Table of Contents
Lateral movement occurs when cyber attackers gain an initial foothold in a network and then move sideways to access more systems, data, or privileged accounts. This “silent spread” often goes undetected for weeks, exploiting weaknesses between disconnected access controls, inconsistent policies, and legacy VPN technologies.
In today’s hybrid environments—where remote users, contractors, and unmanaged devices connect daily—traditional perimeter defenses leave dangerous blind spots. Attackers exploit these gaps to escalate privileges, exfiltrate data, and disrupt operations.
Deploy the SecureTrust stack, reduce lateral movement, and monitor every endpoint, fully managed for you.
Book a Meeting NowVPNs were never designed for modern distributed networks. Once a user connects through a VPN, they often gain unrestricted access to the internal network. Authentication happens only once, leaving attackers free to move laterally if credentials are stolen.
VPNs create implicit trust—a security flaw that Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) eliminates. If your organization still relies on VPNs, explore our guide Zero Trust vs. Legacy VPN: Choosing the Right Access Solution for 2026.
Unified Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) extends beyond traditional perimeter-based models. It continuously authenticates and authorizes every user, device, and connection based on identity, context, and risk.
Unified ZTNA is most effective when delivered through a converged SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) architecture that integrates SWG, CASB, FWaaS, DLP, and IPS for unified policy enforcement.
A centralized, adaptive policy engine enforces consistent rules for every user, device, and location—eliminating silos and policy drift across multiple environments.
ZTNA continuously shares identity, device health, and behavioral signals across connected tools, improving detection speed and enabling automated threat responses.
Inspection doesn’t stop at login. Unified ZTNA analyzes live traffic throughout every session, detecting abnormal behavior, credential misuse, and rogue applications.
Microsegmentation divides your network into smaller, isolated zones that contain attacks before they spread. SASE consolidates these controls in the cloud, providing consistent protection for users and workloads everywhere.
When combined, microsegmentation and ZTNA minimize dwell time, reduce lateral movement, and provide unified visibility across hybrid infrastructures.
For a detailed rollout roadmap, see the ZTNA Adoption Checklist for 2026.
ZTNA continuously verifies user and device trust, limiting access to specific applications. VPNs, by contrast, allow broad network access after a single login.
Yes. Advanced ZTNA platforms enforce identical policies for employees, contractors, and BYOD devices across on-premises and cloud workloads.
Absolutely. ZTNA provides granular access logs and continuous monitoring, supporting compliance with HIPAA, PCI DSS, and NIST frameworks.