Zero Trust Network Access

The following topics provide more information about Clientless Zero Trust Network Access, Universal Zero Trust Network Access, and how to configure and deploy them.

About Clientless and Universal Zero Trust Network Access

Zero Trust Access or Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) refers to processes that protect internal resources using identity-based access, including user trust and posture. The process verifies the user, device, and request context before allowing access to internal resources and applications. It grants the least privilege access only after verifying the user, understanding the request context, and assessing any risks.

You can choose between two ZTNA deployment models:

  • Clientless Zero Trust Network Access

  • Universal Zero Trust Network Access

Clientless Zero Trust Network Access

Clientless Zero Trust Network Access (Clientless ZTNA) authenticates and authorizes access to protected web-based resources and applications from inside (on-premises) or outside (remote) the network. This is accomplished using an external identity provider (IdP) with Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication. No client software is needed on the user's device.

Clientless ZTNA is ideal for remote users accessing web applications and unmanaged devices.

Universal Zero Trust Network Access

Universal Zero Trust Network Access (Universal ZTNA) is a client-based solution that provides identity-based access to all internal resources regardless of user location. It enforces strong authentication, posture validation, and traffic inspection for each application and user.

Universal ZTNA supports both remote and on-premises users. On-premises users access a trusted network using a Secure Firewall Threat Defense device. Remote users access a trusted network through the cloud-based Secure Access service, which evaluates policies and proxies the user traffic securely in the cloud.

Clientless Zero Trust Network Access

Clientless Zero Trust Network Access is based on Zero Trust Access principles. Zero Trust Access is a zero trust security model that eliminates implicit trust. The model grants the least privilege access after verifying the user, the context of the request, and after analyzing the risk if access is granted.

Clientless Zero Trust Network Access enables you to authenticate and authorize access to protected web-based resources and applications from inside (on-premises) or outside (remote) the network using an external Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) identity provider (IdP) policy.

The features are:

  • Supports multiple SAML-based identity providers such as Duo, Azure Active Directory (Azure AD), Okta, and other identity providers.

  • Client applications such as Cisco Secure Client are not required on the endpoint (client devices) for secure access.

  • Access and authentication is through the browser.

  • Supports only TLS web applications.

  • Client device posture is supported through agents such as Duo Health, using which the posture of the device can be evaluated against a policy in Duo, and access can be provided based on the same. The same functionality can be performed in conjunction with third-party identity providers that support posture evaluation with their agents such as Okta or PingID.

  • Supports HTTP-Redirect SAML binding.

  • Supports application groups that make it easier to enable clientless zero trust network access protection on a set of applications.

  • Leverages threat defense intrusion and malware protection on zero trust application traffic.

You can use the Secure Firewall Management Center web interface to create a Zero Trust Application Policy that allows you to define private applications and assign threat policies to them. The policy is application specific where the administrator decides the inspection levels based on the threat perception for that application.

How Threat Defense Works with Zero Trust Access

Figure 1. Threat Defense Deployment

  1. Using a browser, a remote or on-prem user sends a HTTPS request to connect to an application from an endpoint.

  2. The HTTPS request is intercepted by the firewall that protects the application.

  3. The firewall redirects the user to application’s configured IdP for authentication.


    Note

    In the figure, each firewall protects a set of web applications. The user can directly access the applications behind the firewall after authentication and authorization.

  4. After the authentication and authorization process is complete, the firewall allows the user to access the application.

Why use Zero Trust Network Access?

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) provides secure, segmented application access by requiring explicit authorization for every connection. This approach reduces the attack surface and simplifies secure migrations without adding devices.

ZTNA leverages your existing Threat Defense deployment as an enforcement point for application access, enabling segmented and per-application authorization. It establishes individual tunnels for both remote and on-premises users.

This feature hides the network from users and ensures that they can only access applications for which they have been explicitly authorized. Authorization for one application in the network does not give an implicit authorization for other applications on the network, thereby reducing the attack surface significantly. In other words, every access to an application or a resource must be explicitly authorized.

By adding zero trust access functionality to threat defense, you can adopt a more secure access model without the need to install or manage additional devices in the network.

Components of a Clientless Zero Trust Network Access Configuration

A new configuration consists of a Zero Trust Application Policy, Application Group, and Applications.

  • Zero Trust Application Policy— Consists of application groups, and grouped or ungrouped applications. Security Zones and Security Controls settings are associated at a global level for all the ungrouped applications and group of applications.

    A global port pool is assigned to the policy, by default. A unique port is automatically assigned from this pool to each private application that is configured.

    Zero Trust Application policy consists of application groups, and grouped or ungrouped applications.

  • Application Groups—Consists of a logical group of applications that share SAML authentication settings and can optionally share Security Zones and Security Controls settings.

    Application Groups inherit the Security Zones and Security Controls settings from the global policy and can override the values.

