Connect
Updated on December 8, 2025
Is your firewall enough to protect your most sensitive applications? In an era where work happens everywhere, from coffee shops to home offices, relying solely on traditional network perimeters is like locking the front door but leaving all the windows wide open. The reality is that the device itself has become the new security perimeter.
The shift to remote and hybrid work models presents a significant challenge for IT professionals. How can you ensure that every device accessing your organization’s critical resources, whether it’s a company-owned laptop or a personal smartphone, meets your specific security standards? Without visibility into the health and compliance of these endpoints, you are flying blind.
Shifting from Trust to Verification
The traditional “trust but verify” model is no longer sufficient. A modern security framework must evolve to “never trust, always verify,” and this verification must extend to the device itself. This is where device posture assessment becomes essential. It involves continuously checking an endpoint’s security status before granting access to sensitive data and applications.
Conditional Access policies must incorporate real-time device status to be effective. Before a user can connect to a critical resource, their device should be automatically evaluated against a set of predefined security requirements. These checks should include:
- Operating System (OS) Version: Is the device running an approved and up-to-date operating system?
- Disk Encryption: Is the device’s hard drive encrypted to protect data in case of loss or theft?
- Patch Level: Have the latest security patches been applied to address known vulnerabilities?
- Firewall Status: Is the device’s local firewall enabled and properly configured?
Automating Security with Conditional Access
The power of this approach lies in automation. If a device attempts to connect but fails to meet any of these criteria, access is automatically blocked. The user can then be redirected to a self-service portal with instructions on how to bring their device into compliance.
This automated enforcement does two things exceptionally well. First, it significantly strengthens your security posture by preventing non-compliant devices from becoming a gateway for attackers. Second, it reduces the administrative burden on IT teams, who no longer need to manually track and remediate every endpoint.
Embracing a Modern Approach to Access Control
Relying on firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs) alone provides a false sense of security. True protection in a distributed workforce requires a granular, device-aware approach. By making device posture a cornerstone of your access control strategy, you can ensure that only known, trusted, and compliant devices can connect to the resources they need.
This is a practical and necessary evolution of IT security. It’s time to move beyond the firewall and secure access at the point that matters most: the device.
JumpCloud’s open directory platform makes it easy to implement robust Conditional Access policies based on device posture. You can secure your users, harden your devices, and deliver secure, frictionless access from a single, unified platform.
