What is Cisco AnyConnect?

Understanding Cisco AnyConnect

Cisco AnyConnect (now Cisco Secure Client) is an enterprise endpoint software agent that establishes a secure, encrypted VPN tunnel between a remote user's device and the corporate network. It supports SSL/TLS and IKEv2/IPsec tunneling and provides confidentiality, integrity, and authentication for traffic crossing untrusted networks such as the public internet.

The client connects to a VPN headend, typically a Cisco ASA firewall or Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) appliance, and authenticates the user via credentials, certificates, or multi-factor authentication. Once authenticated, it builds an encrypted tunnel and applies group policies that govern split-tunneling, routing, and access. Beyond basic VPN, AnyConnect is modular: it can run a posture-assessment module (working with Cisco ISE) to verify endpoint health, plus web security, network visibility, and roaming protection modules.

This matters because remote and hybrid work move sensitive traffic outside the protected perimeter. Without an encrypted, authenticated tunnel, credentials and data are exposed to interception on hostile Wi-Fi and shared networks. Posture checks reduce risk by blocking or quarantining non-compliant devices, for example those missing antivirus or current patches, before they reach internal resources, supporting a zero-trust access model.

For example, an employee working from a coffee shop launches Secure Client, authenticates with their username, password, and a push approval on their phone. AnyConnect runs a posture scan confirming disk encryption and an updated endpoint agent are present, then negotiates an IKEv2/IPsec tunnel to the company's firewall. The employee now reaches internal file shares and applications as if on the office LAN, with all traffic encrypted and a non-compliant device automatically denied full access.