Considering VPN-less? Here’s How to Go About Secure Access

The traditional practice of relying on VPNs for remote access security is still widespread worldwide, particularly in areas where governments enact online censorship and restrictions.

However, this reliance is increasingly proving inadequate in the face of modern cyber threats. Between 2022 and 2024, there has been a notable increase in cyberattacks targeting VPN users.

According to recent data by Forbes Advisor, 57% of respondents experienced a cyberattack while using a VPN. In fact, in 2022, a significant breach exposed the data of 25 million users from a few major VPN service providers.

Challenges of Using VPNs for Secure Access

VPNs, while providing a layer of security, face several challenges that can compromise their effectiveness:

Inbound Requests and Vulnerabilities: VPNs often rely on inbound requests for access, which can be exploited by attackers. If vulnerabilities exist in the VPN software, it can provide an entry point for unauthorised access.

Limited Granular Control: VPNs offer limited granularity in access controls and user permissions. This can lead to difficulties ensuring users have appropriate access levels, potentially exposing sensitive resources.

Split Tunneling Risks: Some configurations of VPNs allow split tunnelling, where only traffic destined for the corporate network goes through the VPN. This can expose users to threats when accessing the internet directly, bypassing corporate protective measures.

Reliance on Traditional Authentication: Many VPNs depend on username and password authentication, which is vulnerable to credential-based attacks. Compromised credentials can lead to unauthorised access and data breaches.

Incompatibility with Zero Trust Models: VPNs often struggle to align with Zero-Trust security models, which require continuous verification and least privilege access. Implementing a robust Zero-Trust strategy necessitates additional security measures beyond what traditional VPNs offer.

The Ivanti VPN: A Stark Example

The recent Ivanti VPN incident earlier this year, where hackers exploited zero-day vulnerabilities in VPN gateways, highlighted the significant risks associated with conventional VPN solutions.

Attackers exploited two vulnerabilities, CVE-2023-46805 and CVE-2024-21887, to bypass authentication and execute commands, respectively. This allowed them to steal sensitive data and compromise IT systems, affecting thousands of VPN appliances globally.

The Rise of Privileged Access Management (PAM) Solutions

In response to the evolving security landscape and the limitations of traditional VPNs, the PAM systems have emerged as a compelling alternative for enabling secure access.

PAM tools like the Sectona Security Platform’s offerings facilitate secure remote access capabilities while ensuring tightened security. These solutions are typically agentless and do not require VPN tunnelling, port forwarding, or firewall configuration changes, making them easier to deploy and manage.

Features and Benefits of Sectona’s Secure Remote Access

1. Enabling and Unifying Secure Access to IT and Cloud Resources

One key reason for implementing a secure remote access solution is to unify secure access to an organisation’s resources.

As organisations embrace cloud computing and digitise their operations, the need for secure access to resources outside the traditional IT network has become even more paramount.

With Sectona’s PAM Solution, internal users, partners, outsourced IT teams, and vendors can access the organisation’s IT infrastructure and workloads in the cloud environment through a single console. This centralised access point streamlines the user experience and simplifies access management, reducing the risk of unauthorised access.

2. Strengthening Endpoint Security

Secure remote access solutions mitigate the risks posed by unknown and vulnerable endpoints. By eliminating insecure channels for accessing resources on-premises or in the cloud, the solution strengthens endpoint security and reduces the attack surface for potential threats.

3. Enabling VPN-less Privileged Access

Sectona enables secure access without the need for traditional VPNs. This approach eliminates the high operational costs associated with maintaining and scaling VPNs, among other disadvantages, providing a frictionless experience.

4. Workflow-Based Access Control

The Sectona Security Platform offers workflow-based access control, allowing organisations to restrict access based on specific attributes, roles, and entitlements. This feature ensures users can only access the necessary resources to perform their tasks.

5. Just-in-Time (JIT) Access

Sectona’s PAM Solution enforces a zero-trust access model to mitigate the risk of compromise by implementing Just-in-Time (JIT) policies. This model ensures zero-standing privileges by provisioning users with the necessary access just in time to perform specific tasks or activities and de-provisioning it once the tasks are completed. This approach maintains minimal privileges for employees and remote workforces and offers granular visibility and control over remote privileged access.

6. Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Ensuring secure access requires validating the user’s identity through additional authentication factors beyond a simple password. Sectona’s PAM Solution supports various multi-factor authentication methods, including SMS or app-based tokens, and third-party integrations with solutions like Okta, Duo, and Google Authenticator.

Sectona’s adaptive MFA model combines multi-factor criteria such as geographic location, time-based access, and device-based authentication, providing an additional layer of security and enforcing stringent access measures.

7. Secure Browser-based Access Across Environments

Sectona’s PAM Solution enables isolated secure access to client machines from remote locations through browser-based SSH and RDP sessions. For users requiring access to thick clients, Sectona’s solution allows them to connect to the machine with the help of a jump server integration enabled over the browser, ensuring controlled access.

Now, step into a VPN-less future for secure access with Sectona PAM. Protect your organisation from modern cyber threats using its robust features.

For an in-depth understanding of what Sectona PAM offers regarding secure access, please download this solution brief.

Also read: Best Practices for Remote User Security in the Digital Age