Glossary Terms: Z

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a security model that grants access to specific applications and resources only after verifying identity and context on every request, rather than trusting anything based on network location. Unlike traditional VPNs, ZTNA applies granular, policy-driven access decisions at the workload level, making it a foundational control for securing service-to-service communication in distributed and multi-cloud environments.

A security framework that assumes no entity, either inside or outside the network, should be automatically trusted. It mandates continuous verification of the security status of identities, devices, and network traffic before granting access to resources.