🛡️ What is Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange?

5 min readJan 27, 2025

When you think about the internet, you probably think about things like Amazon or maybe rideshare apps. But for organizations, the internet means something bigger. It’s about enterprise applications — things like Office 365, Salesforce, or any of the hundreds of SaaS applications businesses rely on every day. And the challenge isn’t just connecting to them. It’s doing it securely, without introducing risk.

This is where the Zero Trust Exchange comes in. It’s not just a tool; it’s a platform that changes how you connect to the things you need. Whether your apps live in the public cloud (think AWS, Azure, GCP), the data center, or somewhere else entirely, the Zero Trust Exchange makes sure users get to them quickly and securely — no matter where they are.

Why Zero Trust Matters

Users aren’t tied to offices anymore. They’re at home, in coffee shops, or traveling the globe. And even when they are in the office, the devices they use aren’t always traditional ones. You’ve got operational technology (OT) devices in factories and other non-standard endpoints.

So how do you secure access across all these variables? That’s what the Zero Trust Exchange solves.

At its core, Zero Trust is about verifying everything. Every user, every device, every connection. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange does this at scale — 250 billion transactions per day, with over 40 million users. That’s not a marketing stat; it’s the reality of the world’s largest security cloud. And it’s fast. With 150 points of presence worldwide, latency isn’t an issue.

How It Works

The process is simple, but effective:

Verify: Who are you? What device are you on? Where are you trying to go?
Evaluate Risk: Are you behaving in a way that matches what we expect?
Enforce Policy: Instead of just allowing or blocking traffic, you can take nuanced actions — like isolating risky behavior or deceiving attackers.

This approach means every transaction is secure. Whether you’re accessing the internet, SaaS apps, or internal applications, everything gets inspected, decrypted, and validated. For internal apps, it also removes the attack surface. No exposed ports or inbound ACL rules. Everything is inside-out.

Visibility and Experience

Here’s something people worry about: if all your traffic routes through a security cloud, doesn’t that make troubleshooting impossible? The answer is no. With Zero Trust Exchange, visibility is built in. You can trace every packet’s journey — through the cloud, the last mile, and even internal systems.

And because user experience is a priority, performance doesn’t suffer. The system is designed to work so seamlessly that users don’t even notice it’s there.

Segmentation

One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is giving too much access. When users or devices can interact freely with things they shouldn’t, it’s an open door for attackers.

The solution? Segmentation.

User-to-Application Segmentation: Users only access the apps they need, not the entire network.
Application-to-Application Segmentation: Apps only talk to each other when necessary.

This locks things down in a meaningful way. OT devices can’t interact with sensitive systems. Users don’t get free rein over the network. It’s not just more secure — it’s smarter.

Why It Matters

The Zero Trust Exchange isn’t just another security solution. It’s a radical shift in how we think about securing access in a world where applications and users are everywhere. By verifying every transaction, evaluating risk, and enforcing granular policies, it provides peace of mind in an increasingly complex environment.

Final Thought

Security doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to be effective. The Zero Trust Exchange gives you a way to secure everything — apps, users, and devices — without sacrificing performance or visibility.

FAQ on the Zero Trust Exchange

What is the Zero Trust Exchange, and what makes it significant? The Zero Trust Exchange is a large-scale security cloud infrastructure designed to secure access to various applications regardless of their location (SaaS, public cloud, data center). It processes a massive volume of transactions and user activity daily, making it a robust platform for organizations of all sizes to adopt a Zero Trust security model. It’s significant because it centralizes security, verifies all traffic, and provides granular control over access.
Where do applications secured by the Zero Trust Exchange typically reside? Applications secured by the Zero Trust Exchange can reside in various locations. This includes SaaS applications like Office 365 or Salesforce, public cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, and GCP, as well as traditional data centers. The Zero Trust Exchange can securely steer users to these applications no matter their location, and also manages OT based workloads.
How does the Zero Trust Exchange verify and evaluate traffic? The Zero Trust Exchange operates by first verifying the identity of the incoming traffic, whether it’s from users or workloads. It then evaluates risk by determining who the user or workload is, their location, and what actions they are attempting to perform. This verification and evaluation process is crucial for determining the appropriate security policies to enforce, ensuring that access is controlled and potential threats are managed effectively.
What are the different actions the Zero Trust Exchange can take regarding traffic, and how does this differ from traditional methods? Unlike traditional security methods that primarily allow or block traffic, the Zero Trust Exchange offers five actions: allow, block, warn the user, isolate, and deceive. This allows for a more nuanced approach to security, offering different levels of response based on the risk and context of the traffic. The ability to warn, isolate, or deceive offers advanced security that traditional block/allow methods lack.
How does the Zero Trust Exchange handle traffic encryption and internal applications? The Zero Trust Exchange decrypts all SSL/TLS traffic, which provides visibility and ensures that security measures can be applied to the contents of the traffic. For internal applications in the data center or public cloud, the Exchange uses an “inside-out” approach to eliminate attack surface. Instead of opening inbound access, the application is configured to reach out to the Zscaler cloud, providing a more secure connection method.
Beyond inline security, what other protections does the Zero Trust Exchange offer? The Zero Trust Exchange offers out-of-band protection through API-based integrations with SaaS applications and public clouds. This allows for capabilities like sandboxing and advanced data protection and further reinforces security around protected assets. This multi-layered approach provides a more complete security stance.
How does the Zero Trust Exchange address user experience and troubleshooting concerns? User experience is a high priority for the Zero Trust Exchange. It provides comprehensive visibility into every packet path from the user’s endpoint to the destination application, aiding in effective troubleshooting. This visibility allows for monitoring the entire journey of the traffic ensuring smooth operations.
What is segmentation within the context of the Zero Trust Exchange, and why is it important? Segmentation with the Zero Trust Exchange involves limiting access to applications by creating user-to-application and application-to-application segments. This prevents users or OT devices from having excessive access across the network. Segmentation is important to limit an attack’s impact by preventing lateral movement. This method of security is a crucial tenet of the Zero Trust model.