Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) Overview
Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) is a comprehensive, cloud-based security service that provides a robust and integrated solution for securing internet access across all users, devices, and locations. Here’s a detailed look at what ZIA does and its key features:
What ZIA Does
ZIA is part of the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange platform, designed to inspect all internet traffic and apply user-centric security and access policies. This approach eliminates the attack surface, stops lateral movement, and prevents sensitive data loss. ZIA ensures a safe, fast, and secure internet and SaaS access experience, regardless of the user’s location or device.
Key Features and Functionality
Security and Threat Protection
- Advanced Threat Protection: ZIA includes AI-powered threat protection that stops advanced cyberattacks such as malware, ransomware, phishing, and supply chain attacks. It inspects 100% of traffic, including encrypted traffic, to uncover and prevent evasive threats.
- URL Filtering: Allows administrators to control access to specified web categories or destinations, ensuring compliance with organizational policies and stopping web-based threats.
- SSL Inspection: Provides unlimited TLS/SSL traffic inspection to identify threats and data loss hiding in encrypted traffic.
Policy Management and Control
- Access Policy: Enables easy creation and management of access policies for all users and traffic, ensuring that security policies follow users everywhere they go.
- Bandwidth Control: Allows administrators to enforce bandwidth policies, prioritizing business-critical applications over recreational traffic.
Data Protection
- Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Protects data in motion with full inline inspection and advanced measures like exact data match (EDM), optical character recognition (OCR), and machine learning.
- Inline Data Protection: Controls the flow of sensitive information to prevent compromise and stop lateral movement for workload-to-internet communications.
Network and Performance Optimization
- Direct-to-Cloud Architecture: Eliminates the need for backhauling, improving performance and user experience by providing fast, direct-to-cloud access.
- Flexible Connectivity Options: Supports various connectivity methods, including the Zscaler Client Connector (ZCC), GRE or IPsec tunnels, and proxy chaining, ensuring seamless integration with different devices and networks.
IoT and Device Visibility
- IoT Device Visibility: Provides a complete view of all IoT devices, servers, and unmanaged user devices with automated discovery, continuous monitoring, and AI/ML classification.
Compliance and Logging
- Log Storage and Compliance: Offers log storage capabilities to meet regulatory compliance requirements, along with detailed performance metrics for analysis and troubleshooting.
Integration and Ecosystem
- Zero Trust Exchange Ecosystem: Integrates with various cloud providers, data centers, SaaS applications, and other security tools to provide a unified zero trust security platform.
- Zscaler Private Access (ZPA) Integration: When used in conjunction with ZPA, ZIA extends protection to private apps and workloads, whether they reside in the public cloud or a private data center.
Additional Benefits
- Scalability and Deployment: ZIA is delivered as a scalable SaaS platform, eliminating the need for additional hardware or lengthy deployment cycles.
- Service Level Agreements: Offers high availability (99.999%) and low proxy latency (< 100 ms), ensuring a reliable and fast user experience.
In summary, Zscaler Internet Access is a powerful cloud proxy service that provides comprehensive security, data protection, and performance optimization, making it an ideal solution for organizations seeking to secure their internet access and protect against sophisticated cyber threats.