A FortiGuard Labs Threat Landscape Report demonstrated an increase in the volume and sophistication of attacks targeting individuals, organizations, and increasingly critical infrastructure. Organizations are looking for solutions to protect against these evolving threats and zero trust is top of mind, but for multiple reasons.  Additionally, the shift to work-from-anywhere has put a spotlight on zero-trust network access (ZTNA) in particular, as organizations need to protect important assets from workers connecting from poorly protected home networks.

John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO at Fortinet articulates, “with the evolving threat landscape, transition to work-from-anywhere, and the need to securely manage applications in the cloud, the shift from implicit trust to zero trust is top of mind for organizations. Our survey shows while most organizations have some form of a zero-trust strategy in place, they fall short of a holistic strategy and struggle to implement some core zero-trust security basics. An effective solution requires a cybersecurity mesh platform approach to address all zero-trust fundamentals across the infrastructure, including endpoint, cloud, and on-premises, otherwise, the result is a partial, non-integrated solution that lacks broad visibility.”

John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO at Fortinet

Confusion Over Defining Zero-Trust Strategies

The report illustrates some confusion about what comprises a complete zero-trust strategy. Respondents indicated they understand zero trust (77%) and ZTNA (75%) concepts and over 80% reported already having a zero-trust and/or ZTNA strategy in place or development. Yet, over 50% indicated being unable to implement core zero-trust capabilities. Nearly 60% indicated they cannot authenticate users and devices on an ongoing basis and 54% struggle to monitor users post-authentication.

This gap is concerning because these functions are critical tenets of zero-trust and it brings into question what the actual reality of these implementations is across organizations. Adding to the confusion are the terms “Zero Trust Access” and “Zero Trust Network Access,” which are used sometimes interchangeably.

Zero Trust Is Top of Mind and Priorities Are Varied

Priorities for zero trust are “minimizing the impact of breaches and intrusions” followed closely by “securing remote access” and “ensuring business or mission continuity.” “Improving user experiences” and “gaining the flexibility to provide security anywhere” were also top priorities.

“Security across the entire digital attack surface” was the single most important benefit cited by respondents, followed by a “better user experience for remote work (VPN).”

A vast majority of the survey respondents believe that it is vital for zero-trust security solutions to be integrated with their existing infrastructure, work across cloud and on-premises environments, and be secure at the application layer. However, more than 80% of respondents indicated that it is challenging to implement a zero-trust strategy across an extended network. For organizations without a strategy in place or development, obstacles included a lack of skilled resources with 35% of organizations using other IT strategies to address zero trust.

About the Zero-Trust Report:

The report is based on a global survey of IT decision-makers aimed at better understanding how far along organizations are in their zero-trust journey. The survey is intended to better understand the following:

• How well zero trust and ZTNA are understood
• The perceived benefits and challenges in implementing a zero-trust strategy
• Adoption of and the elements included in a zero-trust strategy

The survey was conducted in September 2021 with 472 IT and security leaders from 24 different countries, representing nearly all industries, including the public sector.

Additional Resources

• Read the blog for valuable takeaways from this survey or access the full report
• Learn about how to better secure access for remote users to applications anywhere with Fortinet Zero Trust Network Access
• Learn more about how the Zero Trust Education Pathway including certifications from the Fortinet NSE Institute can help you navigate the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to grow your career in Zero Trust Access
• Watch how Fortinet makes possible a digital world you can always trust, and view how the Fortinet Security Fabric platform delivers broad, integrated, and automated protection across an organization’s entire digital infrastructure
• Read more about how Fortinet customers are securing their organizations
• Engage in the Fortinet User Community (Fuse). Share ideas and feedback, learn more about our products and technology and connect with peers
• Follow Fortinet on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Subscribe to Fortinet on YouTube

What are your observations on GITEX 2021?

GITEX, with its position as the Middle East’s largest tech exhibition and networking platform, is the perfect venue for us to showcase our technology in simple, yet innovative ways. Our solutions address the specific needs and imperatives of different industries and create value through transformed customer experiences and accelerated financial outcomes. We constantly strive to build loyalty among our customers as well as channel partners (including distributors), and events like GITEX go a long way in helping us do that.

Jacob Chacko, Regional Director, Aruba

Building relationships through face-to-face interactions is the secret to business success in the Middle East. Ever since the pandemic started in early 2020, we haven’t really been able to have those kinds of quality, personalized interactions. So, we are excited at the prospect of getting back to an in-person event like GITEX where we can have one-to-one meetings with customers and partners, and infuse them with excitement about our innovative technologies, as well as discuss our company roadmap and direction that is shaping the future of the networking industry.

What are the key highlights of your participation at this year’s GITEX?

