What is a 
ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access)
?

A secure way to give users access to apps and systems only after verifying who they are and that their device is trusted, no automatic trust based on being "on the network."

ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access)
 Example

An employee working from a café opens their work laptop and tries to access the company’s internal HR tool. ZTNA checks their identity, verifies their device health, applies company access policies—and only then lets them in. If anything looks suspicious, access is denied or restricted.

ZTNA flips the traditional "trust everything inside the network" model. Instead of assuming users are safe once they’re connected (like with VPNs), ZTNA treats every access request as untrusted until proven otherwise.

It works by:

  • Authenticating users (often with MFA)
  • Checking device posture (OS version, antivirus status, etc.)
  • Granting access only to specific apps, not the whole network
  • Continuously evaluating trust, even after a user is connected

ZTNA is a core part of Zero Trust architecture. It’s especially useful in hybrid work environments, where employees, contractors, and third parties need secure access to systems from anywhere, without opening the whole network up to risk.

Vendors include: Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, Akamai, and Cloudflare.