VPN Alternatives: Modernizing Secure Remote Access

Hybrid workforces, sprawling environments, and sophisticated cyber threats are modern realities, yet many organizations still rely on the same remote access approach they adopted decades ago: the virtual private network (VPN).  

Designed for a different era, traditional VPNs simply can’t keep up. In fact, 91% of security leaders express concerns about VPNs leading to a security breach.  

Still, organizations need a solution to keep employees and third-party vendors connected, but as attackers increasingly exploit stolen credentials, misconfigurations, and overly permissive network tunnels, it’s clear: VPNs are no longer enough – it's time to modernize secure remote access.  

We’ll take a closer look at why so many organizations are reevaluating their VPN remote access strategies, provide an overview of modern alternative solutions, and explore how strategies like Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) are reshaping secure remote connectivity. 

What is a Remote Access VPN?  

A VPN remote access solution connects users to an organization’s network by creating an encrypted tunnel between a device and the company’s internal systems, providing a direct connection that gives the endpoint broad access to the organization’s resources.

Created in the 1990s, the VPN model was traditionally a strong fit for on-prem environments where employees connected from a few corporate laptops to a centralized network.  

Fast forward a few decades, and though the world has evolved dramatically, VPNs generally have not: the VPN client typically authenticates users, establishes the tunnel, and routes traffic as though the user is physically on the internal network. This direct connection translates to speed and a seamless user experience – but it also comes with trade-offs.

The Rising Urgency of VPN Replacement  

VPN technology has remained largely unchanged for decades; it was never designed for today’s hybrid environments and sophisticated threats. As remote workforces grow more common, third-party vendor ecosystems expand, and attackers target VPN vulnerabilities, it’s never been more important to modernize remote access.  

Vulnerability Exploitation: VPNs as Initial Access Vectors  

For years, we’ve seen a steady rise in sophisticated cyberattacks targeting VPNs for initial access. From Ivanti Connect Secure to Cisco and beyond, there’s no shortage of real-world examples highlighting the risks of VPN zero-day vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, research shows this threat is only accelerating. According to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, zero-day exploits targeting edge devices and VPNs grew almost eightfold in the last year, and 56% of organizations experienced at least one VPN-related cyberattack in the last year.

Insecure by Default: Open VPN Ports 

At the very least, most VPN solutions expose at least one TCP port to the internet. Depending on the product and how it’s configured, many ports could be open and accessible over the internet, including IPSec over UDP port, DNS port, remote administration access port, and so on. 

This means that anyone on the internet can try to hack a VPN with known vulnerabilities that aren’t yet patched or unknown vulnerabilities that can’t be patched. 

Manual Work and Scalability Challenges  

Configuring a VPN can be complicated, allowing too much wiggle room for security mistakes with serious consequences. For example, when Cisco customers did not configure MFA for their VPN clients, attackers could use brute force or compromised credentials to gain network access. This challenge only grows more labor-intensive as networks, workforces, and vendor landscapes grow.

Insufficient Visibility and Control 

VPNs operate with an all or nothing approach – once connected through a VPN, users typically gain absolute access since traditional solutions lack device and user awareness. Because of this, it’s no surprise that the majority of security leaders report lateral movement following VPN-related attacks; once attackers gain initial network access through VPNs, breach containment proves challenging. This same hurdle creates inconsistent security standards for remote and on-prem connections. Aaron Steinke, Head of Infrastructure at La Trobe Financial, said, “Historically, we found that you often end up in a scenario where people have more network access when they’re on the VPN because you can’t categorize them and classify them well enough.” 

Rapidly Rising Third-Party Access Risks  

From vendors and consultants to any number of other third parties, connecting external entities to the network is critical for modern business operations, but it presents an increasingly untenable risk. Last year, 30% of breaches included third-party involvement of some sort – up 15% from the previous year; in turn, a whopping 92% of organizations are concerned about third parties creating potential backdoors into the network through VPNs. 

