Cradlepoint NetCloud Exchange Zero Trust Network Access

Cradlepoint has announced its third NetCloud Exchange (NCX) solution, Zero Trust Network Access. NCX ZTNA is designed to provide a native ZTNA experience that offers simplicity, efficiency and granularity for Cradlepoint deployments.

While cellular connectivity delivers agility and the freedom to connect anyone from anywhere, this extended WAN edge — encompassing resources in sites, vehicles and remote locations — creates a broader network attack surface. This, along with the need for an extended workforce to access resources in a secure way, requires an innovative approach to network security. Zero trust is emerging as the technology of choice to address these challenges.

Zero trust network access is a modern security solution whereby, instead of broad access to network resources, access is determined only by policy, and granted by session. Cradlepoint’s approach tightly integrates both ZTNA and SD-WAN into the company’s Wireless WAN architecture.

With a focus on enterprises that are looking to leverage 5G, the product offers differentiated capabilities to support the expanded edge and extended workforce. Key capabilities include: simplified administration through an integrated policy engine; deployment flexibility with multiple forms of network access; and isolated user-to-resource access through fine-grained policies.

The service mitigates the risk of lateral movement by directly connecting users to applications, instead of the network. It allows cellular-centric customers to take advantage of a ZTNA solution that is built in to their wireless WAN deployment as opposed to bolted on. It is enabled through the NetCloud Exchange Service Gateway — a scalable solution that aggregates traffic, provides flow-level visibility and acts as the policy-enforcement point in the network.