    When an Application Group is created, the same SAML IdP configuration can be used for authenticating multiple applications. Applications that are part of an Application Group inherit the Application Group’s SAML configuration. This eliminates the need to configure the SAML settings for each application. After the Application Group is created, new applications can be added to it without configuring the IdP for it.

    When an end user tries to access an Application that is part of group, the user is authenticated to the Application Group for the first time. When the user tries to access other applications that are part of the same Application Group, the user is provided access without being redirected again to the IdP for authentication. This prevents overloading the IdP with requests for application access and optimizes the usage of the IdP if a limit is enabled.

  • Applications—There are two types:

    • Ungrouped Applications— Are standalone applications. SAML settings must be configured for every application. The applications inherit the Security Zones and Security Controls settings from the global policy and can be overridden by the application.

    • Grouped Applications— Are multiple applications that are grouped under an Application Group. The SAML settings are inherited from the Application Group and cannot be overridden. However, the Security Zones and Security Controls settings can be overridden for each application.

The following certificates are required for the configuration:

  • Identity Certificate—This certificate is used by Firewall Threat Defense to masquerade as the applications.Firewall Threat Defense behaves as a SAML Service Provider (SP). This certificate must be a wildcard or Subject Alternative Name (SAN) certificate that matches the FQDN of the private applications. It is a common certificate for all applications protected by Firewall Threat Defense.

  • IdP Certificate—The IdP provides a certificate for each defined Application or Application Group. This certificate must be configured so that Firewall Threat Defense can verify the IDP’s signature on incoming SAML assertions.


    Note

    IdP certificates are commonly included within the metadata file; otherwise, users are required to have the IdP certificate readily available during the configuration of applications.

  • Application Certificate—The encrypted traffic from user to the application is decrypted by Firewall Threat Defense using this certificate for the purpose of inspection.


    Note

    This certificate is required to verify the cookies in the header to authorize connections, even if we are not conducting an IPS/Malware inspection.

Clientless Zero Trust Network Access Workflow

This figure depicts the Zero Trust Access workflow.

Figure 2. Clientless Zero Trust Network Access Workflow

The workflow is as follows:

  1. User types the application URL in the browser.

    • If the HTTPS request is valid, the user is redirected to the mapped port (Step 6).

    • If the HTTPS request is invalid, the user is sent for authentication per application (Step 2).

  2. The user is redirected to the configured identity provider (IdP).

    1. The user is redirected to the configured primary authentication source.

    2. The user is challenged with the configured secondary multi-factor authentication, if any.

  4. The IdP sends a SAML response to threat defense. The user ID and other necessary parameters are retrieved from the SAML response through the browser.

  5. The user is redirected to the application.

  6. The user is allowed access to the application after validation is successful.

Limitations for Clientless Zero Trust Network Access

  • Supports only TLS-enabled web applications. All traffic must be decrypted.

  • Supports only SAML identity providers.

  • IPv6 is not supported.

    NAT66, NAT64, and NAT46 scenarios are not supported.

  • Clientless zero trust network access is available on Firewall Threat Defense only if Snort 3 is enabled.

  • By default, the Firewall Threat Defense device uses port 443 for secure communications. Because this is the same port used by TLS-enabled applications likely to be configured for zero trust network access, you must change the device's HTTP server port.

    Go to Devices > Platform Settings, then edit the Threat Defense Settings policy for the device, click HTTP Access, select the Enable HTTP Server check box, and enter a port other than 443 in the field. When you're finished, click Save in the upper right corner of the page.

    The following figure shows an example.

  • All hyperlinks in protected web applications must have a relative path and are not supported on individual mode clusters.

  • Protected web applications running on a virtual host or behind internal load balancers must use the same external and internal URL.

  • Not supported on applications with strict HTTP Host Header validation enabled.

  • If the application server hosts multiple applications and serves content based on the Server Name Indication (SNI) header in the TLS Client Hello, the external URL of the zero trust application configuration must match the SNI of that specific application.

Prerequisites for Zero Trust Application Policy

Prerequisite Type

Description

Licensing

  • Smart license account with export-controlled features

  • (Optional) IPS and Threat licenses—It is required if security controls are used.

Configurations

Create a wildcard or Subject Alternative Name (SAN) certificate that matches the FQDN of private applications. For more information, see Adding Certificate Enrollment Objects.

Create a security zone through which access to private applications are regulated. For more information, see Create Security Zone and Interface Group Objects.

Manage Zero Trust Application Policies

You can create, edit, and delete zero trust application policies.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Zero Trust Application

Step 2

Manage the zero trust access policies:

Step 3

Click Save.

What to do next

Ensure that there are no warnings before you deploy the configuration to threat defense. To deploy configuration changes, see Deploy Configuration Changes in the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide.

Create a Zero Trust Application Policy

This tasks configures a Zero Trust Application Policy.

