Google Cloud is rolling out BeyondCorp Remote Access that will allow users to securely access internal web apps without a traditional remote-access Virtual private network (VPN).
Sunil Potti, Google Cloud Vice President and General Manager, and the company’s Director of Product Management, Sampath Srinivas, made this announcement in a blogpost. It was remarked that BeyondCorp Remote Access is being rolled out by Google Cloud after consultations with customers who were concerned about adapting to remote working while keeping their data protected.
Google Cloud is collaborating with the cyber practice of Deloitte for delivering the end-to-end architecture, design, and deployment of the new tool to companies.
Potti and Srinivas wrote that workers can’t get to customer service systems, call center applications, software bug trackers, project management dashboards, employee portals, and many other web apps that they can normally get to through a browser when they’re on the corporate network in an office.
They added BeyondCorp Remote Access would let employees and extended workforce access internal web apps from virtually any device, anywhere, without a traditional remote-access VPN. It was also said that we overtime plan to offer the same capability, control, and additional protections for virtually any application or resource a user needs to access.
What’s Wrong With A Regular VPN?
Traditional VPN infrastructure could be difficult for IT teams to deploy and manage for large numbers of new users in a short period of time, according to Google Cloud. This weakness was highlighted recently when many companies in the middle of March when millions of workers migrated from offices to their homes.
Potti and Srinivas wrote VPNs from the user perspective can be complex, especially for those who have not used one before. They added these problems are exacerbated when organizations try to roll out VPN access to their extended workforce of contractors, temporary employees, and partners. Potti and Srinivas added VPNs can also increase risk since they extend the organization’s network perimeter and many organizations assume that every user inside the perimeter is trusted.
The Architecture Of BeyondCorp Remote Access
Source: Google Cloud
Since 2011, Google Cloud has been developing the BeyondCorp system to help Google employees and extended the workforce of the company so they can work from untrusted networks on a variety of devices without a client-side VPN. Google Cloud said BeyondCorp Remote Access ensures that only the right users access the right information in the right context.
In the past, Google has released similar products such as the Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) that helps Google Cloud customers control access to on-premises and cloud apps and virtual machines on the platform. In 2018, Google Cloud introduced Cloud Identity that provides customers a single console to manage devices, apps, users, and access.
