As the world becomes more connected and cyber villains get smarter, networks for remote operators are fair game to threats and cyber risks. Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are tasked to protect data, people, and reputations. Here, we explore why VPNs come up short while zero trust puts you ahead.
CTOs, CIOs, and CISOs, you are the cyber watchdogs of your organizations, so this message is for you.
In a previous blog written for C-suite leaders, we established that VPNs can come up short for keeping internal networks, including machinery, control systems, and databases, secure from the increasingly savvy hacker.
Why does this matter? When we talk about the internet of things (IoT) today, everything is connected to the internet, from your watch or phone to thousands of business assets like machinery, sensors, and industrial equipment.
With only a VPN standing guard, a hacker can get into your network through your facility’s smart thermostat (lest we forget the casino fish tank data hack of 2017).
For decades, FreeWave has provided industrial IoT solutions for companies in oil and gas, agriculture, mining, water treatment, and other remote industries, to help them overcome a variety of network productivity issues and give them peace of mind that the health of their network – and the assets connected to it – is robust and secure.
We believe, whether it’s working with our channel partners or adding our equipment to an OEM’s solution, that there are four essential security outcomes companies investing in IIoT should strive for:
- Secure remote monitoring and data management
- Automated, decisive response to threats
- No to low network vulnerabilities
- Cost savings compared to traditional VPN-based security
Decommissioning a VPN as a primary source of cybersecurity in favor of zero trust network access (ZTNA) creates a stealthier, easier-to-use framework to detect and deflect cyber-attacks.
Cybersecurity in the Wild West
It is widely understood that Europe has continuously been five to 10 years ahead of the United States when it comes to cybersecurity. This is because the United States is like the freewheeling wild west.
Cyber attacks cost companies billions of dollars. In IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach report for 2024, companies averaged a loss of $4.88 million, which is a 10% increase over 2023.
More specifically to VPNs, the 2024 ThreatLabz VPN Risk Report published by Zscaler says that 78% of organizations plan to implement a zero trust strategy in the next 12 months with 91% of respondents concerned that VPNs will lead to a “compromising breach.” The survey says top threats to VPN vulnerabilities are ransomware (42%), other types of malware (35%), and DDoS (distributed denial-of-service which are attempts to overwhelm a server or network) attacks (30%).
The findings make sense. Let’s say you notice nefarious traffic going across your network and you realize it is a former employee who still has access because their VPN credentials were not completely shut off. Even after you took their computer, they were able to go to their own computer, fire up a VPN and use their credentials to get into your network. VPNs are like a house – once you’re in, you’re in.
Now you are faced with spending valuable time dealing with this behavior and any resulting damage. In contrast, a zero trust network promptly and fully blocks attackers from any access in the first place, making your job of monitoring considerably easier.
As a tech leader, imagine what that level of security could do for your peace of mind as well as your company’s risk landscape.
Zero trust is not new, but it has evolved. It was first coined in 2010 to protect enterprise networks, cloud networks, and basic IT networks. Two obstacles to zero trust are based on dangerous assumptions. One is that, while cyber attacks happen every day, they won’t happen to you. The other is that upgrading to ZTNA is too costly. If you’d like to explore why both are myths, give us a holler.
To protect your data and network, start exploring the lowest level of your system and work from there. These questions are a good start to finding and closing vulnerabilities.
- What are your highest priority assets to protect?
- How will you handle encryption across diverse environments?
- Are you buying devices designed to implement zero trust?
- Are you buying network routers that are better suited for zero trust enablement?
- Are you developing edge networks with zero trust architecture to prevent people from plugging into an ethernet port on your network and destroying the site?
- What would be the potential harm to the business if your data and network were compromised?
If you don’t have answers to all these questions, take heart. FreeWave has the capacity to interface with companies on their third-party applications that are not zero trust enabled. We manage this through what we call a “demilitarization zone,” where we have an unsecure system and a secure system and we match them together and know that the unsecure system is authenticated. We set up the entire network to avoid potential threats.
Many remote, industrial operations have multiple locations to manage. A company with 10,000 sites – what we call the Razor’s Edge© where the data lives – would otherwise have to send its IT techs out to every site to implement a security platform. That means work, time, and expense.
FreeWave is simplifying IIoT data by developing an easier pathway to zero trust on edge networks. Imagine sending a zero trust enabled device out to each site, installed on a network in minutes, while protecting said network down to the desired granular level.
In the world of devices, the idea that a device can be designed and manufactured so that it is zero trust secured as it comes off the production line has been getting a lot of traction over the last five years. This approach is miles ahead compared to when VPNs were first introduced.
You can always tap into FreeWave’s “white-glove” support too. Our tech team is here to help you prepare for zero trust data from the Razor’s Edge and make sure it’s transported to and from your key decision-makers securely.
The Impending Paradigm Shift to Zero Trust
As more industrial operators deploy IIoT devices, VPNs are becoming more vulnerable to modern cyber warfare. While zero trust is not new, it is gaining traction as a reliable security approach that protects data and minimizes both downtime and costs that oftentimes cannot be recovered. The best place to start is ground zero by exploring your network, data, and operations – and then looking at your security from a device perspective.
Curious about getting more from your edge data in a secure, zero trust environment? Talk to us.