there is one network connection appropriate for such usage.

Types of accesses

With the utilization of VPNs, the remote user has access to every network where he/she has been authenticated. This makes a user who needs only to gain access to a certain application, needing to become authenticated in the entire network.

ZTNA

Before all the challenges imposed for the utilization of VPNs, another model that has been considered in the market to be utilized in remote connections is the ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access).

ZTNA is based in authentication and allows the user to carry out access only in the specific applications that might be necessary. Therefore, making all the rest of the network unavailable for such user. This without a doubt, represents a considerable benefit when we compare with the difficulties and restrictions that are normally imposed for the usage of VPNs.

Let us see on the following some of the main benefits of the ZTNA:

Preservation of the network 

With the ZTNA, it is possible to grant access only to the applications necessary, with that for all the rest of the network, the access will not be granted. This allows that the access granted are only for specific purposes and applications, and not granted to other types of accesses. Another point is that the accesses to the applications are granted only for the authorized users.

Additionally, another great benefit for the sake of security of the network is that the IPs addressing will not be exposed on the Internet with the model of ZTNA, which allows the remote user to have access to the necessary applications, and in parallel the Company will be able to diminish the attempts of hackers’ attacks to the private network, increasing, in this manner, the level of security of accesses of the network.

 Flexibility in the utilization

In the utilization of VPNs, normally, there are many difficulties in what is referred to the permissions of remote users on the networks. However, in the ZTNA model it becomes more flexible for the existing users and also the new ones to be able to accomplish certain accesses. In the ZTNA, it becomes easier and faster for the technical team to grant the respective accesses to the applications for the authorized users.

Still, the remote user tends to have much less difficulties in accessing the necessary applications through ZTNA, than when utilizing a VPN that sometimes demands a series of requests for accessing all the network. This allows that the collaborators exercise their respective tasks remotely, with more agility, less difficulties and with security.

Possibility of expanding 

In the model based on VPNs, the amount of remote accesses is based in the capacity of simultaneous connections in a certain equipment. Where as in the model of ZTNA implemented in cloud there is a flexibility both for expanding as for diminishing the access respective to the applications, which allows the company to obtain more control of the resources utilized.

In order for the companies to be able to continue performing their respective tasks through remote collaborators, it is necessary that an analysis is carried out if the current infrastructure will provide all the concessions, resources and security for the collaborators.

To conciliate concessions, flexibility and security is not a simple task, however, it is important to always analyze the existing park as well as the possible improvements. The visibility of what happens in your network is crucial to guarantee that the changes are implemented and will not affect the productivity of the company.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

In this way, there are no doubts about the importance of investing on network management. Therefore, bringing not only benefits for the network visibility, but also being a way of obtaining data for helping in the decision-making processes.

Thinking of that, Telcomanager present in the market since 2002, and a leading Latin America brand in the sector of software for managing networks. Also counting with a unique and innovative technology, deploying smart solutions in the monitoring of data that will provide a stratified vision of the traffic, is now allowing your Company to follow the most important aspects of your network, in real time.