Zero Trust Edge
Forrester Defines Zero Trust Edge
In December 2021, Forrester's Now Tech Report featured All-In-One Zero Trust Edge solution. Fortinet was recognized among the largest vendors in the cybersecurity iindustry. The Forrester authors described the future of next-generation networking infrastructure as the bringing together of networking and security—in any combination of cloud, software, and hardware components that interweave users, data, and resources securely using Zero Trust Principles.
What are Zero Trust Principles?
There are three main Zero Trust Principles:
- Enhanced device visibility and segmentation
- Strong identity-based access controls
- Ability to secure endpoints on and off your corporate network
What is Zero Trust Edge Architecture?
Zero Trust Edge architecture brings networking and security technologies together, both on-premises and in the cloud, to deliver Zero Trust everywhere with zero trust network access (ZTNA).
- On-premises with SD-WAN, NGFW, and ZTNA
- In the cloud with SWG, CASB, and ZTNA
What are the trends Driving Zero Trust Edge Architecture?
Digital acceleration improves business agility and employee productivity by enabling a hybrid workplace and distributed application access ranging from the data center to multi-cloud to SaaS. But this shift expands the attack surface as it introduces many network edges and exposes business to advanced threats. The traditional network architecture of having point products and providing implicit access to all applications is not effective to this growing initiative and impacts business productivity. Secure digital acceleration requires a clear Zero Trust Strategy called “Zero Trust Edge,” which forms a new perimeter that delivers the convergence of security and networking everywhere, along with providing explicit access to applications based on continuous validation of user identity and context.
What is Fortinet's Approach to Zero Trust Edge Architecture?
Fortinet’s Zero Trust Edge innovative approach offers hybrid convergence of enterprise-class security and networking, both on-premises and in the cloud, while providing ZTNA everywhere. These organic innovations empower CIOs to adapt to modern technologies required for digital acceleration. Fortinet enables hybrid convergence with a long-proven Security-Driven Networking approach with investments in purpose-built ASIC, cloud-delivered security, and advanced networking capabilities to bring superior user experience and coordinated threat protection across all network edges with explicit access for users everywhere.
Three key steps to enable the Zero Trust Edge solution everywhere are:
- Build Secure SD-WAN Network: Securely connect all offices to every data center, multi-cloud, and SaaS. SD-WAN solutions builds the foundation for secure connectivity while enabling east-west segmentation to prevent lateral threat movement and attack surface, protecting organizations and delivering superior user experience with digital experience monitoring.
- Secure Remote Access: Use cloud-delivered security to securely connect all remote users. Enable comprehensive web security from the cloud, enabling multiple layers of defense that can further be extended to address data loss prevention and shadow IT use cases with in-line CASB integration.
- Enable Zero Trust Network Access Everywhere: Apply ZTNA everywhere for all users and devices regardless of location, shifting implicit access to explicit access per application based on continuous identity and context validation.
What Are the Key Customer Benefits of Fortinet's Zero Trust Edge Architecture?
Zero Trust Edge provides a unique approach to overcome user experience, point networking/security technologies, and implicit trust, which create obstacles for secure digital acceleration.
Three key benefits that the Zero Trust Edge solution offers are:
- End-to-End Superior User Experience: Accelerate application performance with the most optimal path with comprehensive digital experience monitoring to deliver end-to-end superior user experience
- Secure Hybrid Workplace: Enable consistent and coordinated security policies across network edges and remote users with one unified operating system and management console for employees working from anywhere
- Zero Trust Network Access Everywhere: Shift from implicit trust to per-application explicit access based on identity and context with continuous validation, enabling effective control of who and what is on the network
What Differentiates Fortinet Zero Trust Edge Architecture?
1) Industry-leading Secure SD-WAN: SD-WAN is the foundational element to Zero Trust Edge architecture, enabling organizations to scale at any level. Fortinet Secure SD-WAN has a large customer base that provides a great entry point toward the Zero Trust Edge Journey.
2) Hybrid Convergence: Fortinet is the only vendor to deliver convergence of networking and security powered by the same operating system (FortiOS) management console while delivering high performance for traffic inspection with purpose-built ASICs.
3) ZTNA Everywhere: Zero Trust Access Proxy is natively available in FortiGate appliances and VMs, both on-premises and in the cloud, providing the flexibility needed for organizations.
FAQs
What is zero trust edge?
Zero Trust Edge architecture brings networking and security technologies together, both on-premises and in the cloud, to deliver Zero Trust everywhere with ZTNA.
What are the key principles of zero trust edge?
Forrester’s Zero Trust Edge focuses on three key elements by the same vendor: SD-WAN, Hybrid convergence, and ZTNA everywhere.