Before you begin

Ensure that you complete all the prerequisites listed in Prerequisites for Zero Trust Application Policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Zero Trust Application.

Step 2

Click Add Policy.

Step 3

In the General section, enter the policy name in the Name field. The description field is optional.

Step 4

Enter a domain name in the Domain Name field.

Ensure that the domain name is added to the DNS. The domain name resolves to the Firewall Threat Defense gateway interface from where the application is accessed. The domain name is used to generate the ACS URL for all private applications in an Application Group.

Step 5

Choose an existing certificate from the Identity Certificate drop-down list.

Click the Add (add icon) icon to configure a certificate enrollment object. For more information, see Adding Certificate Enrollment Objects.

Step 6

Choose a security zone from the Security Zones drop-down list.

Click the Add (add icon) icon to add a new security zone.

To add security zones, see Create Security Zone and Interface Group Objects.

Step 7

In the Global Port Pool section, a default port range is displayed. Modify, if required. Port values range from 1024 to 65535. A unique port from this pool is assigned to each private application.

Note

 

This port range should avoid any conflicts with the existing NAT range.

Step 8

(Optional) In the Security Controls section, you can add an Intrusion or Malware and File policy:

  • Intrusion Policy—Choose a default policy from the drop-down list or click the Add (add icon) icon to create a new custom intrusion policy. For more information, see Creating a Custom Snort 3 Intrusion Policy topic in the latest version of the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Snort 3 Configuration Guide.

  • Variable Set—Choose a default variable set from the drop-down list or click the Add (add icon) icon to create a new variable set. For more information, see Creating Variable Sets.

    Note

     

    To use variable sets, you must have the Secure Firewall Threat Defense IPS license for your managed devices.

  • Malware and File Policy—Choose an existing policy from the drop-down list. Click the Add (add icon) icon to create a new malware and file policy. For more information, see Managing File Policies.

Step 9

Click Save to save the policy.

What to do next

  1. Create an Application Group. See Create an Application Group.

  2. Create an Application. See Create an Application.

  3. Associate a Zero Trust Application Policy with a device. See Set Targeted Devices for Zero Trust Access Policy

  4. Deploy configuration changes. See Deploy Configuration Changes in the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide.

Create an Application Group

Before you begin

Create a Zero Trust Application Policy

Procedure

Step 1

Click Add Application Group.

Step 2

In the Application Group section, type the name in the Name field and click Next.

Step 3

In the SAML Service Provider (SP) Metadata section, the data is dynamically generated. Copy the values of the Entity ID and Assertion Consumer Service (ACS) URL fields or click Download SP Metadata to download this data in XML format for adding it to the IdP. Click Next.

Step 4

In the SAML Identity Provider (IdP) Metadata section, add the metadata using any one of the methods:

  • XML File Upload—Choose a file or drag and drop the XML file.

    The details of the Entity ID, Single Sign-On URL, and IdP Certificate are displayed.

  • Manual Configuration—Perform these steps:

    • Entity ID—Enter the URL that is defined in the SAML IdP to identify a service provider uniquely.

    • Single Sign-On URL—Enter the URL for signing into the SAML identity provider server.

    • IdP Certificate—Choose the certificate of the IdP enrolled in threat defense to verify the messages signed by the IdP.

      Click the Add (add icon) icon to configure a new certificate enrollment object. For more information, see Add Certificate Enrollment.

  • Configure Later—In the event you do not have the IdP metadata, you can configure it later.

Click Next.

Step 5

In the Re-authentication Interval section, enter the value in the Timeout Interval field and click Next.

The re-authentication interval allows you to provide a value that determines when a user must authenticate again.

Step 6

In the Security Zones and Security Controls section, the security zones and threat settings are inherited from the parent policy. You can override these settings. Click Next.

Step 7

Review the configuration summary. Click Edit to modify the details in any of the sections. Click Finish.

Step 8

Click Save.

The Application Group is created and is displayed on the Zero Trust Application page.

What to do next

  1. Create an Application.

  2. Deploy configuration changes. See Deploy Configuration Changes in the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide.

Create an Application

Use this task to create a Grouped or Ungrouped Application.

Before you begin

  1. Create a Zero Trust Application Policy.

  2. Create an Application Group (required only for Grouped Applications).

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Zero Trust Application

Step 2

Choose the policy.

Step 3

Click Add Application.

Step 4

In the Application Settings section, complete the following fields.

  • Application Name—Enter the application name.

  • External URL—Enter the URL that is used by the user to access the application.

  • Application URL—By default, the external URL is used as the Application URL. Uncheck the Use External URL as Application URL check box to specify a different URL.

    If Threat Defense uses an internal DNS, the Application URL must match an entry within that DNS to ensure it resolves to the application.

