In The Shifting Threat Landscape, Organizations Need to Ditch Third-Party Agents and Embrace Zero Trust Security

Macro tech trends like AI, distributed cloud environments, and remote work have yielded massive boosts to efficiency, productivity, and convenience for enterprises across the globe. But they’ve also introduced a variety of cybersecurity threats. Transformative technologies always tend to create new attack vectors and complexity at first, making these environments harder to safeguard. To make matters worse, hackers and bad actors have gotten increasingly sophisticated.

There is a laundry list of strategies and best practices organizations should implement to protect themselves in this shifting landscape. But there are two in particular that I want to focus on: The need for alternatives to third-party agents and the urgency of Zero Trust security.

Third-party agents create an overlooked security risk

One of the most underestimated risks in IT environments is the use of third-party tools that rely on agents installed on servers or end-user devices. Third-party platforms often require the use of agents installed directly on client systems. These agents are essential to the operation of the software. But they create entry points for attackers if they’re not regularly updated, patched, or properly configured – and there’s little transparency showing how effectively and frequently most vendors are doing each of these. The issue is exacerbated when agents incorporate suboptimal security practices, such as using hardcoded credentials or outdated security protocols.

At a high level, there are three major security issues with third-party agents:

1. A bigger attack surface: Every agent running on a server or endpoint becomes another possible way in for attackers. If an agent is vulnerable, the whole environment can be compromised.
2. Difficult maintenance demands: Keeping agents secure requires frequent updates and patches, but even the most diligent organizations can fall behind. A delayed patch or missed update can leave systems open to exploitation.
3. Trusting another entity: Leveraging a third-party agent means you’re handing over a huge amount of trust to someone else, with little control over whether or not they make costly mistakes.

Native Microsoft tools offer safer alternative

Most third-party platforms rely heavily on agents. That’s why enterprises should consider native solutions instead. There are a few different choices here depending on your clients’ needs. But generally speaking, there’s one name you can’t go wrong with: Microsoft.

Native Microsoft tools like Microsoft Defender, Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), and Microsoft Intune all incorporate a secure, scalable architecture. Since these sort of Microsoft native tools are cloud-based and from Microsoft themselves, they minimize the attack surface, providing organizations with a more secure way to manage environments.

There’s no need to worry about patching and updates when using Microsoft tools, as the company delivers patches and updates on a regular, weekly cadence (Patch Tuesday). This predictable schedule of updates ensures that systems remain secure without requiring manual intervention. A recent example is the swift resolution of the Windows Kernel TOCTOU vulnerability (CVE-2024-30088), which was patched before widespread exploitation could occur.

Zero Trust security is a must have in today’s threat landscape

Zero Trust security has taken off over the past couple years. According to Gartner, 63% of organizations across the world have “fully or partially implemented a Zero Trust strategy.” But that still leaves over a third of organizations with no Zero Trust practices in place at all – and a chunk of that 63% are only partially embracing zero trust.

Zero Trust operates under the assumption that threats can exist both inside and outside an organization’s network. It aims to improve security by enforcing strict verification and access controls, regardless of whether the user or device is within the corporate network or external to it. Before access to resources is granted, each endpoint is authenticated to reduce unauthorized access and data breaches. The core principle of Zero Trust is “never trust, always verify.”

Zero Trust leverages multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other techniques to provide safe access to resources over the public internet. Zero Trust technologies, such as the Microsoft Entra ID Identity and Access Management (IAM) service, support this framework with modern authentication protocols such as OpenID Connect, SAML, and OAuth 2.0. These protocols allow users to security access resources over the public internet, removing the dependency on a secure perimeter network.

In today’s shifting IT landscape, which is characterized by increasing hacker sophistication and emerging cybersecurity threats, there’s more urgency than ever to embrace Zero Trust security. It’s a must have now, not something that should be on the roadmap for years down the road.

Third-party agents can compromise MSPs and their clients

Emerging technologies and IT trends are delivering massive business value to the enterprise. But big change is always a little tricky to manage, too. The challenge of AI, hybrid work, and hyper-distributed clouds is staying ahead of evolving cybersecurity threats. Mitigating these risks takes major alignment from the C-suite and down. That’s a significant strategic effort. At a tactical level, there are two easier starting points you should consider: Pivoting from third-party agents and implementing full Zero Trust security across the organization.

About the Author

Amol Dalvi is the VP of Product at Nerdio. With more than 15 years of experience leading product and engineering teams, he is a seasoned software product executive with rich expertise in Microsoft, Cloud, and SaaS. He oversees both Nerdio Manager for MSP and Nerdio Manager for Enterprise products. You can find Amol on LinkedIn and at Nerdio’s website here https://getnerdio.com/