• Technologies
    • Networking
    • Cybersecurity
    • Collaboration
    • Edge Cloud
    • Managed & Professional Services
    • SASE
  • Customer Stories
  • Insights
    • Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR)
    • Customer Experience
    • Data-Driven Business
    • Operational Efficiency
    • Tech Trends
  • Industries
    • Financial Services
    • Gaming
    • Healthcare
    • Manufacturing
    • Media & Entertainment
    • Public Sector
    • Higher Education
    • Retail
    • Technology
  • About Lumen
    • Black Lotus Labs
    • Leadership Perspectives
    • Newsroom
    • News Spotlights
  • Technologies
    • Networking
    • Cybersecurity
    • Collaboration
    • Edge Cloud
    • Managed & Professional Services
    • SASE
  • Customer Stories
  • Insights
    • Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR)
    • Customer Experience
    • Data-Driven Business
    • Operational Efficiency
    • Tech Trends
  • Industries
    • Financial Services
    • Gaming
    • Healthcare
    • Manufacturing
    • Media & Entertainment
    • Public Sector
    • Higher Education
    • Retail
    • Technology
  • About Lumen
    • Black Lotus Labs
    • Leadership Perspectives
    • Newsroom
    • News Spotlights

Network Access for the hybrid worker

Chuck Heiser Posted On June 15, 2021
0
4.5K Views


0
Shares
  • Share On Facebook
  • Tweet It

A person sitting at a desk writes on a tablet with a stylus while looking at a laptop

New ways for accessing corporate resources in a post-COVID world

Hybrid workers are those who spend a portion of their work time in the corporate office and a portion out, whether at home or on the road. We expect higher levels of mobility in general, even as people start returning to the office. For many, flexibility as to where we work will continue to be in force.

What can we do differently this time around in preparation for increasing mobility demands? We can get our networks straight. Thankfully, most IT have the answers. After all, they are the ones supporting all the work=from-home users, their bandwidth problems, and the VPNs that have proven to be so crucial over the last 15 months.

For one, if you are still on a legacy VPN, where it’s you who gets to decide if and when your corporate device is on the corporate VPN, and it’s you who has to activate it and deactivate it multiple times per day based on what you are doing, then it’s time for you to push your IT department for an upgrade that can improve your experience to an in-office experience whether you are in or out of the office.

Zero Trust is the new VPN for our new times. It’s time that we accept that our office network is no more safe or secure than our home network, or even the wi-fi network out at the airport. In truth, if every network is a breeding ground for threat vectors capable of targeting me up and down my software stack, then I must be on the VPN at all times. Disabling it cannot be an option. Knowing that a VPN is even in play, residing on the laptop should not be an option.

Various vendors offer Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) in their network access products. You will find them among those with firewall offerings, with SD-WAN offerings, and those pushing SASE as a cloud-based service offering. Lumen works with the top players with ZTNA plays. It even has its own offerings surrounded by management.

What does the new VPN for today and tomorrow look like?

  • It’s always on. There is no option for going offline for personal use that goes unobserved.
  • It’s IT-controlled. If IT decides that split tunnel is too high of a risk, even under the best of network access conditions, then there is no split tunnel that can take flows out of IT’s view.
  • It’s identity-based. The new network perimeter is the user herself, defined by the user’s identity and the security access policies that the oversight entity sees fit to impose on her.
  • It’s transparent to the end user. What security tunnels are used to connect to the Secure Access Service Edge of choice per application, URL, or host name is of no concern to the user.
  • It’s cloud hosted, to match traffic flows that have moved from the old data center to the cloud.
  • It’s highly integrated with Least Privilege Access policies, coupled with Unified Threat Detection and Mitigation characterized by next-gen firewall technology. This provides for a unique North/South/East/West security perimeter imposed upon each unique user, that is adaptable and updateable with appropriate security measures applied according to current conditions.
  • It’s operational. IT gets the data it needs to see where access deficiencies exist. IT has the tools to rate every Internet bandwidth provider for its complacency in poor end-user application performance.

Look out for part 2, where we take a closer look at this VPN for today and tomorrow and a few use cases that will showcase how the technology of tomorrow can be of benefit today.

Read More

This content is provided for informational purposes only and may require additional research and substantiation by the end user. In addition, the information is provided “as is” without any warranty or condition of any kind, either express or implied. Use of this information is at the end user’s own risk. Lumen does not warrant that the information will meet the end user’s requirements or that the implementation or usage of this information will result in the desired outcome of the end user. This document represents Lumen’s products and offerings as of the date of issue. Services not available everywhere. Business customers only. Lumen may change or cancel products and services or substitute similar products and services at its sole discretion without notice. ©2021 Lumen Technologies. All Rights Reserved.

Post Views: 4,472

Related posts:

  1. Security enables bank branch digital innovation
  2. SASE and ZTNA: Empowering and Protecting Hybrid Workforces
  3. Cloud and Data Security for Remote Work – When and Where you need it.
0
Shares
  • Share On Facebook
  • Tweet It


Network SecuritySASEZero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)


Author

Chuck Heiser

Chuck Heiser is a Technology Architect at Lumen Technologies with a specialty focus on SD-WAN. He carries 20 years at Lumen in various customer-facing engineering roles. Chuck helps account teams position, sell, and design Software Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), and their integrations into the up and coming Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) that Lumen and others are or will be offering.

Trending Now
Beyond the Finish Line: How Churchill Downs Racetrack Harnesses Advanced Network Solutions for Seamless Kentucky Derby® Operations
Lumen Customer Stories Team April 23, 2025
Announcing the Lumen strategic partnership with Google Cloud: Transforming the future of cloud and network solutions
Lumen April 9, 2025
You may also like
SASE Isn’t Here To Replace MPLS VPN, Despite What You’ve Heard
April 11, 2025
Building Trust Through Innovation: Massey Services Optimizes Agile Operations for Seamless Service and Safer Communities
April 9, 2025
Bridging the Cybersecurity Communication Gap Between IT Directors and Business Leaders
March 19, 2025
Zero Trust Network Access for 3 Different Types of Workers
Read Next

Zero Trust Network Access for 3 Different Types of Workers

  • Categories

    Adaptive Networking

    Connected Security

    Hybrid Cloud

    Communications and Collaboration

    Edge Computing

    SASE


  • Lumen is unleashing the world’s digital potential. We ignite business growth by connecting people, data, and applications – quickly, securely, and effortlessly. As the trusted network for AI, Lumen uses the scale of our network to help companies realize AI’s full potential. From metro connectivity to long-haul data transport to our edge cloud, security, managed service, and digital platform capabilities, we meet our customers’ needs today and as they build for tomorrow.

Services not available everywhere. ©2025 Lumen Technologies. All Rights Reserved.
Press enter/return to begin your search