  • Application Certificate—Choose the certificate for the private application. Click the Add (add icon) icon to configure an internal certificate object. For more information, see Adding Internal Certificate Objects.

  • IPv4 Source Translation—Choose the source network for NAT from the list. Click Add (add icon) to create a network object. For more information, see Network.

    This Network Object or Object Group is used to translate a public network source IPv4 address of an incoming request to a routable IPv4 address inside the corporate network.

    Note

     

    Only object or object groups of type Host or Range are supported.

  • Application Group—Choose the Application Group from the drop-down list. See Create an Application Group.

    Note

     

    This field is not applicable for an ungrouped application.

Step 5

Click Next.

Step 6

Depending on the type of application:

  • For a Grouped Application, the SAML Service Provider (SP) Metadata, SAML Identity Provider (IdP) Metadata , and Re-authentication Interval are inherited from the Application Group and do not need to be configured by the user.

  • For an Ungrouped Application, perform these steps:

    1. In the SAML Service Provider (SP) Metadata section, the data is dynamically generated. Copy the Entity ID, Assertion Consumer Service (ACS) URL of the IdP, or click Download SP Metadata to download this data in XML format for adding it to the IdP. Click Next.

    2. In the SAML Identity Provider (IdP) Metadata section, add the metadata using any one of the methods:

      • XML File Upload—Choose a file or drag and drop the XML file.

        The details of the Entity ID, Single Sign-On URL, and IdP Certificate are displayed.

      • Manual Configuration—Perform these steps:

        • Entity ID—Enter the URL that is defined in the SAML IdP to identify a service provider uniquely.

        • Single Sign-On URL—Enter the URL for signing into the SAML identity provider server.

        • IdP Certificate—Choose the certificate of the IdP enrolled in threat defense to verify the messages signed by the IdP.

          Click the Add (add icon) icon to configure a new certificate enrollment object. For more information, see Add Certificate Enrollment.

      • Configure Later—If you do not have the IdP metadata, you can configure it later.

      Click Next.

    3. In the Re-authentication Interval section, enter the value in the Timeout Interval field and click Next. The reauthentication interval allows you to provide a value that determines when a user must authenticate again.

Step 7

In the Security Zones and Security Controls section, the security zones and threat settings are inherited from the parent policy or application group. You can override these settings. Click Next.

Step 8

Review the configuration summary. Click Edit to modify the details in any of the sections. Click Finish.

Step 9

Click Save.

The application is listed on the Zero Trust Application page and enabled by default.

What to do next

  1. Set Targeted Devices for Zero Trust Access Policy.

  2. Deploy configuration changes. See Deploy Configuration Changes in the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide.

Set Targeted Devices for Zero Trust Access Policy

Each Zero Trust Application policy can target multiple devices; each device can have one deployed policy at a time.

Before you begin

  1. Create a Zero Trust Application Policy.

  2. Create an Application Group.

  3. Create an Application.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Zero Trust Application

Step 2

Choose the policy.

Step 3

Click Targeted Devices.

Step 4

Choose the devices where you want to deploy the policy using any one of the methods:

  • Choose a device in the Available Devices list and click >> or the Add (add icon) icon.

  • To remove a device from the Selected Devices list, choose a device and click << or the Delete (delete icon) icon.

Step 5

Click Apply to save policy assignments.

Step 6

Click Save to save the policy.

What to do next

Deploy configuration changes. See Deploy Configuration Changes in the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide.

Edit a Zero Trust Application Policy

You can edit the settings of a Zero Trust Application Policy, Application Group, or Application.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Zero Trust Application

Step 2

Click Edit (edit icon) next to the Zero Trust Application Policy you want to edit.

Step 3

Edit your Zero Trust Application Policy.

You can change the following settings or perform these actions:

  • Name and Description—Click Edit (edit icon) next to the policy name, make your changes, and click Apply.

  • To modify the policy settings:

    • Click Settings

    • Modify the settings as required.

      Important

       

      Editing the domain name for the SAML ACS URL interrupts application access.

    • Click Save.

  • To modify the Application Group settings:

    • Click Applications.

    • Click Edit (edit icon) next to the Application Group you want to edit.

    • In each section, click Edit to modify the settings, as required

      Important

       

      Editing the Application Group name interrupts application access.

    • Click Apply after you modify the settings in a section.

    • Click Finish.

    • Click Save.

  • To modify the Application settings:

    • Click Applications.

    • Click Edit (edit icon) next to the Application you want to edit.

    • In each section, click Edit to modify the settings, as required.

      Important

       

      Editing the Application name interrupts application access.

    • Click Apply after you modify the settings in a section.

    • Click Finish.

    • Click Save.

  • To enable, disable, or delete multiple Applications, choose the Applications, click the required bulk action, and click Save.

    Note

     

    These actions are also available in the right-click menu.

    • To enable all Applications, click Bulk Actions > Enable.

