We are delighted to announce the launch of the Client-based Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) feature for Cisco Secure Connect. This new feature complements our existing Clientless ZTNA, providing you with even more secure and flexible hybrid work options.   What are the benefits of Client-based ZTNA? Enhanced Security: Client-based ZTNA adds a critical layer of protection by verifying device identity and health before granting access to resources and data. This granular control significantly reduces the attack surface and mitigates risks associated with compromised or untrusted devices. Improved User Experience: Users can now enjoy seamless and secure access to corporate resources from anywhere, anytime, and on any device without the complexity of traditional VPNs. This translates to increased productivity and a better overall user experience. Expanded Use Cases: With Client-based ZTNA, we unlock new possibilities for our customers. They can now extend secure access to unmanaged devices, contractors, and partners, easily enabling secure collaboration and remote work scenarios.   What about our existing Clientless ZTNA? Our Clientless ZTNA solution remains valuable for providing secure access in specific scenarios. The introduction of Client-based ZTNA complements our existing offering, giving our customers more flexibility and choice to address their unique security and access needs.   How can I enable this new feature? New Customers (Customers who provisioned their accounts 1 August 2024 or later): Starting today, all new Secure Connect Complete customers will have this feature enabled by default. This applies to both Essential and Advantage customers. Essential customers are limited to 10 private resources, while Advantage customers can have 1000 private resources. Existing Customers (Customers who provisioned their accounts before 1 August 2024): We can start enabling this feature for existing customers in two weeks. Beginning on August 15, 2024, please contact Support to enable this feature for your organization and coordinate the necessary data migration.   Where can I learn more about this feature?   Please refer to the Secure Connect documentation to learn more about this feature.

A running list of feature updates for Secure Connect.

We are improving the visibility of Secure Connect licensing by bringing visibility into our dashboard. This is the first step of several to provide additional transparency and better communication to our customers and service providers. It is also another small step on our journey to unify our dashboard and remove all cross-launches.   Where to find it:    What it looks like:    What’s next in this area: - Alerting and messaging in dashboard for renewals. - Global overview visibility and API for licensing.

Before the integration of Meraki SD-WAN Hubs, the Secure Connect cloud had to serve as the hub, and all sites were required to be spokes. Now, with the support of the Meraki SD-WAN Hub, a site connected to Secure Connect can function as either a hub or a spoke.   This feature is particularly beneficial for existing Meraki SD-WAN customers, as it allows them to directly access their private applications through a Meraki Hub. This setup can reduce latency for sites that are located close to the hub site or if the application is hosted on an IaaS platform such as AWS, GCP, Azure, or others.   Additionally, there are other use cases to consider. If you're interested, you can learn more about Meraki SD-WAN Hub integration by clicking here to visit the documentation page.  

Remote Access UI Enhancements

Did you miss it? Last week, Cisco announced that it is delivering the most complete unified SASE solution with Cisco Secure Connect, now powered by Cisco Secure Access as the newly embedded SSE engine. This convergence presents another step forward in bringing Cisco Networking and Security clouds together to deliver a unified SASE fabric with advanced security capabilities, starting with client-based zero trust network access (ZTNA). With this advancement, Secure Connect is evolving zero trust to better support remote workers and power hybrid work.    This delivers several key outcomes for customers, including:   Rich ZTNA functionality powered by Secure Access to deliver better remote worker experiences and stronger security with high-performing zero trust access. Seamless end-user experiences that eliminate the need for users to take extra steps to connect to private apps—access is instant and “just works.” This includes: Quick UDP Internet Connections (QUIC) support with multiplexed application substrate over QUIC encryption (MASQUE) proxy, which provides mobile device support for users to instantly access apps from anywhere Unified Cisco Secure Client with connection brokering automated on the back end to ensure seamless user experience everywhere One place to manage all connectivity options (VPN, browser and client-based ZTNA, as well as the branches) for streamlined operations and better user experiences.   All of this new functionality is now available via streamlined management through the Meraki dashboard to make it easier for admins to manage zero trust and policy enforcement across networking and security functions. Ultimately, this evolution of the Secure Connect SSE engine with Secure Access delivers a simple, complete, and unified way to flawlessly connect users to both private and public applications anywhere they work. Read this blog to learn more about these and the other new updates we've announced with Secure Connect: https://blogs.cisco.com/networking/securely-connect-everything-everywhere-with-a-unified-sase-platform Stay SASE, my friends!

Currently, we have two data centers in Mumbai, IN. Those data centers will be undergoing consolidation the first week of July. To ensure minimal impact on your business operations, we have scheduled the consolidation to occur during non-business hours. Nevertheless, we advise all customers to plan for a possible service interruption in Mumbai during the maintenance period.   If you are utilizing AutoVPN or IPsec tunnels at the Mumbai data center, rest assured that your tunnels should be seamlessly migrated to the consolidated data center. We will be using the same automated tunnel migration process when a data center goes out of rotation for maintenance.  There may be a disruption as we transition your active connections, requiring a disconnect and reconnect phase. To minimize any chance of impact, please make sure you have backup tunnels configured to the secondary data center.   Please contact our support team if you have any issues post-migration.     https://documentation.meraki.com/CiscoPlusSecureConnect/Cisco___Secure_Connect_Troubleshooting_Guides/How_to_Contact_Cisco___Secure_Connect_Support

Secure Connect @ CLUS June 2-6, 2024

A list of Secure Connect resources

New DCs in Australia and Canada

A list of how-to videos to help new customers onboard to Secure Connect.