Axis Security Ltd. said today it’s reinventing security for modern workforces with the debut of a new platform that will give companies a viable alternative to older hub-and-spoke network architectures.

The Atmos platform is also superior to existing Security Service Edge platforms built on data center-based architectures, according to Axis. The idea is to help information technology teams avoid connecting users to a corporate network, which is vulnerable, and instead switch to an identity-based security system.

The way Axis sees it, modern workforces are akin to an orchestra that’s composed of multiple users, applications, devices and clouds, each playing their own tune and constantly syncing and changing. For IT teams, securing this orchestra and its many moving parts is virtually impossible, hence the need for an entirely new security system based on authentication, authorization and connectivity.

Axis Atmos is a modern Security Service Edge platform that sits inline, inspecting all traffic within an organization, brokering one-to-one connections between users and devices to services and apps, based on identity and security policies. Companies can provide secure access to business applications for any user while keeping the bad guys out, Axis said.

The Atmos platform integrates the four key elements of SSE, with zero-trust network access, a secure web gateway to inspect network traffic, a cloud access security broker that monitors user activity and enforces security policies to safeguard sensitive data, and a digital experience monitoring platform for network and help desk teams to query the platform, applications and services for useability problems.

Where Atmos sets itself apart, according to Axis, is that it contains a number of industry-first components not seen in other SSE platforms.

They include the Atmos Insights module that enables customized, query-based insights into security alerts and environment health across all applications, plus Atmos Air and Atmos Private Inspect. The last two capabilities build on Axis Application Access Cloud, which is an “agentless” model that provides an easy and safe way to connect users on any device to private applications without touching the network or those apps.

Designed to solve the issue of implicitly open network access, the company’s service can deploy with no agent or network changes required.

John Grady of Enterprise Strategy Group said that with the launch of the Atmos platform, Axis Security is making an aggressive move from zero-trust network access to the much broader Secure Service Edge platform space.

“Zero-trust network access provided better security, scale and flexibility over virtual private networks to ensure employees maintained secure access to private applications during Covid,” Grady said. “But as organizations look forward, they should be exploring how a platform approach can improve security efficiency and effectiveness. Converging secure access to private applications, SaaS apps and the internet is the logical place to start.”

Axis said Atmos will be generally available to both new and existing customers next month.

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