The IT industry has been using perimeter security to protect valuable resources like intellectual property and user data for a long time. Perimeter security entails using network-based tools like firewalls to inspect and validate all users who need access to a network or to use it. However, perimeter security is no longer enough in the age of hybrid cloud models and rapid digitization.

Changing Business Models and New Work Arrangements

Many businesses are changing their models as they digitize and try to offer customers new digital experiences. They are also using various strategies to enable a remote workforce. Businesses suddenly have tens to thousands of people connecting to the same IT infrastructure from devices outside the business’s control.

Data, resources, and users are also spread globally, providing additional challenges on how to connect and secure them all. Without the on-premises protection they would otherwise have, the devices connecting to this infrastructure are vulnerable and can put businesses at risk.

The need for secure connections and access has led to the need to develop ways to protect the architectures businesses use today. Zero trust has emerged as one of the best solutions, addressing the security needs occasioned by changing business models, business digitization, hybrid-cloud architectures, and the need to allow secure connections for remote workers.

What is Zero Trust, and How Does it Work?

The zero-trust architecture is a broad framework meant to protect an organization’s data. It operates on the principle that every connection and endpoint is a threat unless confirmed otherwise. It also uses context that uses least-privileged access controls and robust user authentication and does not assume trust like many models still do.

To ensure it works as expected, a zero-trust architecture must:

1. Limit and control all access across a network, both internally and externally.
2. Log and inspect all network traffic.
3. Verify and secure all network resources.

Since it assumes all connections and endpoints are insecure, all data and resources in a zero-trust architecture are inaccessible by default. Users only get access to these resources under the principle of least privilege access.

A zero-trust model must verify and authorize every connection. A common example of where this happens is when a user tries to connect their app or software to a data set using an API (Application Programming Interface). The model ensures that each connection or interaction meets the conditions and requirements set in the business’s security policies.

Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture

Implementing a zero-trust architecture requires connections between information gathered from each domain. All security teams in the business must agree on user priorities and access policies. They must then secure all connections, including from devices to applications, networks, and workloads, and from data to users.

Such an architectural implementation requires a well-thought-out strategy, an implementation roadmap, and an understanding of how integrating specific security tools helps the business achieve specific outcomes.

It also requires security experts with the right training. This means there is a high demand for people with the right skills. You can gain them by completing a Zero Trust Security course that teaches you everything you need to be an invaluable security asset to all types of businesses.

The Core Principles of The Zero Trust Model

The zero-trust model is about more than secure access, user identity, and segmentation. It is a strategy for building a secure cybersecurity ecosystem and follows three key principles.

The first one is terminating every connection. Perimeter security, including firewalls, uses a passthrough approach where they inspect files as they are delivered through a network. With this approach, the cybersecurity team is usually alerted of the malicious file once it has passed through the network and perhaps caused damage.

A zero-trust model, on the other hand, terminates all connections to allow a proxy to check all traffic, encrypted or not, in real time. Since the traffic is inspected before reaching the destination, such a model is much better at stopping malware, ransomware, and other malicious actions and processes.

The second principle is the protection of data using context-based policies. A zero trust architecture limits and grants access based on context that considers a user’s location, identity, role, device, the data they are requesting, and the application they are using.

These access policies can stop inappropriate access and movement through a secure environment to keep it secure. Also, user access privileges are reassessed continuously so they can change as user context does.

The last principle is reducing risk by eliminating all attack surfaces. A zero-trust model requires users to connect to the resources and apps they need and not networks.

Direct app-to-app and user-to-app connections remove the risk of lateral movement within a network. By doing so, they stop compromised or infected devices from infecting other devices, resources, and networks connected to them.

Additionally, these direct connections ensure apps and users cannot be attacked or discovered via the internet because they are invisible to it.

Use Cases of Zero Trust

Zero trust models and architectures are crucial for reducing business and organizational risk. These models prevent all services and applications from communicating with each other unless they are verified using immutable identity attributes and properties. These properties must meet set trust principles, such as proper authorization and authentication.

Zero trust uncovers everything on a network and how various assets are communicating. It can help cybersecurity experts terminate overprovisioned services and software, in addition to checking all their credentials all the time to ensure they remain safe.

Zero trust also allows organizations to have better control over containers and cloud environments. Loss of visibility and access management are serious concerns in cybersecurity. Both can happen when workload security is shared between organizations and cloud service providers.

Zero trust models apply security policies close to the workload, ensuring it is unaffected by constructs like protocols, ports, and IP addresses that would otherwise affect cloud infrastructures.

Cybersecurity threats cost businesses billions of dollars every year. They must, therefore, implement strategies to ensure that only authorized people, applications, and software have access to crucial data and resources. Zero trust architectures and models follow the principle of not trusting any network or endpoint, instead providing authorization to those that meet specific criteria. By doing so, they do a much better job of keeping malicious actors and software out than other models.

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• Source: Plato Data Intelligence.