Menlo Security research shows 75% of organisations re-evaluating security strategy as remote and hybrid working set to remain

A report launched by Menlo Security, a pioneer in cloud security, highlights growing concerns about securing users as the trend for hybrid and remote working is set to remain.

The new report – which surveyed 500+ IT decision-makers in the U.S. and the U.K., includes a third at C-level – looks at attitudes to securing remote access to applications and resources and the adoption of zero-trust solutions.

Developing working strategies

While most respondents (83%) say they are confident in their strategy for controlling access to applications for remote users, three-quarters are re-evaluating theirs in the wake of new ways of working and the growth in cloud application use. While half of the employees are currently working remotely or adopting a hybrid approach, around two-fifths (42%) are expected to continue in 12 months.

According to the findings, three-quarters (75%) of organisations continue to rely on VPNs (a virtual private network) for controlling remote access to applications, which rises to 81% for organisations of 10,000+ employees. For around a third (36%) of organisations, a zero-trust approach also forms part of their remote access strategy.

Changing network access

There’s a real opportunity to provide users with access to only those applications and resources needed to do their job"

“It seems that most businesses are confident in their remote access security, yet is still relying on a traditional and inherently insecure way of doing things using VPNs, which give access to everything on a network,” said Mark Guntrip, senior director, cybersecurity strategy at Menlo Security.

“With only a third currently using zero-trust network access, there’s a real opportunity to provide users with access to only those applications and resources needed to do their job. When you start to adopt this approach across everything you do then your whole security mindset changes.”

Zero trust solution

The top reason for implementing a zero-trust solution is improved security, according to 60% of respondents, regardless of whether they are using it or not.

One-third (32%) point to ease of use, while the speed of access and scalability are both more widely recognised among those already adopting a zero-trust approach. Significantly, 40% of respondents believe that implementing a zero-trust solution places less pressure on IT.

Despite overall confidence by global IT decision-makers in the robustness of their strategy for controlling application access for remote users, Menlo Security’s research also shows that:

• Three-quarters of respondents believe that hybrid and remote workers accessing applications on unmanaged devices poses a significant threat to their organisation’s security. Despite this, around a fifth still allow unmanaged devices – laptops, desktops, and mobile devices – to connect to corporate applications and resources.
• While the majority (79%) of respondents have a security strategy in place for remote access by third parties and contractors, there are growing concerns about the risks they present, with just over half (53%) planning to reduce or limit third-party/contractor access to systems and resources over the next 12­–18 months.

Seamless access

The zero trusts approach will ensure seamless access between users and the applications they are authorised to use"

Menlo’s Mark Guntrip adds, “As the internet becomes the new corporate network, controlling user access to private applications has become more important than ever. Organisations need to evolve their thinking from providing connectivity to the entire network to segmenting access by each application.”

“The right zero trusts approach will ensure seamless access between users and the applications they are authorised to use, while all other applications are invisible, preventing lateral discovery across the network.”

Menlo Private Access

Menlo Security has a clientless-first approach to implementing Zero Trust Network Access, enabling organisations to secure access to applications from all devices including managed, unmanaged and mobile devices. This approach minimises the workload on IT and security for deployment while maximising the security posture of the company. The clientless-first approach can be augmented with a client for use cases that specifically require client-based access.

Unlike many ZTNA solutions that cannot monitor traffic being sent and received between an end-user and a controlled application, Menlo Private Access ensures that security policy is always enforced by remaining inline between the end-user and protected applications; utilising the Elastic Isolation Core as a control point to prevent sensitive data loss and stop potential malware from reaching the endpoint.