What rose more than 1500% in the past year?
2020 saw a number of things that rose more than 1500%:
- The price of Bitcoin
- Meme Stocks
- Attacks targeting VPNs
Let’s focus on the latter. According to a new threat intelligence report from Nuspire, and their threat intelligence partner Recorded Future, in Q1 2021, “there was a 1,916% increase in attacks against Fortinet’s SSL-VPN and a 1,527% increase in Pulse Connect Secure VPN. These vulnerabilities allow a threat actor to gain access to a network. Once they are in, they can exfiltrate information and deploy ransomware.”
Using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), agents, or appliances adds layers of complexity that slow business down. VPNs are complex, overly permissive, and lack any ability to do continuous security monitoring. It was not until work-from-anywhere became a necessity that attackers decided to focus in and fully exploit these known weaknesses. Threat actors are smart and motivated. They look for the straightest line to achieve their missions. In VPNs, they have found a soft target, and they have feasted for the past year.
The challenge of providing secure application access is not specific to any one industry, rather it is a key capability for any organization that relies on remote employees and numerous third parties to support their daily operation. In the current environment this is not nice to have capability, it is foundational to efficient business operations. In the current environment, can you justify the use of a VPN after all we have learned?
Enter Zero Trust Network Access
The Axis Application Access Cloud, on the other hand, speeds up business as it provides simple, smooth access to applications that are seamless to the end-user with no client-side software to install.
This VPN alternative solution delivers a better end-user experience that facilitates the adoption of new applications by end-users, and it accelerates the onboarding of new staff and third parties, such as suppliers. When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, not only is onboarding faster, but it is also more secure since there is no corporate network access allowed.
The Application Access Cloud’s shielding of the corporate network reduces risk when third parties are accessing applications through their unmanaged devices, which may well be compromised. No corporate network access with no direct application connection means there is no need for new end-users to wait for their devices to be sanitized and secured before they can access the applications.
The Application Access Cloud can be deployed in minutes, not weeks, and has no physical or virtual appliances to manage. You can now apply the enormous amount of time spent in configuring and managing legacy appliances to other areas of IT that can accelerate business. By freeing up security staff from the mundane labor-intensive tasks of managing legacy hardware, it helps alleviate IT security staff shortages. Additionally, it provides time for security professionals to focus on more critical aspects of modern cybersecurity.
What are you waiting for? The numbers are not in your favor. Contact us to learn more about Zero trust Network Access with the Axis Application Access Cloud.