Today, BackBox, a pioneer in security-centric automation for network teams, has announced its latest innovation, Zero Trust Network Operations (ZTNO). Developed to provide an efficient solution for automating cyber security considerations for network operations teams, ZTNO is a substantial breakthrough in network security. With the federal agencies and their contractors facing a September 2024 deadline to implement Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), the introduction of ZTNO comes at an opportune time.
ZTNO is a best practice framework built on six actionable pillars, which are geared towards equipping network administrators and network devices with essential security practices. To simplify ZTNO, BackBox has enriched its Network Automation Platform, introducing improvements to its Privileged Access Manager, Network Vulnerability Manager, and Search tools. These enhancements solidify BackBox's commitment to simplifying complex security requirements, transforming them into simple and actionable solutions.
The six pillars of the ZTNO break down into components that uphold security and functionality. BackBox provides secure access, regardless of whether it's through API, WebURL, or CLI, by integrating with different credential vaults, and by establishing a secure API. Unequivocal logging of changes is assured, and permissions are centrally controlled at the BackBox server to ensure administrators only have the access they need.
Furthermore, before device onboarding, configuration must be remediated via policy enforcement, ensuring appropriate configuration compliance. A pre-onboarding security risk evaluation for devices is also a standard procedure to identify and patch any known vulnerabilities. In an ongoing manner, continuous configuration grooming and remediation are carried out to ensure configuration compliance and up-to-date OS versions. Lastly, ZTNO includes rich reporting and visibility, furnishing teams with actionable data about network devices' current vulnerability levels.
"ZTNO makes zero trust actionable; NetOps teams can follow the framework to create a Zero Trust NetOps environment to complement the organisation's Zero Trust Architecture," said Josh Stephens, CTO of BackBox. "It ensures the network remains secure without limiting a network engineer's ability to get things done."
BackBox's ZTNO framework is positioned distinctively due to its rapid time-to-value ZTNO use cases including privileged access management, continuous compliance on discovery, and vulnerability management and mitigation. It also features integration with a wide range of network and security devices, no-code automation, versatility for managing configurations across vendors and device types, and an API-first approach to automation that integrates seamlessly into a NetOps workflow.
"BackBox's introduction of Zero Trust Network Operations (ZTNO) marks a significant advancement in network security, aligning NetOps with Zero Trust principles in a user-friendly, efficient, and comprehensive manner," BackBox CEO Andrew Kahl said. "It stands as a testament to BackBox’s leadership and innovation in network automation."