“Zero trust” is a buzzword that is bandied about a lot in the cybersecurity world. However, what exactly does it imply? In addition, why is the government requiring a zero-trust security model and architecture? What factors should businesses take into account to ensure their success?
Let us start by defining zero trust. What it is not, it is not a technology or product; Technique and model that necessitates a change in our approach to cybersecurity measures. The classic castle and moat strategy relied on a controlled environment in which users, applications, and data were all managed within a single corporate network.
Many people, programs, and data are now outside the traditional corporate border, thanks to the cloud, IoT, BYOD, and a mobile and remote workforce. As a result, businesses are realizing that they need to change their cybersecurity strategy to one that implicitly never trusts and always checks.
Many businesses are only now beginning to consider zero trust and determining what it means to them. What are the implications in terms of security and productivity? How do we go about putting this strategy into action? What are the tools we will need? How will we be able to finance this?
Let us start by agreeing on what zero trust is and is not. It is not a product or tool —a methodology and model that requires a shift in our approach to cybersecurity controls. Changing to a zero-trust approach does not necessitate a complete infrastructure replacement. It is more of a systematic process of updating the IT and security infrastructure. Organizations may identify high-value assets and data within the network using a zero-trust paradigm, and then safeguard this information beyond what old cybersecurity approaches allowed, regardless of where users, apps, or data are located.
This approach to enabling the company by automating procedures so that security measures are essentially transparent to users is maybe just as critical. Single sign-on (SSO), for example, allows a user to log in once and access all of their authorized business apps, reducing friction and improving the user experience.
