The End of the VPN Era

Once the backbone of remote access, the Virtual Private Network (VPN) is now being treated more like a ticking time bomb. For decades, VPNs offered enterprises a way to connect remote workers to internal systems by tunneling through the internet. But in today’s AI-driven threat landscape, what was once a safeguard is now an open invitation.

According to the 2025 VPN Risk Report from Zscaler and Cybersecurity Insiders, 65% of enterprises plan to retire their VPNs within a year. And it’s not a vague ambition—81% of organizations are actively rolling out zero trust architectures to take their place. The shift is swift, strategic, and long overdue.

VPNs: A Highway to Exploits in the Age of AI

The most pressing vulnerability of VPNs is also the most obvious: they’re exposed to the internet. VPNs are built to be accessible to remote users—which also makes them accessible to threat actors. And with generative AI tools now at the fingertips of attackers, identifying unpatched VPN systems has never been easier.

Need to target a VPN? Just ask your favorite AI model to list current CVEs associated with a vendor like Fortinet, Cisco, or Palo Alto Networks. Combine that with a port scanner and a list of public IPs, and you’ve got a ready-made breach campaign.

This is no longer a theoretical concern. The report found:

• 56% of enterprises experienced a VPN-related breach in the last 12 months
• 92% are concerned that unpatched VPN flaws lead directly to ransomware attacks
• 93% worry about third-party VPN access creating exploitable backdoors

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) database reinforces this growing threat. Between 2020 and 2024, VPN-related CVEs increased by a staggering 82.5%, with 60% rated high or critical in severity. Remote code execution (RCE) vulnerabilities were the most common—giving attackers the ability to run arbitrary code and take over systems completely.

When attackers can launch ransomware campaigns or exfiltrate sensitive data before a patch is even available, the question is no longer if VPNs are a risk—it’s how much longer organizations can afford to use them.

Wait—Can’t Zero Trust Work with a VPN?

This is a question that comes up in nearly every boardroom and security strategy meeting: “Can’t we just layer zero trust on top of our existing VPN?”

Technically, yes. Strategically, it’s a stopgap at best.

VPNs are built on a perimeter-based model—once authenticated, a user often gains access to the broader network. Zero trust, on the other hand, assumes breach and enforces strict, context-aware access to specific applications or resources.

You can implement device checks, multi-factor authentication, and some level of access segmentation within a VPN. But at its core, the VPN still exposes a public gateway, still creates a broad attack surface, and still grants more access than is necessary.

It’s like trying to retrofit airbags and collision sensors onto a 1970s station wagon. Sure, you might make it marginally safer, but the underlying architecture wasn’t designed for today’s roads—or threats.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) offers a more modern solution by:

• Eliminating public exposure of internal apps
• Providing app-level access instead of network-wide access
• Continuously verifying identity, context, and device posture
• Reducing lateral movement within the environment

Bottom line: trying to shoehorn zero trust into a VPN infrastructure may give you the illusion of progress—but it won’t protect you from the modern threat landscape.

Users Hate VPNs—And IT Does Too

Security isn’t the only reason VPNs are falling out of favor. They’re also just… a bad user experience.

From dropped connections and authentication hiccups to performance bottlenecks that throttle productivity, VPNs are a constant source of frustration for remote employees. And IT teams are often stuck managing help desk tickets, troubleshooting latency, and juggling patch cycles for dozens—or even hundreds—of VPN endpoints.

The Zscaler report confirms it: user experience is now a top driver for VPN replacement. In contrast, zero trust architectures enable secure, direct-to-app connectivity, bypassing the hub-and-spoke model that VPNs rely on. This improves speed, reduces complexity, and ensures that remote access policies are consistently enforced.

With zero trust, users get fast, frictionless access to the tools they need, while IT maintains visibility, control, and security without babysitting infrastructure.

Zero Trust: No Longer a Buzzword

Zero trust is no longer some elusive north star. It’s here. It’s real. And it’s being implemented at scale.

• 96% of organizations now favor a zero trust security model
• 81% are actively rolling it out within the next 12 months
• 76% say improved security and compliance are the biggest benefits

Unlike VPNs, which grant access based on being on the “inside,” zero trust policies are rooted in identity, device security, geolocation, behavior, and risk context. Every access request is verified in real time—without assuming anything.

This means a contractor accessing a single cloud app from a personal laptop in a hotel lobby goes through the same rigorous checks as a full-time employee in the office. No shortcuts. No assumptions.

As more businesses embrace hybrid work, multi-cloud strategies, and third-party access, zero trust becomes not just a better option—but the only one that makes sense.

Wrapping Up

In cybersecurity, speed matters. So does clarity. And the message today couldn’t be clearer: VPNs are no longer a viable strategy.

They’re vulnerable. They’re visible. They’re slow. And in an era of AI-driven attacks, every second counts. Enterprises that continue to rely on VPNs are essentially gambling with outdated defenses—while adversaries bring automated precision and machine-speed exploits to the fight.

Zero trust isn’t a trend. It’s a transformation. And it’s happening now.