Remote Access Security: Modern Requirements  

Security teams today need dynamic, context-aware access that adapts to identity, device, and other risk factors. To address these requirements, modern secure remote access solutions are typically built on a few key principles: 

• Least privilege: Users should access only the specific systems or applications required for their role. 
• Identity-based control: Access decisions should be based on the identity of users, devices, or applications.  
• Continuous verification: Every session and transaction must be authenticated and authorized dynamically. Chris Boehm, Field CTO at Zero Networks, says continuous verification should be based on behavioral and contextual factors: “Continuous verification should not mean more MFA prompts or stricter NAC rules. Those are momentary checks that expire the second access is granted. True continuous verification comes from using behavioral and contextual signals such as process activity, communication patterns, and timing to reassess trust dynamically.” 
• Network invisibility: To reduce the attack surface, internal assets should never be directly exposed to the internet. 
• Comprehensive, layered protection: Modern solutions should enable comprehensive protection across every dimension of network traffic, combining microsegmentation, identity-based access controls, secure remote access capabilities, and just-in-time MFA to prevent unauthorized lateral movement and enhance overall security posture.

VPN Alternatives Explained  

As organizations look to supercharge remote access security, they’re likely to weigh a range of modern alternatives, including:   

• Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA): Provides secure remote access based on granular policies in alignment with the Zero Trust security model, where network trust is not automatically granted. Without opening any ports to the internet, ZTNA enforces fine-grained access policies based on user identity, device health, and context.  
• Secure Access Service Edge (SASE): Combines network and security functions like secure web gateways and cloud access security brokers; SASE often incorporates ZTNA as a core component for secure remote access. 
• Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP): Creates encrypted perimeters around specific applications, dynamically granting access to individual resources after authentication and authorization.  

ZTNA vs. VPN 

According to Gartner, ZTNA solutions are rapidly replacing remote access VPNs; with the rising focus on Zero Trust initiatives, it’s little wonder why. With the majority of organizations reporting plans to replace their current VPN solution with a ZTNA solution in the near future, ZTNA has arguably become the de facto VPN alternative.  

Often considered an evolution beyond traditional VPNs, ZTNA addresses some of the remote access vulnerabilities most relevant in today’s threat landscape. Here’s a breakdown of how these approaches stack up in practice:   

	VPN	ZTNA
Access	Broad network access once connected	Application-level access based on least privilege
Port Exposure	Requires open ports on the internet, increasing attack surfaces	No open ports – resources are invisible to unauthorized users
Granular Access Control	Difficult to restrict access to specific applications or services	Fine-grained policies based on identity, device, location, and context
User Experience	Often faster but less secure	Potential for latency in legacy implementations
Visibility & Monitoring	Limited visibility into user actions after connection	Centralized logging and policy enforcement

Although ZTNA offers a major improvement over VPNs in terms of overall security and access control, it’s important to note that many legacy ZTNA implementations introduce their own performance and operational tradeoffs. Some of the most common legacy ZTNA pitfalls include:  

• Cloud proxy bottlenecks: Traditional ZTNA solutions route all network traffic through a cloud-based access broker or proxy, which can introduce latency and reduce bandwidth. 
• NAT obfuscation: Most legacy ZTNA vendors use Network Address Translation (NAT) to funnel all user traffic through a single IP, creating security blind spots.  
• User experience degradation: High latency and slow connections frustrate users, reducing productivity and leading to shadow IT workarounds.  

How to Choose a VPN Replacement  

Rather than trading a remote access VPN for a newer tool with just as many tradeoffs, carefully evaluate secure remote access solutions based on their ability to provide granular control and comprehensive visibility without introducing latency.  

When selecting a solution, ask questions like:  

• Does the solution operate on a least-privilege model capable of granular access control for applications and resources? 
• Can the solution provide single sign-on (SSO) and multifactor authentication (MFA) that integrate with your existing identity provider (IdP)? 
• Will the IP addresses of all users remain visible while connecting inside the organization? 
• How does the solution route traffic to ensure no negative impact on user experience caused by latency?  

Considerations like these help security teams ensure they’re investing in a modern, dynamic remote access security solution.  

Modern Remote Access: The Speed of VPN + Security of ZTNA 

Zero Networks reimagines remote access by combining the security of ZTNA with the speed and simplicity of VPN. With just-in-time MFA, Zero temporarily opens ports for authenticated users while keeping the rest of the network invisible. This unlocks secure remote access to pre-approved apps and services without latency or excessive permissions.  

Combined with Zero’s automated, identity-aligned microsegmentation and network-layer MFA, this comprehensive approach makes it easy for security teams to enforce least privilege access across every connection. Find out how you can evolve beyond traditional VPNs without introducing operational headaches – request a demo.