August 26, 2024
Episode 10
The Role of Cloud Native Access Points (CNAPs) in Enabling Zero Trust
Author: Brian "BP" Panarello
Last week, we talked about Zero Trust and the cultural shift required. This week, we will be discussing the Cloud Native Access Point – a reference design for answering the technical call for Zero Trust implementation in a federal cloud environment.
A Cloud Native Access Point (CNAP) is a pivotal architectural component in realizing a Zero Trust security model, particularly in the context of cloud-based environments. It serves as a secure gateway, mediating all access requests to cloud-hosted resources, ensuring that only authorized users and entities, operating from trusted devices, are granted access.
The CNAP as we know it today came about in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic and the shift to more distributed work locations. The DoD CNAP Reference Design version 1.0 was published in July of 2021 and cleared for publication the next month. In it, a deployment pattern for accessing government resources hosted in a commercial cloud environment using commercially available internet, while maintaining DoD cybersecurity standards, is described.
CNAPs operate on the principle of "always-on" verification, scrutinizing every access attempt regardless of its origin (inside or outside the network) or the user's previous authentication status. This continuous verification process aligns seamlessly with the core tenets of Zero Trust, ensuring that no user or device is implicitly trusted.
The key functionalities of a CNAP typically include:
Centralized Authentication and Authorization: CNAPs consolidate authentication and authorization processes, verifying user identities, validating device security postures, and enforcing granular access control policies based on predefined rules and contextual factors.
Traffic Inspection and Encryption: CNAPs act as security inspection points, scrutinizing network traffic for malicious activity and enforcing encryption protocols to safeguard sensitive data in transit. Part of this process involves deep packet inspection and Transport Layer Security Inspection (TLSI, colloquially known as “break and inspect.”)
Threat Intelligence Integration: Advanced CNAP solutions integrate with threat intelligence feeds, enabling real-time correlation of access requests and network traffic patterns with known threats, enhancing their ability to detect and block sophisticated attacks.
Centralized Logging and Monitoring: CNAPs provide centralized logging and monitoring capabilities, offering security teams a holistic view of access attempts, policy violations, and potential threats across the cloud environment.
Architecting for Security and Scalability
Designing a robust and effective CNAP requires careful consideration of various architectural factors, including scalability, flexibility, and integration with existing security infrastructure.
A typical CNAP design often incorporates the following components:
Identity Provider (IdP): The IdP serves as the source of truth for user identities, authenticating users and providing information about their roles and permissions to the CNAP.
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA): ZTNA solutions provide secure access to specific applications and resources based on user identity and context, rather than granting access to the entire network.
Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW): NGFWs offer advanced security features beyond traditional firewalls, such as deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention, and application control, providing an additional layer of security at the network perimeter.
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): SIEM systems aggregate and analyze security logs from various sources, including the CNAP, providing centralized visibility into security events and facilitating threat detection and response.
Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Employing IaC principles in CNAP design enables automated provisioning, configuration, and management of CNAP components, ensuring consistency, scalability, and repeatability.
The Future of Zero Trust and CNAPs
As cyber threats continue to evolve in sophistication and frequency, the adoption of Zero Trust principles and the implementation of robust CNAP solutions will become increasingly critical for organizations seeking to safeguard their data and systems. By embracing this evolving security paradigm, organizations can move beyond the limitations of traditional perimeter-based defenses and establish a more proactive and resilient security posture in the face of an ever-changing threat landscape.
But how do we translate these principles into a practical, real-world cybersecurity solution? In our next installment, we'll delve into a case study, exploring the design and deployment of a CNAP to provide applied Zero Trust cybersecurity within a targeted cloud environment. Stay tuned!