    • To disable all Applications, click Bulk Actions > Disable.

    • To delete all Applications, click Bulk Actions > Delete.

  • Click Return to Zero Trust Application to return to the policy page.

What to do next

Deploy configuration changes. See Deploy Configuration Changes in the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide.

Monitor Zero Trust Sessions

Connection Events

After a Zero Trust Application Policy is deployed, new fields are available. To add the fields to the table view:

  1. Choose Analysis > Connections > Events.

  2. Click the Table View of Connection Events tab.

  3. In the table view of events, multiple fields are hidden by default. To change the fields that are displayed, click the x icon in any column name to display a field selector.

  4. Select the following fields:

    • Authentication Source

    • Zero Trust Application

    • Zero Trust Application Group

    • Zero Trust Application Host

    • Zero Trust Application Policy

    • Zero Trust Origin User

    • Zero Trust Proxy

    • Zero Trust Rule

    • Zero Trust Status

    • Zero Trust Tunnel ID

  5. Click Apply.

See Connection and Security-Related Connection Events in the Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide for more information on the connection events.

Zero Trust Dashboard

The Zero Trust dashboard allows you to monitor real-time data from active zero trust sessions on the devices.

The Zero Trust dashboard provides a summary of the top zero trust applications and zero trust users that are managed by the management center. Choose Overview > Dashboards heading > Dashboard, and click the Zero Trust tab to access the dashboard.

The dashboard has the following widgets:

  • Top Zero Trust Applications

  • Top Zero Trust Users

CLI Commands

Log in to the device CLI and use the following commands:

CLI Command

Description

show running-config zero-trust

To view the running configuration for a zero trust configuration.

show running-config zero-trust-hybrid

To view the running configuration for a universal zero trust configuration.

show zero-trust

To display the run-time zero trust statistics and session information.

show cluster zero-trust

To display the summary of zero trust statistics across nodes in a cluster.

clear zero-trust

To clear zero trust sessions and statistics.

show counters protocol zero_trust

To view the counters that are hit for zero trust flow.

Diagnostics Tool

The diagnostics tool facilitates the troubleshooting process by detecting possible issues with zero trust configurations. The diagnostics can be classified into two types:

  • Application-specific diagnostics are used to detect issues such as:

    • DNS-related issues

    • Misconfigurations such as socket not open, and issues with classification and NAT rules.

    • Issues with deployment of zero trust policy or SSL rules

    • Issues with source NAT issues and exhaustion of PAT pool

  • General diagnostics are used to detect issues such as:

    • Strong cipher license not enabled

    • Invalid application certificate

    • SAML-related issues

    • Home agent and cluster bulk sync issues

To run the diagnostic tool:

  1. Click Diagnostics () next to the zero trust application that you want to troubleshoot. The Diagnostics dialog box appears.

  2. Choose the device from the Select Device drop-down list and click Run. A report is generated in the Reports tab after the diagnostic process is complete.

  3. To view, copy, or download the logs, click the Logs tab.

Universal Zero Trust Network Access

Universal Zero Trust Network Access (universal ZTNA) enables administrators to specifically allow access to internal network resources according to user identity including user trust and posture, without granting access to the entire network as with Remote Access VPN. Universal ZTNA is a client-based ZTNA solution that enables users to securely access internal resources and applications regardless of their location, whether remote or on-premises.

Because universal ZTNA does not assume that access granted to one application implicitly authorizes access to other applications, the network attack surface is reduced.

Universal ZTNA ensures least-privileged, per-application, per-user access with strong authentication, posture validation, and comprehensive traffic inspection. It secures applications effectively across hybrid environments.

Components of Universal ZTNA

A new configuration of universal ZTNA consists of Security Cloud Control Firewall Management (formerly called Cisco Defense Orchestrator), and Secure Access, both provisioned on the Security Cloud Control platform. Security Cloud Control Firewall Management manages the Firewall Threat Defense devices through the Secure Firewall Management Center.

Figure 3. Components of Universal ZTNA

  • Security Cloud Control Firewall Management: Manages the configuration and deployment of universal ZTNA policies to the Firewall Threat Defense devices. The Threat Defense devices protect on-premises resources by enforcing universal ZTNA policies. Threat Defense inspects traffic and enforces intrusion prevention system (IPS), file, and malware policies on the traffic.

  • Secure Access: Secure Access defines the access policies, posture, and security profiles for the user. It enforces the policies for user traffic through the cloud.

  • Security Cloud Control platform: Security Cloud Control provides a unified secure management plane for both Secure Access and Firewall, simplifying the administration of universal ZTNA policies across them.

  • Secure Client: The Secure Client is installed on the end user's device. It acts as the enforcement point that intercepts connection requests to protected internal resources, enabling secure, identity-based access.

