Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA)

Zscaler Internet Access  serves as our primary tool to secure employee outbound internet traffic and protect users from reaching malicious websites. We use it to protect users from web-based threats, enforce web access policies, block malicious websites, and monitor user internet activity through its proxy service, which provides secure internet access to employees in our organization.

A specific example of how I used Zscaler Internet Access  to enforce web access policies involved blocking access to malicious websites identified in threat intelligence that users attempted to access through phishing emails with suspicious links. Zscaler Internet Access inspects web traffic and applies security policies before a connection is established between the user and the website. For instance, if a user clicks on a phishing link leading to a malicious website that might unknowingly download malware, Zscaler Internet Access identifies that website as malicious and blocks access immediately, preventing the user from reaching it.

Another use case I would mention regarding Zscaler Internet Access is the visibility it provides from a SOC perspective. As a SOC analyst, having visibility into users' web activity, blocked websites, policy violations, and potential threats is very useful during further investigations in the security field. It helps us maintain a consistent security posture.

Zscaler Internet Access has positively impacted our organization by improving our overall security posture, providing better visibility into the internet traffic our employees access, and protecting users from web-based threats such as phishing websites, malicious downloads, and suspicious sites. This has helped us remain safe from internet threats and improved support for remote users by consistently applying security policies without relying heavily on traditional on-premises security controls.

Zscaler Internet Access has reduced many security incidents for our SOC team. While I do not have exact metrics available, I can confirm that we have definitely seen a reduction in web-related security incidents, and it has also saved investigation time by allowing us to quickly review Zscaler Internet Access logs when a user reports suspicious websites or phishing links to determine whether the connection was allowed or blocked, thereby speeding up our investigation process.

The best features Zscaler Internet Access offers include URL filtering because it acts as a web gateway and allows us to write policy-based access control. The feature I use most is URL filtering, as it helps us control which websites users can access and block malicious or inappropriate sites.

URL filtering makes our day-to-day investigations easier from both security and operational perspectives. It automatically blocks access to known malicious websites and phishing or risky websites before users reach them, thereby reducing the number of security incidents we have to investigate.

Regarding improvements in Zscaler Internet Access, the admin console can sometimes be slow, particularly when navigating through reports or policy configuration. I also believe that troubleshooting tools and policy simulation features could be improved to make policy validation easier.

I have been working as a SOC analyst for two years and ten months entirely within a SOC environment, having started my career in that role.

I have not faced any major outages or downtime with Zscaler Internet Access; it is stable in our environment, and I would rate it nine out of ten in terms of stability.

Being cloud-native, Zscaler Internet Access scales very well and supports growing user numbers without the need for external hardware, and I would rate it nine out of ten for scalability.

I would rate customer support at nine out of ten as they have provided responsive and knowledgeable assistance, and the documentation is quite good.

We evaluated some traditional firewall-based web filtering solutions, but Zscaler Internet Access stood out because of its mature cloud architecture, scalability, and strong security controls. I am not certain about the specific vendors we evaluated, but we did research other tools, and Zscaler Internet Access stood out because of its features.

My advice to others looking into using Zscaler Internet Access is that the tool is good overall, but I recommend spending time understanding policy design and user requirements before deployment. Proper planning and testing of the policies and controls help reduce unnecessary user impact and make the rollout much smoother.

We do not have any business relationship with Zscaler aside from being clients who purchased the product.

I do not have exact numbers regarding the return on investment, but the main returns have come from improved visibility into user internet access, reduced risk from web-based threats, and simplified management that has decreased dependency on our analysts and traditional on-premises security devices.

We have not purchased Zscaler Internet Access through the AWS Marketplace ; the licensing process was handled separately by our financial and management team.

We evaluated some traditional firewall-based web filtering solutions, but Zscaler Internet Access stood out because of its mature cloud architecture, scalability, and strong security controls.

A specific example of how I used Zscaler Internet Access to enforce web access policies involved blocking access to malicious websites found in threat intelligence that users attempted to access through phishing emails with suspicious links. Zscaler Internet Access inspects web traffic and applies security policies before a connection is established between the user and the website. For instance, if a user clicks on a phishing link leading to a malicious website that might unknowingly download malware, Zscaler Internet Access identifies that website as malicious and blocks access immediately, preventing the user from reaching it.

Another use case I would mention regarding Zscaler Internet Access is the visibility it provides from a SOC perspective. As a SOC analyst, having visibility into users' web activity, blocked websites, policy violations, and potential threats is very useful during further investigations in the security field. It helps us maintain a consistent security posture. I would rate this product nine out of ten overall.

Public Cloud

Amazon Web Services  (AWS )

What do you like best about the product?

I use Zscaler Internet Access daily as a secure cloud-based web gateway to safely route and filter all company internet traffic, especially for remote and hybrid employees. It helps block malware, phishing attempts, and unauthorized web categories before they reach our corporate network. I appreciate its seamless background execution and extremely low latency, as users don't even notice it running because it filters web traffic on the fly without slowing down their internet connection. The cloud-delivered architecture eliminates the need to manage hardware appliances, making security policies instantly global. Additionally, it integrates seamlessly with Azure Active Directory for user identity provisioning and Single Sign On, and we connect it with Splunk SIEM to monitor security logs and analyze traffic data in real time. The onboarding and rollout to our specific team via automated policy profiles was seamless and completely effortless.

What do you dislike about the product?

The false positive rate for domain categorization can sometimes be frustrating, as it occasionally blocks legitimate web resources that users need for daily operations. Additionally, when we push a policy change or add a URL to the exception list in the admin portal, the cloud synchronization can take several minutes to propagate globally, which leads to temporary delays for the end user.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

I use Zscaler Internet Access to secure internet traffic for remote workers without relying on traditional VPNs. It prevents malware and phishing at the cloud level, reducing security tickets. The seamless, low-latency execution maintains productivity and minimizes service desk tickets related to connectivity issues.

What do you like best about the product?

I like how simple and transparent it is, with strong security that doesn’t feel restrictive. It runs seamlessly in the background while still giving me clear visibility into traffic and potential risks.

What do you dislike about the product?

At times it feels overly restrictive, with legitimate websites or tools getting blocked. Troubleshooting can also be slow, especially when it isn’t clear why access was denied in the first place.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

It provides secure internet access wherever I’m working, without having to rely on office networks or VPNs. As a result, I get safer browsing with fewer risks, plus consistent access when I’m working remotely or on client systems.

What do you like best about the product?

It’s a good tool for having centralized access to all client-facing virtual machines. The best part is that it can be accessed over port 443, rather than relying on the typical RDP port.

What do you dislike about the product?

The connection is usually inconsistent. Access control also feels limited because it relies on usernames rather than role-based access. On top of that, access to the clipboard and local drives is terrible.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

It provides single-window access to all my virtual machines, without frequent login prompts. I don’t need to remember separate credentials for each machine, domain, or region, which makes access much simpler.

What do you like best about the product?

Zscaler is a strong zero-trust security model that provides the level of security our organization expects. Connectivity is seamless: once I log in, it connects automatically, and the background processing requires very little effort from the user while still doing its job.

What do you dislike about the product?

I have faced couple of times automatic login issues; It is hard to identify where the application is, especially the icon is bit difficult to identify and troubleshoot the problems. I need to wait until I connect back.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

In our organization we required a strong security for our internet access; consistent to all users i.e. suitable for office, working from home, even global travelers with one security policy; centralized policy management and clear visibility with high scalability for our growing organization