Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Delivers Strong Threat Protection in NSS Labs New, More Rigorous SSE Test

NSS Labs published results from a Security Service Edge threat protection evaluation of Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange (ZTE). The test reported an overall Security Effectiveness score of 98.85%, with a false positive accuracy of 99.63%.

Officials said the assessment used an early preview of an updated SSE Threat Protection Methodology (v3.0), described as more demanding than prior SSE tests. NSS Labs also said its approach used adversarial testing, with vendors not receiving the specific attacks, tactics, or techniques in advance.

NSS Labs described methodology changes in v3.0, shifting SSE testing from tunnel-based to agent-based methods and adding latency testing. The evaluation produced category results that included an exploit block rate of 99.05%, a malware block rate of 98.65%, and 100.00% resistance to exploit evasion techniques. It also reported 100.00% block rates for handcrafted malware and 100.00% malware evasion resistance.

The company said the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange (version 6.2r.2604.0.0_prod.54.f985a37bc_114) was tested using a recommended or default configuration, consistent with “Secure-by-Default” principles. Vikram Phatak, CEO of NSS Labs, said, “The only way to know whether an SSE offering works is to test it, and our updated methodology raises the bar on resisting evasions,” said Vikram Phatak, CEO of NSS Labs. “Zscaler’s strong results should give enterprises real confidence in the platform.” NSS Labs said it planned to publish additional SSE vendor evaluations under the v3.0 methodology over the next few months.