The following sections describe how to enable universal ZTNA on a Threat Defense device. For the complete configuration of universal ZTNA, refer to the Universal Zero Trust Network Access Configuration Guide.

How Threat Defense Works with Universal ZTNA

A universal ZTNA-enabled Firewall Threat Defense device is a critical enforcement point that protects private resources by integrating zero trust principles with firewall capabilities. Here’s how it operates to secure private resources:

  • Enforces access and Validates Policy: A Threat Defense device intercepts all access requests to private resources. It enforces granular, context-aware access policies that verify user identity, device posture, and contextual factors before granting access. Only requests that meet the least-privilege criteria are allowed, blocking the unauthorized attempts to access resources.

  • Establishes a Secure Tunnel to the Resource: After validating the access policy, the Threat Defense device establishes a secure, encrypted tunnel between the user’s device and the private resource. This tunnel ensures that private resources are isolated from direct network exposure.

  • Inspects Traffic: Threat Defense device continuously inspects the traffic and blocks threats before they reach the resources. The device applies the intrusion prevention system, file, and malware detection capabilities to detect and block the threats.

  • Microsegments and Prevents Lateral Movement: The device enforces microsegmentation by restricting traffic flows to only the authorized resources. This containment prevents lateral movement within the network, limiting the impact of any potential breach.

Prerequisites for Universal Zero Trust Network Access

This topic discusses requirements and guidelines for Universal Zero Trust Network Access (universal ZTNA).

Licensing Requirements

  • Secure Firewall Management Center requires a smart license account with export-controlled features. It does not function in evaluation mode for universal ZTNA.

    Secure Firewall Threat Defense devices require an IPS license if Intrusion policy is configured. If Malware policies are configured, the devices require IPS and Malware Defense licenses. For more information, refer to the "Licenses" section in the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide.

  • Secure Access requires a subscription of Cisco Secure Private Access Essentials or Advantage.

Device Requirements

  • All Secure Firewall Management Center and Secure Firewall Threat Defense devices must be running Version 7.7.10 or later.

  • All Secure Firewall Threat Defense devices must be configured for routed mode; transparent mode is not supported.

  • In Security Cloud Control, when you are configuring universal zero trust access for a device, ensure that the Enrollment Type for the device identity certificate is an object that is created using the PKCS12 file format. No other certificate type is supported. If necessary, you can also create a new certificate object from Security Cloud Control, which supports the PKCS12 format. See Configure Security Devices.

  • Configure the Domain Name System (DNS) to resolve Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of private resources. Use the Platform Settings menu on the Secure Firewall to configure the DNS. See Interface and Device Settings.

  • High Availability (HA) devices are supported; they are displayed as one entity.

  • Secure Client (with ZTNA module enabled) Version 5.1.10 and later is supported.

    The client must be running in a platform that supports Trusted Platform Module (TPM), such as Windows 11.

Guidelines on Certificate Types

  • User Identity Certificate: Secure Client, which is zero trust access enabled, presents the user identity certificate during the Mutual Transport Layer Security (mTLS) session with Secure Access and Firewall Threat Defense to request access to private resources.

  • Firewall Threat Defense Device Certificate: Threat Defense devices that are universal ZTNA-enabled use device certificates to establish secure mTLS connections with the Secure Client and Secure Access. Ensure that the device identity certificate is of type PKCS12.

    If you have already enrolled a manual certificate for the device, first export it to the PKCS12 format using the Devices > Certificates > Export Certificate menu on Firewall Management Center. Use the exported PKCS12 file to create a new PKCS12 certificate enrollment object.

  • Decryption Certificate: (Optional) To decrypt the traffic that is sent to private resources, enable Decryption for the resources in Secure Access and provide the server certificate and key. We recommend that you use a certificate that is signed by a publicly recognized certificate authority (CA).

Supported Devices

Both on-premises Firewall Management Center and cloud-delivered Firewall Management Center can be configured to manage the devices.

Only devices that have 16 cores or more are supported. Such models of Secure Firewall Threat Defense are:

  • 1150

  • 3105, 3110, 3120, 3130, 3140

  • 4115, 4125, 4145, 4112

  • 4215, 4225, 4245

  • FTDv


    Note

    You can configure universal ZTNA on a 16 core FTDv. No other deployment configuration of FTDv supports universal ZTNA.

Limitations of Universal Zero Trust Network Access

  • Universal ZTNA does not support IPv6.

  • Universal ZTNA-enabled devices do not enforce policies for traffic over a site-to-site tunnel.

  • Universal ZTNA does not support clustered devices.

  • Universal ZTNA does not support devices in multi-instance mode.

  • Universal ZTNA sessions do not support jumbo frames.

  • Universal ZTNA supports only global VRF.

  • Universal ZTNA does not support protocols such as FTP or TFP, where the data or secondary connection originates from a server.

