Virgin Media Business has tapped cloud security vendor Zscaler to further beef up its SD-WAN and SASE capabilities for remote workers.
Virgin Media Business has added Zscaler to its cloud security portfolio via the vendor's global Zero Trust Exchange Platform that sits between an organization's users, corporate applications and networks.
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) started to pick up steam last year as vendors such as Zscaler began to offer a variety of solutions. ZTNA abstracts the network location and use identity-based authentication to establish trust. ZTNA uses information, such as location, device, time of day, and application, to grant access to the data.
The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange facilitates cloud adoption and hybrid working strategies as more employees work-from-anywhere due to the pandemic. With Zscaler Private Access, traffic is directed to the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange using Zero Trust Network Access to limit application access to authorized personnel only.
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ZTNA is also a key element of SASE. SASE converges the functions of network and security point solutions into a unified, global cloud-native service, according to Gartner, which coined the SASE term two years ago. In addition to ZTNA, SASE is a package of technologies that includes network security, FWaaS (firewall-as-a-service), DNS, cloud secure web gateway (SWG), and CASB (cloud access security brokers), among other features, for a hybrid cloud-based service model over a wide-area network (WAN).
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By 2024, more than 60% of SD-WAN customers will have implemented a SASE architecture, compared with about 35% in 2020, according to Gartner's SASE forecast. According to a report by Dell'Oro Group, SASE is expected to grow at a CAGR of 116% from last year to 2024.
Working with Zscaler enables Virgin Media Business to bolster its SD-WAN, hybrid cloud and cloud security solution suite by offering a service globally that encompasses the SASE framework. Virgin Media Business first launched its SD-WAN service in 2018 with Versa Networks. Zscaler has been deployed in tandem with numerous SD-WAN vendors because it can deliver security functions from the cloud.
While Zscaler focuses on the security side of SASE, its cloud-native technology offers a range of security services, such as secure web gateway, cloud firewall, cloud sandbox, CASB, cloud DLP and secure remote access functionality without the challenges that on-premises appliances sometimes present
Working across WAN, IP-VPN, SD-WAN, mobile and even public internet connections, the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange speed up businesses migrations to the cloud. Organizations could also benefit from flexible, scalable services while also reducing capital expenditure and simplifying corporate security policies and on-premises equipment. The coronavirus pandemic has led to organizations of all sizes accelerating their digital transformations, which includes putting more applications in the cloud.
“By introducing Zscaler’s highly integrated Zero Trust Exchange to our portfolio, we’re accelerating our customers’ journey to the cloud and locking it down with best of breed security," said Andrew Halliwell, product director at Virgin Media Business, in a statement. "This new cloud service adds to our existing network security services portfolio and will help protect and simplify our customers’ operations while providing real cost savings that set them up to rebound, no matter how their corporate network needs to flex in future.”
Going forward, Virgin Media Business and Zscaler plan to work together to configure Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access with enhanced management support slated to follow later this year.