What Is Zero Trust Networking—and Why Small Businesses Should Care
Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA) is an imposing mouthful of a term that has been in the cybersecurity news a lot lately. Most of the hype has focused on the benefits of ZTNA for large enterprises.
However, ZTNA is not just a big-company thing. It offers practical, tangible benefits for very small businesses, even those with fewer than 25 employees.
Is this you? Read on!
Always-On Access Without VPN Headaches
The most immediate benefit of ZTNA for a small business is its always-on nature.
Unlike VPNs, ZTNA is installed like any other application and just works. There’s no need to manually connect, remember passwords, or lose work due to dropped connections.
ZTNA also works just as well on mobile devices (yes, phones!) as it does on laptops and workstations. It can even be configured to automatically connect when a laptop turns on.
Just open the lid and start working—as if you were on the office Wi-Fi.
Compared to traditional, old-school VPNs, ZTNA is both more convenient and more productive.
Stronger Security Where Small Businesses Need It Most
Beyond convenience, ZTNA delivers serious security benefits that small businesses can’t afford to ignore.
Phishing attacks, stolen credentials, and lateral movement by sophisticated malware are very real threats—even for the smallest organizations. To attackers, small businesses often represent easy prey: there’s typically no internal IT staff monitoring systems 24/7, and there are more potential points of entry.
With traditional VPNs, once credentials are stolen or compromised, an attacker can often access the entire network. VPNs effectively hand over the “keys to the kingdom” to anyone who successfully logs in.
ZTNA works differently.
Access Only What’s Needed—Nothing More
ZTNA can be configured so users can access only the specific servers or applications they actually need—nothing else.
In addition, ZTNA performs posture checks whenever someone (or something) attempts to connect. For example:
- If a connection attempt comes from an unexpected country, access is blocked
- If a user normally connects from a Mac, but a Windows device suddenly appears, access can be denied
- If a device doesn’t meet security requirements, it won’t connect
These checks make ZTNA far more secure than traditional VPNs, which rely almost entirely on usernames and passwords.
Ideal for Contractors and Temporary Access
ZTNA is especially useful for seasonal employees, contractors, consultants, and temporary workers.
For example, if a bookkeeper needs remote access to a QuickBooks server, ZTNA can restrict that connection to only that server—or even to specific application traffic.
With a VPN, that same user would typically gain visibility into the entire network once logged in.
ZTNA also simplifies temporary access requests. Accounts can be set to automatically expire, helping ensure that “temporary” access doesn’t quietly become permanent.
A Smarter Alternative to VPNs for Small Businesses
All of these advantages make a strong case for choosing ZTNA over traditional VPNs—even for very small businesses.
Uplevel ZTNA is designed specifically for small business environments, making it easy to deploy, manage, and secure remote access without unnecessary complexity.
Take a look and see if it fits your needs!