    For example, an active FTP connection uses a persistent control connection for commands and creates temporary data connections for file transfers. Universal ZTNA does not support such data connections that originate from the server.

Integrate Firewall Management Center with Security Cloud Control


Note

This task is applicable only to on-premises Firewall Management Center.

Integrating the on-premises Secure Firewall Management Center with Security Cloud Control enables you to configure your Secure Firewall Management Center and its associated Secure Firewall Threat Defense devices. These devices can then use the networks, private resources, and policies necessary to configure and manage universal ZTNA.


Note

Universal ZTNA uses only the access policies that are defined by Secure Access. Any other access control policies and rules deployed to the Threat Defense devices from the Secure Firewall Management Center are ignored for universal ZTNA.

Before you begin

Your Cisco contact must onboard your Security Cloud Control and Secure Access systems, and create users and tenants.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to the Secure Firewall Management Center.

Step 2

Click Policies > Zero Trust Application.

Step 3

Click the Universal tab.

The Zero Trust Access page appears.

Step 4

Click Security Cloud Control Integration.

Step 5

From the Current Cloud Region list, click the name of your Security Cloud Control region.

Step 6

Click Enable Cisco Security Cloud.

Step 7

When prompted, click Continue to Cisco SSO.

Step 8

Log in to Security Cloud Control.

Step 9

From the Select Tenant list, click the name of your tenant.

Step 10

At the following page, click Authorize FMC.

Step 11

When prompted, close the tab page.

Step 12

A confirmation message appears to indicate that the onboarding was successful.

Step 13

Click Save at the bottom of the page.

It can take several minutes to save the configuration. After the configuration is saved, the page displays the onboarding status and the tenant name.

Step 14

For more information about other options on this page, see Security Cloud Control Settings.

Security Cloud Control Settings

The following topics discuss settings on the Cisco Security Cloud Integration page, which can be reached by choosing Integration > Cisco Security Cloud on Secure Firewall Management Center.

Event Configuration

Monitor the selected events in Security Cloud Control:

  • Send events to the cloud: Select this check box to monitor events in Security Cloud Control; clear the check box to not monitor any events.

    You can view events in Security Cloud Control at Firewall > Events & Logs.

  • Intrusion events: If you are using IPS policies, select this check box to monitor those policies.

  • File and malware events: If you are using file or malware policies, select this check box to monitor those policies.

  • Connection events: Select the check box next to the events to monitor, either Security (for file and IPS events) or All.

For more information about events, see Event Types in Security Cloud Control.

Cisco Security Cloud Support (Optional)

Optionally, select the check box to enable the following:

Cisco AI Assistant for Security

Select the check box to enable the AI assistant as discussed in Use Cisco AI Assistant for Security to Manage Your Threat Defense Devices Effectively.

Cisco XDR Automation

Select the check box to enable XDR workflow automation as discussed in the Cisco XDR Help Center.

Policy Analyzer and Optimizer

Select the check box to enable the policy analyzer; click Learn more for details.

Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)

Select the check box to enable zero-touch provisioning as discussed in the Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Administration Guide.

Configure Security Devices

All Firewall Threat Defense devices associated with the Secure Firewall Management Center that you onboarded to Security Cloud Control are security devices to which you can:

  • Associate private resources, which are internal applications you want to protect with identity-based access control, IPS, malware, and other protections.

  • Deploy Secure Access access rules. Security devices are responsible for enforcing access rules for on-premises users, remote users, or both.

Perform these steps to enable universal zero trust network access settings on the Threat Defense devices. These steps include configuring the device FQDN, inside interface, outside interface, and PKCS12 certificate to enable universal ZTNA on the devices.

Before you begin

Complete all tasks discussed in Integrate Firewall Management Center with Security Cloud Control.

You must know the name of each device's internal and external network interfaces:

  • The internal interface (also referred to as the DMZ interface) is used to apply access rules to on-premises users.

  • The external interface is used to apply access rules to remote users.

You can choose internal, external, or both types of interfaces for each security device.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Secure Firewall Management Center, click Policies > Zero Trust Application.

Step 2

Click Configure Universal ZTA in Security Cloud Control.

This figure shows an example.

Step 3

When prompted, log in to Security Cloud Control.

Step 4

When prompted, select your organization from the drop-down list and click Continue.

Select an organization that has both Secure Access and Secure Firewall micro applications configured.

This figure shows an example.

Step 5

In Security Cloud Control, in the Products section, click Firewall.

This figure shows an example.

Step 6

In the Manage section, click Security Devices.

The Security Devices page displays the available security devices.

Step 7

Select the check box next to a device to add to the universal zero trust network access configuration.

Step 8

In the right pane, click Device Management > Universal zero trust access settings.

This figure shows an example.

Step 9

Enter or edit the following information on the Configure device for Universal Zero Trust Access page.

This table describes the configurations to enable universal ZTNA on the device.

