Security incidents and service disruptions are never simple. They are rarely the result of a single mistake, and they don’t only happen to organizations that “did something wrong.” In reality, many of the most capable, well-resourced companies experience them precisely because they operate at scale, under constant pressure, and within complex, interconnected environments.
A recently disclosed denial-of-service vulnerability affecting GlobalProtect VPN infrastructure is a useful reminder of this reality. It underscores a broader lesson the industry has learned over the past several years: remote access architectures that were once considered secure and reliable are now operating beyond the assumptions they were designed for.
This advisory is intended to help organizations understand what these events mean, why they are becoming more common, and what practical steps can reduce risk going forward.
Why incidents like this keep happening
Traditional VPN-based remote access was built for a very different world. At the time, the core assumptions made sense:
- Trust was largely perimeter-based
- Users and devices were relatively static
- Remote access was occasional, not continuous
- OT environments were often isolated or lightly connected
Today, those assumptions no longer hold.
Modern operations rely on:
- Persistent remote access for employees, contractors, and vendors
- Always-on connectivity to critical infrastructure
- Public-facing gateways that must withstand constant probing
- Complex identity relationships that extend well beyond the enterprise
In this context, vulnerabilities in VPN gateways or portals present security risks and reveals operational fragility. A single exposed service can become a choke point that affects availability, safety, and business continuity.
None of this reflects a lack of diligence. It reflects the reality that the threat model has changed faster than the architecture.
Availability is a security issue
One of the most important takeaways from recent events is that security is no longer just about preventing unauthorized access. It is also about ensuring that legitimate access remains available when it is needed most.
For operational environments in particular, a remote access outage can mean:
- Delayed response to incidents
- Loss of visibility into critical systems
- Inability for vendors or engineers to perform time-sensitive work
- Increased safety and compliance risk
When a single gateway or VPN service becomes a point of failure, attackers do not need to break in to cause damage. They simply need to knock it offline.
This is why modern guidance increasingly treats availability, resilience, and control as first-class security requirements, not secondary concerns.
The architectural shift underway
Across industries, organizations are gradually moving away from flat, network-level remote access toward models that are:
- Identity-driven rather than network-driven
- Brokered rather than directly connected
- Least-privilege by default
- Continuously monitored and auditable
This shift is not about replacing one tool with another. It is about aligning access controls with how systems are actually used today.
In OT and critical infrastructure environments, this evolution is especially important. Remote access must be:
- Explicitly authorized
- Scoped to specific assets and actions
- Time-bound and revocable
- Observable in real time, with full session accountability
Architectures designed around these principles significantly reduce the blast radius of both vulnerabilities and operational disruptions.
What organizations can do now
Incidents like this are a moment to pause and reassess, not to assign blame. Practical next steps include:
- Inventory remote access paths
Understand who can access what, from where, and through which mechanisms. Many organizations are surprised by how much access is unmanaged or undocumented. - Evaluate single points of failure
Identify gateways or services whose disruption would impact operations. Consider whether those components were designed to handle today’s threat environment. - Revisit access assumptions
Question whether network-level access is still appropriate for vendors, contractors, and even internal users in sensitive environments. - Plan for architectural evolution
Secure remote access is increasingly treated as a core governance and safety control, not just a connectivity tool. Aligning with zero trust principles is becoming the norm, not the exception.
A natural step forward
The reality is that even the best-run organizations are navigating this transition in real time. Legacy remote access technologies carried us a long way, but they were not built for the scale, exposure, and adversarial pressure we see today.
Moving toward more modern, identity-centric secure access models is not a reaction to a single vulnerability. It is a recognition that staying secure requires continuous adaptation.
As an industry, this is a natural evolution. One that prioritizes resilience, accountability, and operational safety alongside traditional security goals.
If recent events prompt a review of remote access strategy, that is not a failure. It is exactly how progress happens.
Published January 22, 2026.