Banyan Security Zero Trust Remote Access

The Banyan Security Zero Trust Remote Access Platform addresses the critical security and operational challenge of securing remote access in modern, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments. This platform is built on the principles of Google’s BeyondCorp and is designed to replace traditional VPNs, which often grant overly broad access and lack the necessary security and scalability.

Technically, the Banyan solution consists of three key components: the Trust Scoring framework, the Cloud Command Center, and the Distributed Access Tier (also known as the Intelligent Access Mesh). The Trust Scoring framework assigns a quantifiable trust value to each access request, considering user identity, device trust, and privilege levels. This scoring is integrated with existing enterprise security tools to ensure comprehensive visibility and control.

The Cloud Command Center is a SaaS-based management interface that allows IT teams to write and manage security policies in a human-readable format. It provides continuous authorization, issuing short-lived certificates based on real-time trust scores and policy evaluations. This ensures that access is constantly re-verified, and sessions can be suspended or revoked if the trust score drops below acceptable levels.

The Distributed Access Tier, or Flexible Edge, is a distributed architecture that places control points close to the protected resources, eliminating the need for third-party clouds and ensuring direct access paths. This architecture supports both on-premises and cloud deployments, allowing for fine-grained access control and real-time enforcement of access policies without the complexity of traditional VPN setups.

Operationally, Banyan’s solution is designed for ease of deployment and management. It can be deployed incrementally alongside existing VPN infrastructure, allowing for a low-risk transition. The platform integrates with existing Identity Providers (IdP), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), and Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) solutions, as well as DevOps tooling, enhancing its operational flexibility and security posture.

However, there are operational considerations to note. The solution relies on continuous trust scoring and real-time policy enforcement, which can introduce latency if not properly optimized. Additionally, the scalability of the platform, while robust, may require careful planning to ensure that the distributed architecture can handle the load of large-scale deployments without compromising performance.

In terms of specific technical details, Banyan’s platform supports access to a wide range of resources, including SSH/RDP servers, Kubernetes, and databases, with one-click access via the Banyan app. The platform also provides deep visibility into user, device, app, and service activity, enabling superior control and accountability through interactive dashboards and automatic Discover & Publish capabilities.