Microsoft Entra Private Access can help ensure secure access to private apps and resources.
Traditional VPNs are no longer sufficient to protect your organization. Because legacy VPNs typically grant connected users and devices complete network access, an attacker who compromises an employee's credentials or device can gain access to your network and move laterally without restrictions, potentially compromising as many private applications and resources as they can discover.
Modern network security requires a more sophisticated approach: Zero Trust. Verifying explicitly, enforcing least privilege, and assuming breach minimizes your attack surface and reduces risk.
Microsoft Entra Private Access offers a modern solution to replace VPNs with an identity-centric Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) approach, ensuring secure, precise access to private apps and resources—without exposing your full network. You can enable identity-centric controls in Conditional Access policies to give users granular, least-privilege access to the private resources and applications they need to do their work from any location.
Figure 1: Microsoft Entra Private Access is a comprehensive solution designed to secure access to all private apps and resources for users anywhere.
A seamless transition from legacy VPN to ZTNA
With Quick Access, where you can define specific fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) or IP addresses of private resources to include in the traffic for Microsoft Entra Private Access, we’ve simplified the transition from traditional VPNs to ZTNA. The first step is to define a Quick Access private network segment, where your private apps and resources reside. Then, in Conditional Access, you can assign policies that apply to your Quick Access private network segment. So, in just a few steps, you can, for example, require multifactor authentication (MFA) to access any internal target application or resource.
Using app discovery, you can identify who’s using which private applications based on network traffic and onboard those applications to Microsoft Entra ID. This allows you to get visibility on your private apps and resources so you can create application segments for specific devices, users, and processes. You can then expand your Conditional Access controls such as single-sign-on (SSO) across identified private applications and enforce more granular controls by grouping applications.
Figure 2: The journey from traditional VPN to ZTNA with Microsoft Entra Private Access.
Your journey to Zero Trust Network Access is simplified
To ensure a smooth transition that enhances security and connectivity while minimizing operational disruptions, start implementing ZTNA by onboarding a few users and private applications as part of a pilot program. Then gradually onboard additional applications and users to Microsoft Entra Private Access (ZTNA) as you simultaneously phase out your legacy VPN solution.
Many organizations prioritize updating their legacy security controls and networking tools. If you can’t retire your VPN immediately, you can transition gradually while maintaining your current infrastructure. Start by gradually replacing VPNs with ZTNA for specific applications and eventually phase out VPNs completely.
Microsoft Entra Private Access can coexist with solutions from other network security providers such as: Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, and Netskope, so you don’t have to completely overhaul your existing systems. You can seamlessly integrate Microsoft's Security Service Edge (SSE) solution with your existing SSE solution. For instance, you can route specific types of traffic—such as Microsoft or private—through Microsoft's SSE solution, while continuing to use your current SSE solution for internet traffic. This flexibility allows you to leverage the strengths of both solutions to meet your unique security and connectivity needs. Use traffic forwarding profiles in Global Secure Access to apply policies to the network traffic that your organization wants to secure and manage.
Embrace Conditional Access controls on all private apps and resources
Microsoft Entra Private Access offers advanced identity security capabilities that protect your private applications and resources better than traditional VPN solutions. Because Microsoft Entra Private Access extends adaptive Conditional Access policies to your network, you can enable SSO and require MFA for all your private resources—even private apps that don’t support modern authentication. These include legacy and custom apps, command line access tools, file shares, and databases.
Enforcing identity-centric access controls helps protect against cyber threats and reduces the risk of lateral movement within your network. Users benefit from a fast and easy access experience through globally distributed points of presence (PoPs) in Microsoft’s global private network, whether they’re connecting from a device running Windows, Android, iOS, or MacOS.
Figure 3: Microsoft Entra Private Access key benefits.
Simplified Connectivity with Private DNS
Private DNS with Microsoft Entra Private Access is now generally available, marking a significant step forward in accelerating your journey from legacy VPN to identity-centric ZTNA. This capability offers a seamless way for users to connect to private resources behind company private DNS resolution, simplifying connectivity and eliminating the need for complex VPN setups. With Private DNS, users can easily connect to resources without the hassle of traditional VPN configurations, making access to private resources more straightforward and efficient. The managed Cloud service provided DNS proxy at the edge caches DNS responses, enabling faster resolution times and better performance with minimal delays when accessing resources. Configuring private DNS is simple; just provide domain suffixes, and the system handles the rest, making integration effortless for organizations of all sizes seamlessly leveraging your existing private DNS infrastructure. Aligned with Zero Trust principles, Private DNS with Microsoft Entra Private Access enhances security and ensures safe access to critical resources.
Enhanced Performance with Multi-Geo Connectors
Multi-Geo connectors in Microsoft Entra Private Access, now in public preview, enable organizations to optimize traffic flow from their Global Secure Access clients to their private apps and resources by assigning connector groups based on preferred geographic locations. This capability allows for improved performance and reduced latency by ensuring that traffic is routed through the most optimal paths. To enable Multi-Geo capability, administrators can install connectors, create connector groups in different geographic regions, assign them to their private enterprise applications which group application segments to these groups. This setup process is designed to be very simple, intuitive and straightforward and can also enable regional admins to ensure proper installation and configuration. Multi-Geo connectors support private enterprise apps, providing a robust solution for organizations with a global presence. By leveraging Multi-Geo connectors, you can enhance network performance and ensure secure, efficient access to resources across multiple regions.
Getting started with Microsoft Entra Suite or as a standalone solution
You can experience the benefits of Microsoft Entra Private Access as part of the Microsoft Entra Suite, the industry’s most comprehensive Zero Trust access solution for the workforce. Microsoft Entra Suite unifies identity and network access controls to secure employee access to any cloud or on-premises application and resource from any location. It also consistently enforces least privilege access and improves the employee experience.
Get started with the Microsoft Entra Suite with a free 90-day trial today!
You can also experience the benefits of Microsoft Entra Private Access as a standalone solution. Microsoft Entra Private Access secures access to all private apps and resources for users anywhere while replacing the risk and operational complexity of legacy VPNs with ZTNA. It also boosts user productivity by quickly and securely connecting remote users from any device and any global network to private apps on-premises or in any cloud.
Get started with the Microsoft Entra Private Access standalone solution with a free 1-month trial.
Ashish Jain, Principal Group Manager, Product Management
Abdi Saeedabadi, Senior Product Marketing Manager
Read more on this topic
- Microsoft Entra Private Access
- Replace legacy VPN with Identity-centric ZTNA
- What’s new in Microsoft’s Security Service Edge solution
- Microsoft Entra Private Access solution overview video
Learn more about Microsoft Entra
Prevent identity attacks, ensure least privilege access, unify access controls, and improve the experience for users with comprehensive identity and network access solutions across on-premises and clouds.
Microsoft