CriticalAPT
I Replaced My VPN with ZTNA. Why Did I Fail My Zero Trust Audit?
Forescout·Source published ·1 min read
What happened?
Replacing your VPN with ZTNA does not automatically make your network Zero Trust compliant. The most likely reason you failed your audit is that you changed the remote-access mechanism without demonstrating that your security architecture enforces Zero Trust principles. Zero Trust is not a product. It’s an enterprise security architecture built around continuous verification, least privilege access, and limiting the impact of a compromise. Zero Trust doesn’t require a specific technology. It focuses on the security outcomes those controls achieve.
Key details
- Replacing VPN with ZTNA alone does not satisfy Zero Trust audit requirements.
- ZTNA often leaves on-premises users, admins, and workloads on direct connections that bypass policy enforcement.
- ZTNA sessions may persist after a device is compromised if risk signals are not received in time to revoke access.
Fixes and mitigations
- Implement Universal Identity Verification for every human user, privileged admin, and service account including on-premises and internal connections.
- Establish Universal Continuous Monitoring to produce evidentiary records of who accessed what, from which device, under which policy, and why.
Summarised by SecOraLens from Forescout. Always read the original source before acting. How SecOraLens verifies advisories.