30/07/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 30/07/2024 14:24
In response to today's sophisticated threat landscape, organizations around the world are prioritizing cybersecurity more and more. However, these organizations often overlook a critical part of the picture when it comes to bolstering their security postures and reducing risk.
When organizations think about cybersecurity, they tend to think of securing theirworkforce. While this is important, it isn't just internal users that access their IT applications-there are also third-party or B2B users throughout the supply chain who have legitimate reasons for connecting to corporate apps. Examples of these external entities include channel partners, technology partners, vendors, customers, and more.
Why you should secure third-party access to apps
Extending app access to third parties enhances interorganizational collaboration and allows organizations to operate more productively. However, B2B access also exposes organizations to increased risk.
Naturally, allowing a third party into your environment means that their security posture is going to impact your security posture. That is, if their organization doesn't do the best job of preventing cyberattacks, then it is more likely that they will bring threats with them into your ecosystem. But even if that is not the case, and a B2B partner has an immaculate security posture, one of their users can still cause damage either maliciously or carelessly.
How notto secure third-party access to apps
Historically, organizations have used a few go-to methods in an attempt to provide secure access to third parties:
Unfortunately, these "solutions" create more problems than they solve. That's because they are underpinned by the philosophical assumptions of what is known as castle-and-moat security (you can read more about this architectural approach here). So, what are these problems?
Organizations around the world have been grappling with these issues for decades. Clearly, the status quo must go.
How to secure third-party access to apps
Unlike traditional tools built upon perimeter-based architectures, zero trust is ideal for extending secure app access to B2B partners. That's because zero trust is a distinct architecture that is based upon the principle of least-privileged access, whereby users get access only to what they need and excessive permissions are avoided. This approach is ideal in manufacturing, banking, consumer goods, and other industry verticals where there are complex supply chains and third parties regularly accessing IT resources.
Zscaler for B2B
With Zscaler, organizations get zero trust architecture delivered as a service from the world's largest inline security cloud, the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange. To put it simply, Zscaler acts as an intelligent switchboard to provide secure any-to-any connectivity in a one-to-one fashion that does not extend the network to anyone or anything. Embracing this architecture and departing from the traditional castle-and-moat model of security allows organizations to securely facilitate B2B app access. With Zscaler, you can:
To learn more information about Zscaler for B2B and how it can help your organization secure third-party access, visit our webpage here.
Or, if you would like to hear more about zero trust architecture in general, register for our webinar, "Start Here: An Introduction to Zero Trust."