Why VPNs Are Dead: A Modern Approach to Secure Remote Access

VPNs are dead – and it's about time. For execs tired of ballooning costs and risk, tech leaders seeking true strategy, and sysadmins sick of whack-a-mole security, it's official: Secure Remote Access in 2025 doesn’t mean uncertain VPNs but confidently undiscoverable connectivity powered by modern SSE and Zero Knowledge Networking from Xiid. 

Photo by Guerrilla Buzz on Unsplash

Why VPNs Are Dead 

Traditional VPNs are a security liability. The more remote users, the bigger the blast radius: one compromised device can expose the whole network, thanks to open inbound ports and clunky authentication processes. VPNs also invite zero-day attacks and costly network engineering for public IP provisioning, keeping sysadmins busy while putting critical assets at risk. In 2025’s environment, attackers love VPNs - just Google the headline breaches.  

• Cost and risk: VPN infrastructure is expensive to maintain, impacts user productivity with slow speeds and frequent troubleshooting, and represents a major compliance headache.  

• Strategy fail: VPN replacements are priority #1 for CISOs and CIOs this year.  

• Practical headaches: Users hate entering passwords and jumping through authentication hoops. VPNs encourage insecure workarounds. 

The Modern Approach: SSE and Zero Knowledge Networking 

Secure Service Edge (SSE) and Xiid’s Zero Knowledge Networking (ZKN) obliterate VPN vulnerabilities by removing unnecessary trust, closing inbound ports, and making resources unreachable to attackers. With Xiid, all traffic is outbound-only and triple-encrypted (quantum-secure, if you want a little sci-fi in your compliance docs), so data in transit simply isn’t interceptable, even by Xiid.  

• No passwords to steal: Xiid’s credential-less, one-time-code authentication means nobody knows the password, not even users.  

• Attackers scan networks for open ports. Xiid enables you to close them all while keeping resources accessible for legitimate use, instantly shrinking attack surfaces while keeping every device and resource shielded from the internet. 

• Application-agnostic: SSH, RDP, web apps, cloud services; if it speaks IP, Xiid can seal, encrypt, and let users in without exposing the network.  

Cost & Risk 

Ditching VPN means slashing infrastructure costs and eliminating the biggest risk vector: “trusted” remote access. Xiid never stores customer identities, so there’s nothing to steal in a breach. Lower TCO, faster deployment. Most configurations finish in under an hour, no rip-and-replace, and no surprise security gaps. 

SSE Strategy 

SSE/SASE is the cornerstone of modern remote access. The Gartner reports are blunt: organizations are moving to vendor-consolidated, cloud-delivered security platforms that align with zero-trust architecture and support flexible, hybrid work. Xiid goes further by removing risky trust relationships and federation—no more asking, “Where’s my data actually stored? Who can see it?”.  

Practical Security 

Say hello to practical deployment. No more endless firewall configs, public IP headaches, or weeks of scheduled downtime. Xiid’s SealedTunnel is a drop-in, outbound-only overlay for existing infrastructure, closing all inbound traffic and wrapping resource access in secure, quantum-resistant encryption.  

• Zero trust, literally: Credential-less, portless, seamless. 

• Fast onboarding: Deploy to a handful of users, build comfort, then scale. 

• Extensive logging: Everything monitored, nothing exposed to unauthorized eyes.

The Path Forward: Secure and Efficient Remote Access

Moving away from legacy VPNs to modern SSE solutions can improve security. But more than that, it’s a strategic investment in efficiency and resilience, not to mention long-term operational integrity. Organizations adopting Zero Knowledge Networking and credential-less authentication are better equipped to protect sensitive assets, support hybrid workforces, and meet evolving compliance demands. By leveraging these technologies, enterprises set a foundation for secure digital transformation and future-proof their networks against emerging threats.