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InstaSafe recommended by Gartner for crafting Zero Trust Strategy

Instasafe

Oct 30, 2020 • 4 min read

InstaSafe recommended by Gartner for crafting Zero Trust Strategy

Legacy security models struggle to protect organisations facing digital transformation and remote workforce challenges. This evolving threat landscape requires a more adaptive approach to security—one where trust is never assumed and always verified.

InstaSafe has been recommended by a panel of Gartner Security Analysts as one of the preferred security vendors to help you craft a zero-trust strategy. InstaSafe is a part of the coveted list that also includes Microsoft, Google Cloud and CISCO.

Understanding Zero Trust Security Models

The concept of zero trust strategy represents a fundamental shift from traditional security approaches. Rather than operating under the assumption that everything inside an organisation's network is safe, a zero-trust model adopts the "never trust, always verify" principle.

This security framework requires strict identity verification for every person and device attempting to access resources, regardless of whether they're within or outside the network perimeter.

The zero trust security Gartner recommended approach treats every access request as potentially hostile. The model continuously validates users before granting the minimum necessary access privileges.

This represents a significant departure from legacy systems that primarily focused on defending the network edge while implicitly trusting everything inside.

Why Zero Trust Has Become Essential?

One of the major challenges for companies, as described by Senior Director Analyst Brian Reed, was the problem of surplus access and trust. Due to the shockwaves sent forth by the pandemic, it became imperative for companies to craft a zero-trust strategy that empowers organisations to extend secure access to their applications to remote workforces operating both managed and unmanaged devices.

The conventional perimeter-based security models face numerous shortcomings in today's digital environment:

Applications and data now exist across multiple environments—on-premises, in the cloud and through SaaS platforms.
Remote workforces need secure access from various devices and locations.
Traditional VPNs expose enterprise IPs to the internet, creating potential attack vectors.
Privacy concerns arise when traffic flows through vendor servers that could potentially be compromised.

Gartner's Security Recommendations

This year's 10 security projects in focus include:

Securing Remote Workforces
Risk-Based Vulnerability Management
Extended Detection and Response
Cloud Security Posture Management
Simplify Cloud Access Controls
DMARC
Passwordless Authentication
Data Classification and Protection
Workforce Competency Assessment
Automating Security Risk Assessment

Among these critical security priorities, implementing a zero trust Gartner approved approach addresses multiple concerns simultaneously—particularly securing remote workforces, simplifying cloud access controls and enhancing overall security posture.

The Core Principles of Zero Trust

The zero trust strategy that security experts advocate follows several fundamental principles:

Never Trust, Always Verify: No user or device receives implicit trust, regardless of their location inside or outside network boundaries.
Continuous Risk Assessment: Each access request is evaluated based on its unique context and risk profile before authorisation occurs.
Least Privilege Access: Users receive only the minimum permissions needed to complete their tasks—nothing more.
Micro-segmentation: Applications, users and data are compartmentalised into isolated segments to minimise potential attack surfaces.
Complete Visibility: Security teams maintain comprehensive visibility over all network traffic to identify potential threats.
Centralised Management: Access policies are managed through a unified system with granular control.

Why Does InstaSafe Stand Out Among Zero Trust Solutions?

With an unprecedented move to remote work models, a number of security vulnerabilities have been detected in modern security technologies like Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Remote Desktop Protocol and VPNs.

Given that most organisations' security postures were built around the notion of remote work being an exception, the present scenario has thrown up multiple security challenges. To solve these challenges, Gartner analysts recommend implementing and operationalizing a Zero Trust Approach to security.

InstaSafe's approach to zero trust solutions recognises and encompasses several distinctive features that address the limitations of traditional security models:

Infrastructure Invisibility

InstaSafe employs Software-Defined Perimeter principles that make your network infrastructure completely invisible to unauthorised users. By implementing a "drop all" firewall strategy, only authenticated users and authorised devices can see and access your applications and resources. This radically reduces your attack surface.

Privacy-First Architecture

Unlike many VPN solutions, InstaSafe separates the data plane (carrying critical information) from the control plane (where trust is established). This critical separation ensures your data traffic never passes through vendor machines, protecting your information from potential supply chain attacks and maintaining true data privacy.

Single Message Authorisation

The platform creates seamless, encrypted application-specific tunnels through a proprietary Single Message Authorisation mechanism. This process happens instantly in the background, requiring no end-user interaction while maintaining strict security protocols.

Unified Access Solution

InstaSafe provides one comprehensive solution for accessing all applications, servers and data, regardless of where they're hosted. This unified approach simplifies security management through a single dashboard, integrating identity management, multi-factor authentication and monitoring capabilities.

Benefits of Adopting Zero Trust Security

Enhanced Security: Prevention of lateral movement attacks even if perimeter defences are breached
Granular Access Control: Users access only what they need when they need it
Improved Visibility: Complete awareness of all network traffic and data movement
Cost Efficiency: Streamlined security infrastructure with fewer point solutions
Greater Agility: Faster adoption of new technologies with consistent security controls
Better Compliance: Easier enforcement of regulatory requirements through centralised policy management

Implementing a Zero Trust Framework

Define Your Protection Surface: Identify the critical data, applications, assets and services requiring protection.
Map Transaction Flows: Understand how traffic moves between protected assets and user devices.
Build Zero Trust Architecture: Design a security framework that optimally protects your assets based on traffic patterns.
Create Zero Trust Policies: Implement rules governing which users can access specific resources under defined conditions.
Monitor and Maintain: Continuously inspect user and network activity logs to maintain visibility and take corrective actions when necessary.

Conclusion

With more than 500,000 endpoints secured across 4 continents, InstaSafe's award-winning identity-centric cloud security solutions have transformed the way in which companies are securing their remote workforce and migrating seamlessly to the cloud.

With its powerful Zero Trust Secure Access solutions and Managed Bug Bounty platform, InstaSafe empowers companies in their journey towards secure digital transformation.

As digital transformation accelerates and workforces become increasingly distributed, implementing a robust zero-trust strategy becomes not just a security enhancement but a business necessity.