The modern workplace has evolved significantly in recent years, with the rise of hybrid work becoming the new standard. This shift has blurred the traditional boundaries of office spaces as employees seamlessly transition among branches, campuses, their homes and other locations.

This has led to a proliferation of devices everywhere, including large campuses where employees increasingly use their personal devices at work and IT administrators implement more IoT devices to simplify operations and improve monitoring.

While providing flexibility, these unmanaged devices also bring a host of unknown vulnerabilities. The Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 2020 IoT Threat Report found that 57% of IoT devices are highly vulnerable, significantly increasing the risk of security breaches.

Campus networks are at the heart of many IT operations. They need to ensure that the access networks, including wired and wireless local area networks (LAN), are protected and monitored with Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) and Security Services Edge (SSE) for outbound access. Operators of such networks also rely on legacy switching technologies such as virtual local area networks (VLANs) for segmentation.

However, campus networks that rely on VLANs for segmentation are vulnerable to MAC spoofing, where attackers can impersonate legitimate devices by replicating their MAC addresses. Moreover, VLANs create a broadcast domain, allowing threats emanating from a single device to propagate throughout the logical segment. Such technologies weaken the ability to monitor lateral movement within the network, allowing compromised devices to move freely and spread malicious activity, such as ransomware, putting the entire network at risk.

As a result, IT administrators are often left with no choice but to deploy localized security solutions with overly permissive policies. This traditional approach, based on the allow-and-ignore method, significantly increases operational complexity and is no longer sufficient for the dynamic needs of a hybrid workforce and the vulnerabilities of IoT devices.

Organizations must move from a traditional approach of using point products like network access control (NAC) to a more simplified and secure networking solution that effectively segments users and devices based on granular policy controls. They require a robust security solution to protect their hybrid workforce with Zero Trust and the ability to enforce security policies based on complete visibility, the isolation of devices, and a more granular segmentation approach across networks.

Palo Alto Networks Zero Trust Network Architecture

Palo Alto Networks delivers Zero Trust that leverages the principle of least privilege access based on user, app identification and device posture with the best-in-breed security capabilities of NGFWs on-premises and Prisma® Access in the cloud. This provides continuous trust verification even after access to the app has been granted, ensuring that device posture or any changes to it, along with user and app behaviors, are all continuously monitored and verified so we can respond to any changes or deviations in real-time.

They also provide continuous security inspection for all application traffic, including for allowed connections to help prevent threats, including zero-day threats, while protecting data across all applications with a data loss prevention policy. Furthermore, they also identify devices, including IoT, with unique Device-ID to deliver secure, seamless, and optimized access while enforcing robust security policies.

The Nile Access Service

Nile is redefining branch and campus networks with a completely reimagined wired and wireless LAN that provides enhanced security, including granular access controls. The AI-powered Nile Access Service eliminates VLANs and delivers robust Layer 3 segmentation. Nile isolates each device by default to prevent vulnerabilities and denies lateral movement for unauthorized communication between two devices. This streamlined approach forwards all traffic to a centralized policy enforcement point for precise inspection and routing.

Elevating Enterprise Security with Prisma Access and Nile

The integrated architecture between Palo Alto Networks NGFWs and Nile Access Service enables secure end-to-end networking for all organizations looking to deploy a resilient and comprehensive solution on their campus networks. This integration now extends to Prisma Access to automatically connect and forward traffic to cloud-based Prisma Access nodes based on policies defined on Nile, ensuring a comprehensive and robust security approach.

Customers can now secure all local access with NGFWs and all outbound access, including internet and private application access with Prisma Access, gaining the following benefits:

• Network operation simplicity: Ability to apply more granular and uniform enforcement via device isolation that helps Identify and contain the blast radius of possible threats.
• Greater visibility: In-depth network and security insights for optimizing access enforcement based on the best path per application or connectivity type.
• Scalability: Easily scale to accommodate growing networks, devices and users and adapt to evolving enterprise needs without requiring complex reconfiguration or new integrations.

"At Nile, we're revolutionizing enterprise security with campus Zero Trust solutions, eliminating legacy VLANs and enhancing protection with Layer 3 segmentation. Our integration with Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access ensures comprehensive, streamlined security across campus and cloud environments, improving protection and management efficiency."

— Suresh Katukam, cofounder and chief product officer at Nile

"Partnering with Nile to integrate Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access further strengthens our best-in-class Zero Trust security that delivers continuous trust protection and verification to protect for all apps, and, and devices at the branch and on campus. This collaboration demonstrates our dedication to being the preferred cybersecurity partner for our customers, guiding them toward enhanced security with secure LAN and, and campus solutions."

— Anupam Upadhyaya, vice president of product management at Palo Alto Networks

As enterprise networks evolve with hybrid work, personal devices and IoT, traditional security methods like VLANs and Access Control Lists (ACL) must be improved. The urgency of modernizing security with cloud-based SSE solutions and Zero Trust principles is paramount, given the increasing complexity and diversity of threats in today's digital landscape.

Nile’s innovative approach and Palo Alto Networks' best-of-breed security solutions address these challenges with unified security that bridges campus and cloud environments. This integration enhances protection, visibility and efficiency, setting a new standard for securing today’s dynamic digital landscape.

Learn more about Prisma Access and Nile Access Service.