SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cloud security provider Zscaler today announced the introduction of Zscaler Private Access, a new service that enables organizations to provide access to internal applications and services while ensuring the security of their networks.

In today’s rapidly evolving and increasingly mobile business environment, companies need to enable access to internal data and applications from anywhere. The traditional solution of choice has been the Virtual Private Network (VPN), which adds convenience and security, but also introduces significant risk. Typical VPN implementations give users access to the entire network they are connecting to, a fact that has been exploited in a number of recent security breaches featuring major companies.

To address this issue, Zscaler Private Access takes a completely new approach by using the global Zscaler cloud infrastructure to enable application access independent of network access. Zscaler Private Access decouples applications from the physical network to deliver granular, per-user access to apps and services running in the internal corporate network, in a data center, or in a public cloud like Amazon. The service is based on Zscaler’s global cloud, so there is no requirement for additional hardware or forklift upgrades of existing hardware, enabling rapid and unobtrusive adoption to support business needs.

SAS, the leader in business analytics software, tested Zscaler Private Access to assess the security benefits of microsegmentation, according to Brian Wilson, SAS Sr. Manager, IT Information Security. “Microsegmentation, particularly when combined with remote users, could historically be hard to achieve because it often required a combination of VPN and Network Access Control,” said Wilson. “With Zscaler Private Access, ensuring granular, application-layer access to authorized users is just part of the product, and may contribute to a speedier deployment than either VPN or NAC.”

“Zscaler Private Access combines user access controls with restricted visibility to applications to increase the security of these private applications,” said Patrick Foxhoven, CIO of Zscaler. “With Zscaler Private Access, you essentially make your most precious internal assets dark to the outside world, because unless a user is authorized to access an asset, they won’t even be able to see that it exists. Even when a user has access to an application, they will not be able to route back to it. That not only secures the application but also allows you to move the application between data centers or into the cloud without breaking user access.”

Zscaler Inc.