[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fvsD7AO9GoaOx65reJcykcTIWAPVjBeEwjsU7-lSJ22Q":3},{"lesson":4},{"id":5,"slug":6,"article_id":7,"title":8,"body":9,"prevention":10,"framework_refs":11,"status":23,"created_at":24,"published_at":25,"article":26,"tags":30,"podcasts":49},"b6976005-9257-45b1-9cc6-8bf8934aabfc","legacy-vpns-put-federal-networks-at-risk-time-to-go-zero-trust","d9881573-f0f1-4565-83a9-96a9b79781c1","Legacy VPNs Put Federal Networks at Risk — Time to Go Zero Trust","Federal agencies have continued relying on aging, internet-facing VPN appliances from vendors like Cisco, Fortinet, Ivanti, and Check Point, which have been repeatedly exploited by threat actors due to unpatched vulnerabilities and insecure architectures. These perimeter-based VPN solutions were never designed to withstand today's sophisticated, nation-state-level attacks, making them high-value targets that provide deep network access once compromised. The core problem is not just missing patches — it is a structural over-reliance on legacy technology that lacks modern authentication, least-privilege enforcement, and continuous verification principles. Sen. Wyden's call to action underscores that failing to retire obsolete remote access infrastructure is itself a systemic security failure with national security implications. Transitioning to zero-trust architectures is no longer optional — it is an urgent operational imperative.","**Immediate actions:**\n- Conduct a full inventory of all internet-facing VPN appliances across your organization and assess their patch and end-of-life status.\n- Apply all available vendor security patches to existing VPN infrastructure immediately and subscribe to vendor security advisories for ongoing alerts.\n- Restrict VPN access using multi-factor authentication (MFA) and limit exposed management interfaces to internal networks only.\n\n**Long-term improvements:**\n- Develop and fund a formal roadmap to migrate remote access infrastructure from legacy VPNs to zero-trust network access (ZTNA) solutions.\n- Update procurement policies to prohibit the purchase of new legacy VPN appliances and require zero-trust compliance in future vendor contracts.\n- Establish a regular vulnerability review cycle for all internet-facing assets, with defined SLAs for critical patch remediation.\n\n**Detection & governance measures:**\n- Deploy continuous attack surface monitoring to detect newly exposed or misconfigured remote access endpoints in real time.\n- Integrate VPN authentication logs into your SIEM and alert on anomalous login patterns, credential stuffing, or access from unexpected geographies.\n- Align agency remote access policies to binding operational directives (e.g., CISA BODs) and conduct annual compliance audits.",[12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22],"CIS Control 7: Continuous Vulnerability Management","CIS Control 12: Network Infrastructure Management","CIS Control 6: Access Control Management","NIST SP 800-207: Zero Trust Architecture","NIST AC-17: Remote Access","NIST SI-2: Flaw Remediation","NIST RA-5: Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning","CISA Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01: Reducing Known Exploited Vulnerabilities","CISA BOD 23-02: Mitigating Risks from Internet-Exposed Management Interfaces","NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5: SC-7 Boundary Protection","OMB M-22-09: Moving the U.S. Government Toward Zero Trust Cybersecurity Principles","published","2026-07-27T14:21:03.13836+00:00","2026-07-27T14:21:02.84+00:00",{"id":7,"url":27,"slug":28,"title":29},"https:\u002F\u002Fcyberscoop.com\u002Fwyden-calls-for-federal-legacy-vpn-purge-zero-trust\u002F","sen-wyden-urges-feds-to-discard-older-insecure-public-facing-vpns-6f8682","Sen. Wyden urges feds to discard older, insecure, public-facing VPNs",[31,37,43],{"id":32,"name":33,"slug":34,"description":35,"color":36},"05757c8d-6b93-4194-b35d-7359e7d33b0e","Vulnerability Management","vulnerability-management","Missing scans, no risk prioritization","#fb923c",{"id":38,"name":39,"slug":40,"description":41,"color":42},"1ec88fde-2d0f-4ed8-932a-33f5ccc0fdc7","Access Control","access-control","Excessive privileges, missing MFA, weak auth","#f97316",{"id":44,"name":45,"slug":46,"description":47,"color":48},"af7fce9e-1ce8-4156-93bc-09dcfbfdf29d","Patch Management","patch-management","Unpatched vulnerabilities, delayed updates","#ef4444",[]]