Item

Description

Firewall management center

From the drop-down list, click the name of a Secure Firewall Management Center to use for policy deployment, monitoring, and other tasks.

Device

From the drop-down list, click the name of a device to use for rule deployment and enforcement.

Device FQDN

Enter the security device's fully qualified domain name (FQDN). The FQDN is also referred to as the TLS/SSL certificate's Common Name.

Secure Access redirects the clients to the resource that is represented by this FQDN.

Ensure that the device FQDN exactly matches the Common Name (CN) of the device identity certificate and must also match a Subject Alternative Name (SAN) in the certificate.

Device identity certificate

The Device identity certificate must have a Common Name that:

From the drop-down list, click the name of an existing identity certificate from the list.

Click Add certificate and add an identity certificate in .p12 format (also referred to as PKCS#12; see this article on ssl.com).

Note

 

Universal ZTNA supports only the PKCS#12 format of certificate enrollment.

In the provided fields, enter a Name to identify the certificate. Then copy/paste, drag/drop, or upload the certificate and private key. If the certificate is encrypted, enter its password in the provided field.

You can optionally use a wildcard certificate as discussed in What is a Wildcard Certificate? on ssl.com.

Device Interface(s)

From the drop-down list, select the check box next to any of the following types of interfaces.

  • Internal network interface (or DMZ): deploys access rules for on-premises users only.

  • External network interface: deploys access rules for remote users only.

  • Both types of interfaces: deploys access rules for either on-premises or remote users.

Auto deploy policy and rule enforcements to firewall device

Select the check box to automatically deploy access rules to the device after they are updated on Secure Access.

On the device, the Auto deploy feature selectively deploys only the Universal ZTNA access policy. It does not impact other changes or configurations on the Firewall Management Center.

Note

 

If there are other interdependent policies on the device (which are interlinked with the Universal ZTNA access policy), the Firewall configuration status displays an error message. The deployment then stops. In such cases, you should manually deploy the Universal ZTNA access policy from the Firewall Management Center.

Step 10

Click Deploy and Reboot.

The device reboots to reallocate the system resources for universal ZTNA components.

Note

 

The device takes several minutes to reboot, during which time all traffic handled by the device is disrupted.

If you deploy a High Availability (HA) pair of devices, both devices reboot simultaneously.

Step 11

On the Security Devices page, select the check box next to the device to which you just deployed the Universal ZTNA configuration.

The right pane displays the deployment status, as shown in the figure.

For additional information, click Device Actions > Workflows in the right pane.

After the deployment completes, you can view the completion status in the Universal Zero trust Access Settings - Last status tab for the device.

Universal ZTNA-enabled Firewall Threat Defense device is connected to Secure Access.

What to do next

Check the availability of the Threat Defense device under Secure Access by clicking Security Cloud Control > Secure Access > Connect > Network Connections > FTD.

History for Zero Trust Network Access

Feature

Minimum Firewall Management Center

Minimum Firewall Threat Defense

Details

Universal Zero Trust Network Access (universal ZTNA).

7.7.10

7.7.10

Universal Zero Trust Network Access (universal ZTNA) is a comprehensive solution that provides secure access to internal network resources based on user identity, trust, and posture. It ensures that access to one application does not implicitly grant access to the entire network, as with remote access VPN.

New/modified screens: Policies > Zero Trust Application

Requires Cisco Secure Access and Security Cloud Control.

Deployment restrictions: Not supported with clustered devices, container instances, or transparent mode.

Supported platforms: Secure Firewall 1150, 3100, 4100, 4200, and Firewall Threat Defense Virtual.

Zero trust access enhancements.

7.4.1

7.4.1 with Snort 3

Firewall Management Center now includes the following zero trust access enhancements:

  • You can configure source NAT for an application. The configured network object or object group translates the incoming request's public network source IP address to a routable IP address inside the application network.

  • You can troubleshoot the zero trust configuration issues using the diagnostics tool.

New/modified screens: Policies > Access Control > Zero Trust Application

New/modified CLI commands: show running-config zero-trust , show zero-trust statistics

Clientless zero-trust access.

7.4.0

7.4.0 with Snort 3

Zero Trust Access allows you to authenticate and authorize access to protected web based resources, applications, or data from inside (on-premises) or outside (remote) the network using an external SAML Identity Provider (IdP) policy.

The configuration consists of a Zero Trust Application Policy (ZTAP), Application Group, and Applications.

New/modified screens:

  • Policies > Zero Trust Application

  • Analysis > Connections > Events

  • Overview > Dashboard > Zero Trust

New/modified CLI commands:

  • show running-config zero-trust application

  • show running-config zero-trust application-group

  • show zero-trust sessions

  • show zero-trust statistics

  • show cluster zero-trust statistics

  • clear zero-trust sessions application

  • clear zero-trust sessions user

  • clear zero-trust statistics