What Is Universal ZTNA?

Modern organizations no longer operate within the four walls of an office. Employees, contractors, and vendors connect from homes, co-working spaces, plant floors, and public or hybrid clouds, using managed laptops, unmanaged personal devices, and IIoT endpoints. That flexibility fuels productivity, but it also creates more entry points for attackers to exploit.

Traditional perimeter defenses and legacy VPNs weren’t designed for this level of complexity. Today’s attackers don’t need to break in; they can simply log in with stolen credentials. In fact, 75% of attacks in 2024 relied on stolen credentials rather than malware,¹ which is why organizations are shifting to identity-based, least-privilege access.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) assumes every user, device, and connection could be compromised, so access decisions rely on identity, context, and continuous verification rather than network location. Universal ZTNA takes that idea further by applying the same access model everywhere: across IT and OT, on-site and remote, employees and third parties.

Read on to learn what Universal ZTNA is, how it differs from conventional ZTNA, and how Safous delivers it as part of its privileged remote access platform.

What Is Universal ZTNA?

Universal ZTNA is a term popularized by Gartner, which introduced it in its 2023 Hype Cycle for Zero Trust Networking to describe ZTNA that extends beyond remote access to on-premises locations such as campuses and branches.⁴ Gartner’s later research also frames Universal ZTNA as covering location-independent use cases across both IT and operational technology (OT).⁵

In practice, Universal ZTNA is an approach that applies zero trust access controls consistently to every user, device, and application in an organization, regardless of where the user is or where the resource lives. Instead of separate tools and policies for remote workers, on-site staff, cloud apps, and industrial systems, one policy framework governs who can reach what, under which conditions.

The difference from conventional ZTNA is scope:

• Conventional ZTNA typically focuses on remote users reaching corporate applications, often as a VPN replacement.
• Universal ZTNA extends the same controls to on-site users, third-party vendors, unmanaged devices, legacy systems, and OT environments, so there are no “trusted” zones left behind.

Why Does Identity Matter for Universal ZTNA?

As organizations add cloud services, remote workers, and connected devices, identity has become the most reliable basis for access decisions. At the same time, AI-powered threats such as deepfakes, behavioral spoofing, and credential stuffing make identity harder to trust at face value.

One in four companies experienced deepfake fraud in the past 12 months,² while digital document forgeries increased by 244% in 2024.³ Universal ZTNA responds by verifying every user and device each time they request access, and granting only the minimum access needed for the task.

Universal ZTNA as Part of Privileged Remote Access

Universal ZTNA defines how access is granted. Privileged remote access defines what happens once a user reaches a critical system: who approved it, how long it lasts, and what the user did during the session.

Safous combines both. Universal ZTNA is a built-in capability of the Safous platform, so the same identity-based policies that control access to business applications also govern privileged sessions to servers, network devices, and industrial control systems. Security teams get one place to manage access, monitor sessions, and produce audit evidence across IT and OT.

6 Benefits of Universal ZTNA With Safous

1. Secure Access for Any Workforce

Employees expect to work securely from anywhere without extra hoops. Safous provides browser-based, agentless access with MFA and SSO integration, so users reach cloud and on-premises applications with the same policies whether they are in the office or on the road.

2. Safe Remote Access to OT Environments

Installing agents or applying frequent updates is often not an option in OT environments, where uptime is critical. Safous provides agentless, identity-aware access to industrial systems without opening inbound firewall ports, helping operators and maintenance vendors work remotely without disrupting operations.

3. Least-Privilege, Just-in-Time Access

Standing access is one of the biggest risks attackers exploit. Safous grants access to specific systems only, for a limited time, and only after verification, so a compromised account can’t be used to move laterally across the network.

4. Controlled Third-Party and Contractor Access

Third-party vendors, contractors, and partners often need access to your systems, but these relationships introduce extra risk. With agentless access and granular policies, Safous gives each partner exactly the access they need, without VPN accounts or shared credentials.

5. Privileged Session Monitoring and Recording

Granting access is only half the job. Safous monitors and records privileged sessions, so security teams can see what users did on critical systems, terminate suspicious sessions, and review recordings during investigations.

6. Compliance and Audit Readiness

Detailed access logs, session recordings, and approval records help you demonstrate control over who accessed what and when. This supports audits against frameworks and regulations such as ISO 27001, NIST CSF 2.0, PCI DSS 4.0, IEC 62443, and CISA’s Zero Trust Maturity Model.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Universal ZTNA the same as ZTNA?

Universal ZTNA uses the same zero trust principles as ZTNA, but applies them to every user, device, and location, including on-site users, third parties, and OT systems, rather than only remote users accessing corporate apps.

Does Universal ZTNA replace VPNs?

For most remote and third-party access use cases, yes. Instead of placing users on the network, Universal ZTNA connects them only to the specific applications or systems they are authorized to use.

How does Safous support Universal ZTNA?

Universal ZTNA is a capability of the Safous privileged remote access platform. Safous applies identity-based, least-privilege policies across IT and OT, and adds just-in-time access, session monitoring and recording, and audit trails for privileged access.

Bring Universal ZTNA to IT and OT With Safous

Whether your teams connect to cloud apps, maintain legacy industrial systems, or manage vendor access, Safous delivers consistent, identity-based protection with Universal ZTNA, without extra software or agents.

Ready to secure access across your entire environment? Get started with Safous today.

Sources:

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybradley/2025/02/12/data-reveals-identity-based-attacks-now-dominate-cybercrime
2. https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/the-rising-deepfake-risk-for-businesses-a-step-by-step-defense-strategy-built-around-the-basics-of-security
3. https://www.entrust.com/company/newsroom/deepfake-attacks-strike-every-five-minutes-amid-244-surge-in-digital-document-forgeries
4. Gartner, Hype Cycle for Zero Trust Networking, 2023 (July 2023)
5. Gartner, Emerging Tech: Universal ZTNA Drives Secure Access Consolidation (December 2024)