Is ZTNA considered Split tunnelling

We are looking at moving to a zero trust setup. Would this be seen as a split tunnel connection? I would think if the US Gov is mandating zero trust, it would be approved.

ZTNA and split tunneling are different things. ZTNA focuses on verifying everyone and everything trying to access your network, no matter where they are; it’s a framework and type of approach to implementing solutions. Split tunneling is about sending some internet traffic through a VPN and some directly to the internet; it is a technology solution.

In a zero trust setup, you might use split tunneling, but it’s not the same as ZTNA.

Based on your question, you need to get someone with more experience involved.

Check out this whitepaper: https://defcert.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CMMC-and-Split-Tunnels_Feb2022.pdf

This. When achieving ZTNA you will implement microsegmentation and least privilege with E2EE application flows, per app… this means you are inherently split tunnel, but split tunnel does not implement ZTNA. Personally I would not use a VPN split tunnel to achieve ZTNA as VPNs have too much inherent network trust as well as being open by default. Start from the other side, closed by default. If you are interested, I wrote a blog comparing ZTN using Harry Potter analogies - https://netfoundry.io/demystifying-the-magic-of-zero-trust-with-my-daughter-and-opensource/