// THREAT DETECTION AND DATA PRIVACY TERM
Bastion Host
A Bastion Host is a specialized server that sits on the edge of a network, designed to be highly secure and act as a controlled gateway for administrative access to internal, more sensitive systems. It's often the only system exposed to the internet from which administrators can connect to other network devices.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
A Bastion Host is a hardened, purpose-built server strategically placed on a network's perimeter, typically within a demilitarized zone (DMZ), serving as a controlled gateway for remote administrative access to internal, more sensitive network segments and resources, thereby minimizing the attack surface and enforcing strict security policies for management connections.
BACKGROUND
In computer security, a DMZ or demilitarized zone is a physical or logical subnetwork that contains and exposes an organization's external-facing services to an untrusted, usually larger, network such as the Internet. The purpose of a DMZ is to add an additional layer of security to an organization's local area network (LAN): an external network node can access only what is exposed in the DMZ, while the rest of the organization's network is protected behind a firewall. The DMZ functions as a small, isolated network positioned between the Internet and the private network.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- Jump box
- Jump server
- Proxy host
- Guard host
- Hardened server
USAGE NOTE
Bastion hosts are crucial for secure remote administration in modern network architectures, but their own security posture must be rigorously maintained as they are high-value targets.
DEVELOPERS
Organizations developing technology related to Bastion Host.
Provides cloud infrastructure and services, including managed services (like Systems Manager Session Manager) and virtual machines (EC2) that users can configure as bastion hosts for secure remote access to their cloud resources.
Offers the Azure Bastion service, a fully platform-managed PaaS that provides secure and seamless RDP/SSH connectivity to your virtual machines directly through the Azure portal over SSL, eliminating the need for traditional bastion hosts.
Provides Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) for secure access to VMs without exposing them to the public internet, which can serve a similar function to a bastion host, alongside traditional VM-based bastion host deployments using Compute Engine.
A leader in Privileged Access Management (PAM), CyberArk's solutions often integrate with or provide secure jump server capabilities, acting as a controlled gateway for privileged users to access sensitive systems, enhancing the security posture of traditional bastion hosts.
Offers a Universal Privileged Access Management platform, including secure remote access solutions that enable organizations to control, manage, and audit all privileged access to critical systems, effectively serving as an advanced bastion host.
Develops next-generation firewalls and cloud security solutions that can be deployed to secure perimeters and act as highly hardened gateways or bastion hosts, controlling traffic and providing advanced threat prevention for remote access.
Provides a broad portfolio of cybersecurity solutions, including FortiGate firewalls that can be configured as secure entry points or bastion hosts to protect internal networks and applications from external threats while controlling remote access.
Offers open-source and commercial access plane solutions that provide secure, auditable access to infrastructure (servers, Kubernetes, databases) across any environment, often replacing traditional SSH bastion hosts with a more robust, identity-aware gateway.
With products like Boundary, HashiCorp provides secure remote access for users to dynamically connect to hosts and services, abstracting away network details and often eliminating the need for traditional SSH bastion hosts by providing a secure, identity-based proxy.