Barracuda adds new personal remote access functionality to CloudGen WAN

Barracuda’s CloudGen WAN solution has been updated and now includes personal remote access functionality. This allows users to connect directly to CloudGen WAN gateways that run inside Microsoft Azure Virtual Hubs.

“As we move our workloads to Microsoft Azure, we need to efficiently connect our sites to the cloud and optimise secure access to SaaS applications,” said Kaleb Mercer, Director of IT at Rödl & Partner USA, an integrated professional services firm of Rödl & Partner, based in the US. “Barracuda CloudGen WAN is built natively on Azure, so it is easy to deploy and manage, which is what we need in our security solutions.”

“Barracuda CloudGen WAN  combines the benefits of next-generation firewalls, secure SD-WAN, cloud integration and automation, and we look forward to using it to help our customers,” said Tom Ricardo, Head of Cloud Strategy and Solutions at Vandis.

Expanded offerings and functionality
Based on early adopter customer feedback, Barracuda is also introducing two new CloudGen WAN devices for industrial endpoints, CloudGen WAN T93 and CloudGen WAN T193 with fibre connectivity. This extends the CloudGen WAN connectivity and security to industrial sites. These new CloudGen WAN devices are available immediately.

In addition, Barracuda CloudGen WAN will include cloud-delivered personal remote access functionality. This overcomes the limitations of traditional VPN and eliminates the implicit trust model deployed by traditional point-to-site solutions, simplifying management and mitigating cyber risks as enterprises embrace increased workforce mobility.

With the new personal remote access functionality, remote users will be able to connect directly to CloudGen WAN gateways that run inside Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN Hubs. Users can authenticate via Microsoft Azure Active Directory, utilising multi-factor authentication. User-to-application policies are automatically enforced by CloudGen WAN, replacing implicit trust of traditional VPN solutions. Each user is only granted access to their authorised applications, and the CloudGen WAN service enforces these rules on all gateways and sites globally.

This functionality ensures that only authorised users can access specific applications based on an organisation’s security policy. Access is granted on a need-to-know, least-privileged basis and controlled by granular policies. A software-defined perimeter is created where authorized users are given access only to specific applications instead of access to the entire network. The result is reduced risk to the network, to applications, and ultimately to the business.

According to Gartner: “Excessive implicit network trust creates excessive latent risk that will be attacked. Network access (even the right to “ping” or see a server or application) is not a given. It should be earned based on the identity of the user, the device and context.” ¹

“Adding personal remote access to CloudGen WAN provides another key piece as we build out an increasingly robust Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) offering,” said Tim Jefferson, SVP of Data, Network and Application Security, Engineering, at Barracuda. “We are pleased to see the excitement and interest from customers and partners looking to this solution to address this SD-WAN and security needs.”

Barracuda CloudGen WAN has been generally available since July 2020. The new cloud-delivered personal remote access functionality will be available later this year.

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