Five Ways a Software Defined Perimeter Is Better Than VPN
By Etay Bogner, Founder & CEO, Meta Networks
Can virtual private networks, created over 20 years ago, still provide an adequate solution for secure
remote access these days?
The well-defined network perimeter that VPNs were designed to protect, has essentially been dissolved
with the wide-spread adoption of cloud-based, virtualized infrastructures. How can an enterprise enforce
security for remote users when its network resources are no longer just inside a data center? When
employees, partners and customers are accessing cloud services and Internet apps?
With apps moving to the cloud and users moving off the network, a cloud-based software defined
perimeter (SDP) provides a much more suitable solution that addresses enterprise needs and resolves
VPN’s inherent shortcomings. Gartner defines software defined perimeters as “a logical set of disparate,
network-connected participants within a secure computing enclave. The resources are typically hidden
from public discovery, and access is restricted via a trust broker to the specified participants of the
enclave, removing the assets from public visibility and reducing the surface area for attack.”
As organizations begin to weigh the benefits of software defined perimeters over VPNs, here are five
ways SDPs are winning the debate against corporate VPNs.