What is Zero Trust?
Zero Trust is an IT security model based on the idea of “trust no one, verify everyone”, recognizing that potential threats can emerge from sources both within and beyond the network boundaries. This security model removes implicit trust and mandates a constant verification process by actively gathering real-time data from various sources. In essence, Zero Trust ensures that while users have necessary access, their permissions are limited strictly to what is essential, minimizing potential vulnerabilities and risks.
Why is Zero Trust Important?
The Zero Trust security model was derived as a solution to the continual advancements in technology and the unique threats that come with it. In a cloud-first, remote working world, this framework has proved to be increasingly important. With more data and more people operating beyond the traditional network perimeter than ever before, it is critical to verify the authenticity of users to prevent a costly data breach. Zero Trust abandons the outdated method of “trust but verify”, which automatically trusted users and endpoints within an organization’s perimeter. Instead, Zero Trust requires continual monitoring and verification that a user and their device has proper authorization. This constant verification is crucial because threats and user attributes are always subject to change, and a one-time verification will no longer adequately protect against today’s advanced cybersecurity attacks.
How Does Zero Trust Work?
Zero Trust works by employing a range of technologies to continuously monitor and authenticate users and devices. It ensures that users are granted access only to the necessary resources and verifies the authenticity of users attempting to access corporate data. Instead of a one-time validation, it advocates for continuous authentication of access requests.
This model relies on organizations having a broad understanding of their services and users in order to effectively monitor and capture any suspicious activity, and approve or deny them in real-time. Indications of suspicious activity include logging in from an unknown location or from an unknown device, and with Zero Trust malicious activity is quickly identified and removed from the system.
What are the Main Principles Behind Zero Trust?
Zero Trust automatically assumes that there are attackers both within your network and outside of your network, so continuous monitoring and validation of user activity is one of the largest principles behind the security model. Another principle is least-privilege access, which only permits users with the necessary access they need within the network. This involves attentive management of user permissions, but if managed correctly, it will largely minimize unnecessary exposure to sensitive parts of the network.
Along with continuous monitoring and least-privilege access, Zero Trust relies heavily on device access controls and multi-factor authentication. Just as individual user’s are continuously monitored and authenticated, the devices being used need the same amount of controls. This is what is known as device access control. Zero Trust systems are monitoring the quantity of devices trying to access the network, whether or not every device is authorized, and continually assessing the devices to ensure that none of them have been compromised. Zero Trust networks also utilize Multi-factor authentication. MFA requires more than one piece of evidence to authenticate a user onto a network. For example, just because a user has entered the correct password, does not mean they are automatically admitted into the network, as they need an additional piece of information to authenticate them. This has become standard practice for a lot of security systems, but it is just one of the many principles of Zero Trust.
