Cloud-Delivered SSE and Zero Trust Access
Grade: C — Score: 65/100
Cisco Secure Access leverages advanced technologies to deliver a robust security framework that protects users, devices, and applications. It integrates zero-trust principles, ensuring that every access request is verified and authenticated, regardless of the user's location.
The solution streamlines workflows by enabling secure remote access while maintaining a consistent user experience. It employs intelligent policies that adapt to user behavior and context, allowing organizations to enforce security measures without hindering productivity.
Organizations face numerous risks, including data breaches and unauthorized access, especially in a remote work environment. Cisco Secure Access mitigates these risks by providing continuous monitoring and adaptive security controls, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected against evolving threats.
DNS Defense (Essentials / Advantage): Custom quote (per user)
Secure Internet Access (Essentials / Advantage): Custom quote (per user)
Secure Private Access (Essentials / Advantage): Custom quote (per user)
Consider switching to Palo Alto Networks: Similar focus on secure access and zero-trust architecture.
All three are Leaders in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Service Edge. Cisco differentiates with Hybrid Private Access, which allows ZTNA policy enforcement on existing Cisco firewalls on-premises rather than routing all traffic through the cloud. This is unique among SSE platforms and appeals to organizations with latency-sensitive apps or data sovereignty requirements. Zscaler operates the largest inline security cloud (500B+ daily transactions) and is typically the benchmark for pure-cloud SSE scale. Netskope has deeper CASB granularity with instance-level SaaS awareness and 100+ activity controls.
Cisco Secure Access is the successor to Cisco Umbrella SIG (Secure Internet Gateway). It includes all of Umbrella's DNS-layer security and SWG capabilities plus adds ZTNA, VPNaaS, CASB, FWaaS, DLP, AI Access controls, and digital experience monitoring in a single platform. Cisco provides automated migration tools from Umbrella, and the Secure Client agent is backward-compatible with existing AnyConnect configurations. The DNS Defense package within Secure Access directly replaces the legacy Umbrella DNS tier.
Cisco Secure Access holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, available through the Cisco Trust Portal. The product has achieved FedRAMP authorization for government deployments, with dedicated Secure Access for Government packages supporting ZTNA, VPNaaS, and secure internet access for federal agencies. Cisco's broader compliance framework (the Cisco Cloud Controls Framework) covers ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, Germany's C5, Spain's ENS, Japan's ISMAP, and Australia's IRAP. The platform commits to a 99.999% availability SLA.
Yes. The AI Access feature provides visibility and policy control over 1,300+ large language models and generative AI applications. Administrators can block specific AI tools, establish guardrails to mitigate toxic content and prompt injection attacks, and control source code uploads and downloads from services like ChatGPT. AI Supply Chain Risk Management identifies and blocks potentially malicious models from AI repositories such as Hugging Face. AI Access guardrails are included in the SIA Advantage tier and available as a paid add-on for SIA Essentials.
Essentials includes the core SSE capabilities: ZTNA, SWG with content filtering, CASB with app discovery, DNS security, L3/L4 firewall, and Experience Insights (DEM). Advantage adds full multimode DLP (real-time, SaaS API, endpoint, email), User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA), AI Access guardrails, Layer 7 firewall with IPS, advanced Remote Browser Isolation, browser-based SSH/RDP for clientless ZTNA, unlimited Secure Malware Analytics submissions, and Hybrid Private Access. You cannot mix Essentials and Advantage tiers within a single subscription.
Yes. Secure Access includes both ZTNA and VPN-as-a-Service (VPNaaS) specifically to enable full VPN replacement. ZTNA handles modern web applications with per-session, least-privilege access. VPNaaS covers legacy applications and non-web protocols that ZTNA cannot support, including peer-to-peer and server-initiated flows. Both connect through the same Cisco Secure Client agent, so users authenticate once and access any application without choosing a connection method. TKC Corporation completed a full VPN sunset migration to Secure Access, and LTIMindtree reported 60% faster application access after replacing its legacy VPN.
The DLP engine operates across four channels: real-time inline inspection of web and private app traffic, SaaS API scanning for data at rest in Microsoft 365, Google Drive, Box, Dropbox, Slack, ServiceNow, Salesforce, AWS S3, and Azure File Storage, endpoint monitoring of removable media, network shares, and printing, and email DLP through integration with Cisco Email Threat Defense. It ships with 1,200+ built-in PII identifiers covering 77 countries for compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, and other frameworks, plus specialized detectors for cloud provider API tokens and secrets. Full DLP is included in the Advantage tier across SIA and SPA packages.
The Cisco Secure Client agent supports Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, and Linux for roaming user protection across all ports and protocols via FWaaS/tunnel. Clientless browser-based access is available for unmanaged devices and third-party users, providing ZTNA access to web applications and (in the Advantage tier) SSH and RDP sessions without installing software. Chrome Enterprise Browser integration adds an additional layer of posture checking for clientless access scenarios. Mobile device support for private app access via ZTNA is available on Apple iOS and Android.