Security threats are everywhere these days, and they’re only getting worse as more of our day-to-day activities move online. To counter this, some companies are adopting Zero Trust cybersecurity practices as part of their security strategy. But what exactly does it mean? And does it work? This guide will answer all your questions about Zero Trust in Cybersecurity so you can decide whether or not it’s the right fit for your company’s defense plan.
What Is Zero Trust?
The term Zero Trust is becoming increasingly popular in cybersecurity circles, but what does it mean? Simply put, Zero Trust is a trust-less security model. That means that instead of relying on centralized access control mechanisms or federated identity models, the system assumes that any user or device (e.g., from an IoT network) can be malicious and should be treated accordingly. This includes requiring authentication for every request and expecting data to be authenticated by the originator (e.g., via encryption).
What are the advantages of Zero Trust?
The primary advantage of Zero Trust is that it’s highly secure; even if your credentials are compromised, they’re useless if you don’t have access privileges on specific devices or services.
Benefits Of A Zero Trust Security Policy
Adopting a Zero Trust Security policy is one of the most important ways that organizations can protect their data. This model requires the complete removal of all trust, including even trust between departments and business partners. It’s more secure because it forces users to prove they have permission before accessing any information, which adds an extra layer of protection against hackers who may be attempting to steal data from your network. A Zero Trust Security Policy also eliminates single points of failure by decentralizing systems and authentication methods.
How Does It Work?
The Zero Trust model is predicated on the idea that no single entity or process can be trusted without verification. This includes the administrator, an endpoint’s security software, and any network hardware. To avoid unnecessary risk, Zero Trust networks only allow access to resources on a need-to-know basis. From an operational perspective, this means that any data or system access request must first be verified before it is granted. This requirement might sound like a hindrance at first but it actually has some significant benefits that make it worth considering for your next cybersecurity project. For example, Zero Trust networks are very easy to set up and administer because they are self-organizing and self-regulating.
Core Principles of Zero Trust
The four core principles of Zero Trust Security are as follows:
- Identify and authenticate devices and users with strong authentication (with the goal of making it not possible for unauthorized devices or users to access the system).
- Deploy data isolation, restricting information flows between networks, applications, and platforms.
- Monitor the entire environment with a security operations center that monitors all traffic in and out of your network perimeter, including virtual systems that may reside on the same physical hardware as your production systems.
- Make use of a layered defense model that employs an array of tools across many different categories so that you can be sure no single event will cause catastrophic failure for your organization.
Going Beyond The Basics
In the world of cyber security, a Zero Trust approach means that networks are not implicitly trusted. This differs from the traditional trust everybody model of security, which some companies still use.
The concept behind Zero Trust is that nobody should be fully trusted and there should be no reliance on a perimeter around the network to keep intruders out. Instead, all resources are hardened (made as resistant to attack as possible) and monitored for potential issues or malicious activity. The end result is a more secure environment than with traditional methods alone.
Best Practices for Implementing Zero Trust
At a high level, Zero Trust is an information security model designed to better protect the organization’s data by not granting any privileges automatically. This means that all actions are verified and authorized before they are executed.
At a more granular level, there are six principles of Zero Trust that can be implemented using security tools:
1) Identify users and devices with an Identity system.
2) Authorize access to applications, data, and network resources on demand.
3) Encrypt everything.
4) Secure everything from endpoint to endpoint.
5) Monitor everything.
6) Isolate risky functions or traffic for additional protection.
Challenges of Implementing Zero Trust Security Policies
- There is no such thing as 100% security – there will always be a vulnerability, but with zero trust you can minimize the risk.
- Employees need to be trained on the new policies and procedures so they don’t take shortcuts or assume what should happen. This takes time and resources.
- Zero trust may not work for all organizations, and even if it does it will require a significant transition period that could disrupt productivity for some employees.