WHAT IS ZERO TRUST?

Zero Trust is a security framework that requires all users to be fully authenticated and continuously validated for security configuration to gain access to data whether they are inside or outside of the organization.

By eliminating inherent trust in a network setting, you are decreasing the possibility of an organization being breached, as the verification would be required at every aspect of network usage.

Unlike traditional perimeter-based security, it enables your business while adapting security architecture to support your employees, partners, customers, cloud environments and devices.

Follow the rule of Never trust and always verify.

The traditional approach to security is that you have your trusted users and endpoints within the organization’s perimeter and you have no reason to worry. We now see that this puts your organization at risk from malicious internal actors and fake credentials, allowing unauthorized and compromised accounts to move laterally through your network once inside. This is where the modern idea of ‘Never trust and always verify’ comes in.

In 2021, 42 percent of organizations have plans to adopt a zero trust strategy and are in the early phases of doing so.

To establish Zero Trust policies, you first need to identify:

• Where all your data currently resides
• What your current security protection is
• Who has access privileges for that data
• Who is accessing the data

Implementing Zero Trust is a journey

Zero Trust is becoming the security model of choice for many organizations but many do not know where to start when it comes to implementation.

Implementation is a gradual process. Work with existing security capabilities and migrate gradually to the model.

It is built upon your existing architecture and does not require you to rip and replace existing technology. There are no products specific to the model.

• Identify the protect surface
• Map the transaction flows
• Build the architecture
• Create policies
• Monitor and maintain constantly

Understand Access Needs

Decide who needs access to what in your organization. Remember to grant the least privilege possible.

Consider Your Culture

A company’s culture will dictate the efficacy of any security model. For it to work inside the organization – an educated workforce is key.