PSN Gateway

A seamless, straightforward and secure solution
Building on our Zero Trust model

✓Secure ✓Cloud Based ✓Full access to existing systems
✓Fast Deployment ✓Single Sign On ✓PSN accredited

Accessing legacy PSN Services

Visionist’s PSN Gateway enables you to cease expensive PSN connections and access your legacy applications via the internet.

The service enables departments to migrate to a completely cloud-based service for your line of business applications, whilst securely reaching back to your legacy PSN applications.

The service utilises a zero trust model which is aligned with the National Cyber Security Centre’s Design Principles and latest guidance, integrating with your directory services for seamless Single Sign On. The service is PSN accredited and provides access to all applications hosted within the PSN (PSN-Assured and PSN-Protect).

The service also enables access to PSN-hosted applications from mobile devices, delivering new capability for field-based users which was previously impossible with traditional PSN connectivity.

Visionist’s architecture delivers a comprehensive, secure service which provides the fastest route between the user and the PSN application or service.

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Why is the PSN Gateway necessary?

The Public Services Network (PSN) is a government-backed, high-performance, interconnected network for public sector organisations. It is a core network delivered by Service Providers with smaller suppliers and departments hosting and providing services or applications over it. The original concept was for it to be a ‘network of networks’.

In 2013 the Government decided on a ‘Cloud First’ policy to enable the public sector to utilise the public cloud and reduce expenditure. This has been critical to government transformation, helping departments build modern services and achieve significant efficiencies over their previous arrangements.

At the same time, the Government Digital Service (GDS) officially declared that the PSN was adding unnecessary complications to providing digital services. One major concern being that the Government has a high expenditure for PSN connections via 3rd parties, eroding budgets and causing high latency issues and poor user experience.

As a result, the public sector is now on a ‘journey away from the PSN’ and toward ‘cloud first’ in order to save on costs and optimise efficiency.

✓Seamless
✓Straightforward
✓Secure

Where Does Our PSN Gateway Fit In?

Benefits of Visionist’s PSN Gateway

The Importance of ‘Zero Trust’

Zero trust is an holistic approach to network security and requires a strict identity verification for every person and device trying to access resources on a private network, regardless of whether they are sitting within or outside of the network perimeter.

The National Cyber Security Centre has introduced 10 Zero trust architecture design principles, which our service is aligned with and is paving the way for future networks for government.

“In a zero trust architecture, inherent trust is removed from the network. Just because you’re connected to a network doesn’t mean you should be able to access everything on that network. This is commonly seen in breaches; an attacker gains a foothold in a network and is able to move laterally because everything on the network is trusted. In a zero trust architecture, the network is treated as hostile,” says the NCSC.

The Visionist PSN Gateway ensures every application connection is encrypted in separate ‘micro tunnels’, ensuring security between sessions, users, devices and network boundaries, thus enabling you to use the internet as your Wide Area Network and save on expensive MPLS network circuits.

Zero trust in a Cloud-First world is based on these four key principles:

✓Application access should be adaptive, contextual, and independent of network access

✓Microsegmentation should occur at the application level without network segmentation

✓Applications and network must be invisible to the open internet

✓The internet becomes the new corporate network via encrypted microtunnels

The National Cyber Security Centre

The United Kingdom has never been more connected than it is right now, with innovation allowing for the implementation of world-class digital services. With the internet becoming one of the most critical aspects of our modern lives, the security of the platform is of paramount importance, as cyber attacks are a very real threat to national security.

The UK Government’s response was to invest in the creation of the National Cyber Security Centre to lead the defence of the UK against these threats. The NCSC’s vision is to make the UK the safest place in the world to live and do business online.

By aligning to the NCSC’s Design Principles, as well as the ISO/IEC 27001, Visionist’s PSN Gateway adheres to the highest level of security protocols.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/blog-post/zero-trust-architecture-design-principles

How does Visionist’s PSN Gateway work?

The Public Services Network helped public sector organisations work together securely for years, but now the world has moved on. Threats to users have changed and the PSN has been left behind. Now that the internet is considered ‘ok’ by the Government, companies need all the benefits of cloud-based systems without the headache of having to fix their PSN setups.

Visionist’s PSN Gateway lets you reach back into the cloud from your PSN, so that you can run out your contract while migrating your old applications to cloud alternatives. This saves you money and allows you to make the most of your existing contracts, while ending your expensive PSN line rental.

It’s a seamless experience for your users with no break in service and employing all of the familiar methods of working. With less disruption, you have the time you need to transition at your own pace. Your whole organisation will benefit from a highly available, fault tolerant network and simplified architecture.

With the PSN Gateway, each user request to a service is authenticated, authorised and encrypted, in alignment with the National Cyber Security Centre’s Design Principles. You will also be aligned with the government’s Cloud-First policy and the Future Networks for Government programme.

Most importantly, the Gateway is secure and PSN compliant. The latter is an incredibly important aspect of the PSN Gateway, as it provides accredited:

✓confidence in the Gateway’s ability to deliver problem-free services

✓assurance that data is protected

✓assurance that if anything happens to go amiss, Visionist has the capability to resolve it in a timely fashion

Visionist’s PSN Gateway is also accredited by the security standard ISO/IEC 27001, which proves that Visionist:

systematically examines our security risks, taking account of any threats, vulnerabilities and the impact thereof
designs and implements coherent and comprehensive information security controls and risk treatment measures
has adopted an overarching management process to regularly ensure that these information security controls continue to meet the needs of Visionist

Benefits to your business

✓Cuts your costs

✓Simplifies your architecture

✓Lets you run out your contract

✓No interruptions of service

✓Allows you to fully embrace flexible working

✓Meets PSN compliance

✓Moves you to “internet is ok” and new Government standards

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