Taking an Identity-Based Approach to Secure Application Access

A simple way of ensuring application access without putting the organization at risk

By taking an identity-first and context-aware approach to SSE, Cisco's Universal ZTNA powers a secure, in-office experience for all users across all locations, applications and devices. Our solution removes the obstacles enterprises face when implementing secure access for their hybrid workforce.

Compared to first-to-market SSE vendors who take a fragmented approach leading to a brittle architecture that lacks identity-awareness, Cisco uses modern architectures and protocols for zero trust network access that frustrates attackers and not users.

Identity Intelligence

Cisco Identity Intelligence is a unique system that constantly assesses and verifies a user’s identity, not based on a one-and-done login, but on the well-established patterns of behavior typically associated with those credentials.

Smart Authentication

Cisco enforces consistent zero trust network access for users and devices and dynamically adjusts based on trust level – across your entire ecosystem.

Everywhere Security

Cisco has taken the functions that lived in a box, defined them in software and reconstituted them into hundreds of millions of pieces and distributed them to points of presence throughout the Internet.

Identity-based approach to security

Identity is the new ‘Spam’

Identity is the foundation of zero trust, making it a top target for attackers. Hardening the attack surface with zero trust capabilities means that identity can become the easiest path to compromise. Cisco's Universal ZTNA closes this blind trust between authentication and access by taking an identity-first and context-aware approach to Security Service Edge (SSE). Integrated Identity Intelligence gathers correlated identity information from all identity providers into Cisco Duo and Cisco Secure Access.

So, every time a user goes online, they establish their identity and create a trail of actions that can be analyzed to form a pattern of typical behavior. Cisco Identity Intelligence monitors a graphical database of those behaviors in real time, made up of all the different stores of identity the user creates – including actions, connections, locations, devices and applications. These insights are analyzed in real time and used to compile, change and monitor a user trust score that – when it reaches a certain threshold – can trigger security and access policy actions in real time.

Authentication of people and devices

In a world where attackers are increasingly successful at stealing legitimate users’ credentials, how do you know people are who they say they are?

Smart authentication for users

Duo simplifies the user experience by providing security at the OS-level, allowing users to login once (using Mac TouchID or Windows Hello) to gain access to all their applications without re-authenticating – unless risk increases. Duo also provides modern, multi-layered defenses against the latest identity attacks such as MFA Interception and MFA Floods.

Smart authentication for devices

Automation and digital transformation mean that users aren’t the only entities that need to connect to enterprise resources. Zero trust applies to device access policy as well – and an integrated approach is key. Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) automatically identifies and profiles devices and segments them from other parts of your network. This level of visibility and control allows IT teams to detect and block devices or sensors from accessing resources in unusual ways – a camera should not be talking to your printer or HR database, for example.