For years, healthcare organizations have relied on Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to secure access between users and systems. While VPNs once played an important role by creating encrypted tunnels between endpoints, they were built for a different era, when networks were centralized and most users operated within hospital walls.
Today’s healthcare environment looks very different. Large medical campuses are connected to regional clinics, local doctors’ offices, imaging centers, and remote staff, many of which have limited or no dedicated IT teams. Add in stringent requirements for HIPAA compliance, and it is clear: VPNs can no longer keep up.
Why Legacy VPNs Put Healthcare at Risk
Traditional VPNs reinforce the outdated “castle-and-moat” model: protect the perimeter, trust what is inside. Once a user or vendor connects via VPN, they often gain broad network access, far beyond what they need.
This creates dangerous vulnerabilities:
- Credential compromise = full network exposure If VPN credentials are stolen, attackers can move laterally into sensitive systems, from operating rooms to HR databases.
- Limited visibility VPNs provide little to no insight into application-level activities, making threat detection and policy enforcement nearly impossible.
- Prime ransomware targets VPN vulnerabilities accounted for 32.2% of healthcare data breaches involving third-party compromises.
- Operational overhead Managing hardware, licenses, and multiple VPN instances is costly and complex, especially for smaller clinics with lean IT staff.
In short: VPNs increase compliance risk while draining resources.
Why Zenarmor’s ZTNA Is the Better Path
Zenarmor replaces fragile VPNs with Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), a modern, integrated approach within our Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) solution. Based on the principle of “never trust, always verify”, ZTNA continuously authenticates and authorizes every user, device, and session before granting access.
This ensures HIPAA compliance is baked into every connection, across every site.
How Zenarmor Strengthens Healthcare Compliance
Zenarmor’s single-app, single-stack SASE architecture with shift-left security and zero PoP dependence delivers security where it matters most: close to users, devices, and applications, without forcing traffic through third-party data centers.
Here’s what sets it apart:
- Plug and Secure Anywhere Deploy Zenarmor at hospitals, clinics, or directly on Windows/Mac endpoints. Smaller sites get enterprise-grade security instantly, no costly appliances or PoP backhauling.
- Granular, application-specific access Users only connect to the specific apps and data they need, aligning with HIPAA’s least-privilege requirements.
- Micro-segmentation Breaks networks into secure zones, limiting lateral movement and shrinking the “blast radius” of any breach, directly supporting new HIPAA security recommendations.
- End-to-end encryption Protects ePHI as it travels between users, devices, and applications, ensuring compliance with HIPAA safeguards for data in transit.
- Visibility and auditability Unlike VPNs, Zenarmor logs and inspects every session. Compliance officers gain real-time visibility, continuous monitoring, and enforceable audit controls.
The Result: Secure, Compliant, Cost-Effective
By adopting Zenarmor’s ZTNA as part of a modern SASE strategy, healthcare providers can:
- Retire outdated VPNs and their operational overhead
- Apply consistent security across dispersed facilities
- Reduce capital costs while improving compliance posture
- Empower even the smallest clinic to be protected in minutes
Zenarmor gives healthcare organizations the confidence to scale, connect, and innovate, without compromising compliance or patient safety.
Let Zenarmor power your migration off legacy VPNs.
