Amazon introduces its next-generation AWS Verified Access security technology. At its annual AWS re:Invent show, the company confirmed the technology would be made available to companies running Apple products through partnerships with Jamf, JumpCloud and other device management vendors in the space. .
Securing the remote enterprise, one service at a time
What’s valuable about AWS Verified Access is that it allows IT to provide secure application access without using a VPN. Based on Zero Trust principles, Verified Access allows teams to create, configure and manage a precise set of policies for access to private applications.
Think of it as an added layer of protection in the rapidly changing security landscape, which also ensures that valuable corporate data is not transmitted through less reliable VPN servers. It also means users won’t be calling with requests for help because they’re having trouble with the VPN.
The idea is that IT can define security policies and criteria, and these requirements must then be met before users or their devices can access internal services hosted on AWS. Verified Access evaluates each access request in real time and only signs users into the application if these conditions are met.
“This means you can set a unique access policy for each app, with conditions based on identity data and device posture,” Amazon explains. “For example, you can create policies allowing only members of the finance team to access their financial reporting application and use only compliant devices.”
Jamf explains that the technology means customers can configure things so that only devices that are managed and come from a specific Internet Protocol (IP) address range, have a certain device risk score, or have a minimum version of the operating system (OS) can access a system.
What are the advantages?
The biggest change should be an improved security posture. Unlike traditional protections in which access is assessed only once, this system assesses each application access request as it arrives. This makes it much harder for bad actors to jump from one app to another.
AWS also integrates with many credential and device management services (such as Jamf and JumpCloud) and logs all access attempts, making troubleshooting easier.
But for the growing number of hybrid and remote enterprises, AWS Verified Access is an opportunity to lock down your cloud-based enterprise services and integration processes even more tightly with the ability to more effectively secure users at the edge. .
Earlier this fall, Jamf announced that it was working with AWS to create a workflow to manage and provide an additional layer of security for large-scale Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) Mac instances.
“AWS is proud to continue working with Jamf so that organizations can provide trusted access to their users,” said Dave Brown, vice president of Amazon EC2 at AWS. “Today’s announcement of AWS Verified Access Integration is the next step in a powerful partnership to help the company succeed with Apple.
Apple’s expanding business game
Of course, the introduction provides further proof of how far Apple continues to grow in the business. After all, this kind of support is unlikely to be available if Macs, iPhones, and iPads hadn’t been rolled out so quickly over the past few years. It’s also a testament to the security improvements for Apple products in the business that continue to emerge from players in the space, even as Apple’s share grows.
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