Extreme expands policy options for ExtremeCloud Universal ZTNA

Extreme Networks is bolstering the access control features of its ExtremeCloud Universal Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) package, targeting customers that want to boost protection across distributed cloud environments.

Universal ZTNA is offered as a subscription addon to the vendor’s flagship ExtremeCloud IQ management platform. It ties together network, application and device access security from a single cloud-based dashboard.

With the streamlined dashboard, administrators gain a unified view of network and application access and real-time insights into application health status, authentication events, and network access activities, according to an Extreme blog post about Universal ZTNA. The flexible policy framework includes a hybrid policy that combines network and application security to strengthen defenses against emerging threats, Extreme stated. 

New features in ExtremeCloud Universal ZTNA extend policy support to now include provisions for automated policy enforcement and management across the entire Extreme Networks portfolio as well as cloud-managed and on-prem third-party switches and wireless access points. This lets IT teams more easily manage a consistent security policy across hybrid network environments.

The idea is to give administrators greater flexibility to control network and application access for remote and on-site users, Extreme stated. In addition, the package now lets customers automate the identification of private applications accessed within the organization and track how, when and where users access them.

“This reduces shadow IT risks and limits the unauthorized use of non-compliant applications like AI productivity tools,” Extreme stated. “With Universal ZTNA, IT teams can add and deny applications with one click, further strengthening consistent policy enforcement and delivering unified observability.”

Another new feature allows customers to evaluate application access issues and make policy adjustments and identity-level changes directly within the dashboard, reducing troubleshooting times and speeding time to problem resolution, Extreme stated.

Source:: Network World