Aruba will be exhibiting under the theme “Your Journey. Your Edge.” Today, more data than ever is generated at the Edge. Legacy networks are unable to cope with the massive amounts of data and decisions required in near real-time. Network architecture needs to utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI) in order to be predictive. That’s where Aruba ESP comes in. It is the industry’s first platform with an AI-powered “sixth sense.” The solution is designed to unify, automate, and secure the Intelligent Edge and help organizations harness its immense potential.

Aruba will demonstrate its latest technologies addressing the digital transformation needs of regional enterprises including:

• Edge transformation in action: New Aruba ESP use cases will be demonstrated across healthcare, education, hospitality, finance, manufacturing and retail.
• Unified Infrastructure: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated digital transformation but created operational complexity for businesses. The company will showcase how its unified network simplifies network operations and boosts IT agility.
• Edge-to-cloud security: More remote workers mean more applications in the cloud. Aruba will discuss starting a SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) journey with WAN and security transformation.
• AIOps: Event attendees can discover Aruba network’s sixth sense – one that automatically monitors and fixes Wi-Fi, wired and SD-WAN environments.
• As-a-service: Aruba executives will explain the company’s flexible consumption and financing options, to easily deploy new networking technologies in times of change.

An area of focus for the company at GITEX will be on its EdgeConnect platform – an SD-WAN edge solution. The technology is built for today’s edge-to-cloud enterprise and delivers the highest quality of experience for users and IT, no matter where applications reside. Aruba enables enterprises to build a modern WAN that drives maximum value from cloud and digital transformation initiatives with a self-driving network that learns and adapts to the needs of the business.

 Aruba will also showcase the company’s 630 Series Access Points (APs) – the industry’s first enterprise-grade Wi-Fi 6E solution. The benefits of Wi-Fi 6E are clear and, alongside other important networking advancements, it is set to enable businesses to become more connected than ever before. Aruba’s WiFi 6E technology will enable businesses to dispense with sluggish connections and poor user experiences, and replace them with powerful, high-speed networks.

With organizations looking to lower their risk during uncertain times, Aruba executives are keen to discuss Aruba as-a-service and Aruba network as a service (NaaS) options that offer business and IT leaders greater visibility, control, and flexibility across hardware, software, and management operations. The pay-as-you-go budgeting model respects today’s organizational imperative of guarding the bottom line.

What is Aruba’s value proposition to regional businesses?

The Hybrid Workplace is the future and this requires network intelligence and cloud-native capabilities to keep workers safe and productive. Below are some of the imperatives of a hybrid workplace that Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform) addresses:

• Extend the network to the home – The IT department ships an Access Point (AP) to the employee’s home; the employee plugs it in, downloads a configuration from the cloud, and they’re all set. Centrally managed access credentials map to corporate policies to keep the network secure. And it’s all centralized managed from the cloud—IT gets full visibility and AIOps assisted troubleshooting from anywhere
• Reinforce in-office social distancing – As employees return to the office, it’s important for facilities to be able to modify floorplans based on foot traffic or to change cleaning schedules based on density. With Aruba WLAN’s built-In network intelligence and location-aware capabilities, it’s easy to use density mapping to keep the workplace safe.
• Minimize risk with contact tracing – Aruba’s network-based approach uses both proximity and location telemetry to perform contact and location tracing, and the advanced AI capabilities ensure pinpoint accuracy so you’re able to see which people intersected and the exact location of the interaction.
• Flexible financing and consumption – It’s now more important than ever to keep financial and consumption flexibility top of mind. Aruba as-a-service options allow you to respond to rapidly changing business requirements, manage tight budgets, and easily deploy the latest networking technologies.

Aruba has repeatedly been recognized by third party analysts as a leader in Wi-Fi 6, switching, SD-Branch, and a visionary in Data Center networking. The world’s largest companies rely on us to provide a secure, AI-powered edge services platform that spans across campus, branch, data center, and remote working environments. Aruba has been at the forefront of innovation since its start, and has continued to make significant investments to deliver Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform), the first platform that goes well beyond conventional network management to provide AI-powered operations, provisioning, orchestration, security, and location services from the cloud. Combining over 18 years of proven wired and wireless network expertise with modeling telemetry data from over one million wired, wireless and SD-WAN devices, Aruba AI can identify anomalies and provide prescriptive recommendations that network administrators can trust. No other networking vendor has this level of AI expertise. Aruba as-a-service provides options for financial and consumption flexibility across hardware, software, and management operations. Flexible financing options include leasing, deferred payment, and buy-back programs for unlocking sunk costs. Consumption options include SaaS and NaaS solutions offered in simple pay-as-you-go subscriptions.