Zscaler introduces a security solution for cloud workloads. ‘Workload Communications’ drives the intercommunication of cloud applications and workloads through a secure channel.
Workload Communications is a logical extension of Zscaler’s existing offering. The design of two popular solutions in this offering, Internet Access and Private Access, shed a clarifying light on the introduction. Internet Access and Private Access drive connections between cloud apps, private clouds and endpoints through a secure platform. Workload Communications does the same for the intercommunication of workloads in the cloud.
Why?
Workloads need Internet access to communicate and be managed remotely via API services. There’s no way around that. The problem starts with a deployment in one or more public cloud environments. The secure walls of a private infrastructure are lost, and insight into the data exchanged by workloads fades.
In theory, a corporate network can be extended to reach the new environment. Zscaler suggests an alternative. Workload Communications routes connections from workloads to Zscaler’s cloud security platform. There, it determines whether a connection is permitted. Workloads are invisible to the Internet. Malicious parties see nothing — and can access nothing.
Workload Communications’ benefit is that a network does not need to be extended to a cloud environment to preserve security when deploying workloads in public and hybrid cloud environments. According to Zscaler, the approach does not affect workload speed or performance.