Authentication of Subscriber Entities to Enterprise Networks

A method for controlling access of a subscriber entity to an application service of an enterprise network, the method being performed by a Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA) controller, the method comprising:

• obtaining an indication that the subscriber entity requests to access the application service of the enterprise network, wherein the indication is obtained via an access network to which the subscriber entity is operatively connected;
• providing a request for user information of the subscriber entity to a User Data Management (UDM) entity provided in a core network to which the access network is operatively connected, wherein the request for user information comprises an identifier of the subscriber entity;
• obtaining the user information of the subscriber entity from the UDM entity, wherein the user information indicates successful 3GPP credentials based authentication of the subscriber entity performed by the UDM entity;
• and
• granting access for the subscriber entity to the application service of the enterprise network only when a policy associated to the user information allows so.

A Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA) controller for controlling access of a subscriber entity to an application service of an enterprise network, the ZTNA controller comprising:

• processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry, whereby the ZTNA controller is configured to:
• obtain an indication that the subscriber entity requests to access the application service of the enterprise network, wherein the indication is obtained via an access network to which the subscriber entity is operatively connected;
• provide a request for user information of the subscriber entity to a User Data Management (UDM) entity provided in a core network to which the access network is operatively connected, wherein the request for user information comprises an identifier of the subscriber entity;
• obtain the user information of the subscriber entity from the UDM entity, wherein the user information indicates successful 3GPP credentials based authentication of the subscriber entity performed by the UDM entity;
• and
• grant access for the subscriber entity to the application service of the enterprise network only when a policy associated to the user information allows so.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program product for controlling a Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA) controller, the computer program product comprising software instructions that, when run on the ZTNA controller, causes the ZTNA controller to:

• obtain an indication that a subscriber entity requests to access an application service of a enterprise network, wherein the indication is obtained via an access network to which the subscriber entity is operatively connected;
• provide a request for user information of the subscriber entity to a User Data Management (UDM) entity provided in a core network to which the access network is operatively connected, wherein the request for user information comprises an identifier of the subscriber entity;
• obtain the user information of the subscriber entity from the UDM entity, wherein the user information indicates successful 3GPP credentials based authentication of the subscriber entity performed by the UDM entity;
• grant access for the subscriber entity to the application service of the enterprise network only when a policy associated to the user information allows so;
• and
• wherein the ZTNA controller controls access of the subscriber entity to the application service of the enterprise network.