Remote Access

Security Considerations for Remote Access Network Architecture

Instasafe

Mar 9, 2022 • 4 min read

Network Security Model And Its Components

The remote working environment, started in early 2020, is still prevalent as organisations continue operating and employees continue working from their homes and remote locations.

However, this remote environment has increased network security risks because of the lack of security measures and public internet used by employees to access the company’s applications and network assets.

The cybersecurity market is increasing and growing at a rapid CAGR of 10.9%—putting critical company data and information at risk.

Hence, organisations are increasingly looking for secure remote access solutions to ensure network and application security when employees work remotely.

In this article, we share what secure remote access is and some security considerations to ensure remote access security.

What is Secure Remote Access?

The name suggests that secure remote access architecture ensures location-agnostic security and connectivity among employees, resources, cloud systems, and centralised applications.

Secure remote access solutions have changed and evolved considerably in the past few years as a result of the pandemic, new technologies, and sophisticated cybersecurity threats.

Here are a few technologies that can contribute to secure remote control access solutions:

VPNs
Firewalls
Zero Trust Network Access
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP)
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Intrusion detection and prevention systems
Virtual desktop infrastructure

However, organisations are looking for more robust and secure solutions than VPNs for their network security.

Why Are VPNs Diminishing And Giving Way To Zero Trust Security?

While VPNs provide a perimeter-based network security solution with user authentication and traffic encryption—they grant user access to the entire network and its assets. Hence, they increase the surface attack area and present greater remote access security risks—without offering granular visibility and user access to specific resources.

Hence, malware attacks and data breaches are more with the traditional and inefficient VPN solutions than with the Zero Trust security model.

On the contrary, here’s how the Zero Trust Network architecture can ensure maximum secure remote access for your organisation:

Zero Trust works on the principle of “Trust no one, verify everyone”—denying access unless the user undergoes a strict authentication and authorisation process.
It hides all the network resources, applications, and other crucial assets from the users and only provides access to authorised users to specific resources when they request access.
Zero Trust offers granular access control and allows you to leverage the least privileged access to control who gets access to what network resources and only grant minimum access—necessary for the users to do their jobs.
Ensures the utmost privacy by authenticating user identity and establishing secure connections to ensure quality and seamless user experience.
Since, unlike VPNs, Zero Trust doesn’t provide network access to everyone—it eliminates network latency, and performance lags to ensure a quality user experience.
Besides these benefits, the Zero Trust model makes it a breeze to monitor network activity and enable complete visibility—allowing you to view user activity across the network.

Thus, a Zero Trust model is a perfect solution to get rid of remote access security concerns and ensure maximum network security.

Best Practices for Secure Remote Access

Many organisations allow their employees, vendors, contractors, and business partners to use Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), which must be protected against unauthorised access and cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities.

Here are some of the best secure remote access architecture practices you can implement for your organisation and employees’ safety:

Plan and implement a remote work security policy for company-owned devices, third-party vendors, BYOD requirements, service-level agreements, and mobile security.
Enable advanced encryption standards and end-to-end encryption.
Choose a suitable remote access solution security like Zero Trust Access.
Implement relevant password management software—one-time, random, or automated.
Employ the least privilege principle.
Use two-factor or multi-factor authentication.
Cultivate employee cybersecurity training.

Conclusion

Considering the increasing and rapidly growing cybersecurity risks and data breaches—employing a secure remote access solution to ensure the utmost network security is the need of the hour.

A Zero Trust approach for secure remote access helps enable the least privileged access. Monitor network activity, provides granular access control and visibility and ensure maximum security with user authorisation and authentication. It also reduces network latency and performance issues—ensuring maximum employee productivity and experience.

Thus, if you’re looking for a reliable, secure remote access solution—you can check our InstaSafe products to enable secure work from anywhere and make your organisation future-ready.

Check out our documentation or book a demo for your organisation to get an insight into how it works.

Frequently Asked Questions About Remote Access Architecture

What is the access network architecture?

Access networks are the form of a telecommunication network that connects users' devices such as smartphones, tablets, and computers to reg WAN( wide area network). These types of network architecture can be wired and wireless based on the end-user preference.

2. Is remote access a security risk?

Yes, remote access exposes our devices and system to significant security threats such as phishing, unauthorised access, unsecured networks, etc. But by using secure remote access solutions, one can maximise their network security.

3. What are the benefits of Secure Remote Access?

Secure remote access is the security strategy employed to prevent cyberattacks and provide controlled and authorised access to employees. Some of its prominent benefits include centralised access and more.

4. Why is Secure Remote Access Important?

With employees working from anywhere globally, traditional security measures can't cater to the organisation's needs. Remote work culture has opened the door to cyber attacks such as security breaches, hacks, etc. That's why having secure remote access is a dire need for organisations.

5. How Does Secure Remote Access Work?