As cybersecurity threats become more pervasive and sophisticated, securing an organization’s digital landscape proves to be highly challenging. So, the traditional “castle-and-moat" security approach is no longer sufficient to defend their digital assets against cyber threats.
Organizations need a more stringent security model to mitigate cybersecurity risks and prevent expensive data breaches costing USD 4.88 million on average in 2024. Luckily, Zero Trust Architecture has come up as a solution. It offers a new perspective to look at security.
This article explores extensive information about Zero Trust Architecture and the role it plays in securing an organization’s digital assets. Let’s start without further ado!
An Overview of Zero Trust Architecture
Well, Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) sounds like a highly technical term, but think of it as a network security paradigm that focuses on stringent identity verification. So, it is an IT security strategy based on the “never trust, always verify” principle.
Now, you may wonder what the “never trust, always verify” principle means. In a nutshell, this principle states that any entity trying to access an organization’s data, network, or other digital assets must be authenticated and authorized regardless of its origin (internal or external).
Traditionally, IT security was assumed to protect against external threat vectors. So, organizations adopted a security approach that aimed to prevent entities from outside of their private networks. Hence, any entity inside the network periphery was implicitly trusted.
However, this approach has a critical loophole because once an intruder gains access to the private network of an organization, it could result in devastating consequences. With implicit access to the network, the intruder can steal data and disrupt operations.
For example, a successful endpoint attack can help an intruder bypass an organization’s security shield and enter its network. With the rising work-from-home culture, the use of endpoint devices has become commonplace which connect to an organization’s network.
Vulnerabilities in endpoint devices can enable an intruder to traverse the network. Besides, modern organizations rely on distributed networks that transcend their on-premises infrastructure with IoT, cloud, mobile services, and more.
Hence, organizations are more susceptible to cybersecurity risks and traditional security postures are insufficient to overcome these challenges. Zero Trust Architecture eliminates implicit trust and emphasizes verifying every user, device, and person before granting access to a resource on a network.
Understanding the Key Advantages of Zero Trust Architecture
Zero Trust Architecture offers a robust security model to protect an organization’s digital assets from cybersecurity risks. There are many benefits of Zero Trust Architecture, as shown below.
- ZTA is suitable for modern IT environments because it comprises a wider network of different users, devices, the cloud, and more.
- It helps reduce the attack surface of an organization by minimizing the potential entry points.
- Its concepts, like microsegmentation, help minimize damage by limiting the attack to a specific area. It also reduces the recovery cost.
- ZTA also minimizes the impact of phishing and credential theft with multiple authentication requirements.
- It effectively mitigates the risks posed by compromised/vulnerable devices.
Zero Trust Architecture Implementation Method
Adopting a zero-trust policy is the steppingstone in implementing Zero Trust Architecture. Well, it means that every request or traffic is assumed to be hostile, and access to a resource is granted only when the source is authenticated, authorized, and verified.
Additionally, proper implementation of ZTA requires planning to identify vulnerable points and improving security with encryption, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and stronger access controls. Further, the adoption of ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) technology is also important.
A comprehensive ZTA model encompasses the following aspects.
- Infrastructure: Organizations must adhere to the zero-trust policy to handle everything related to their IT infrastructure – the cloud, IoT, router, etc.
- Users: Ensure a stronger authentication policy for users, follow the principle of least privilege, and employ device integrity checks.
- Applications: Eliminate implicit trust in applications and ensure continuous monitoring at runtime to assess their behaviors.
Essential Principles for Zero Trust Architecture
ZTA protects an organization from cybersecurity threats and minimizes the potential risk by preventing unverified access to resources. There are some important principles that Zero Trust Architecture works to ensure a stronger security posture.
- Continuous Validation: A zero trust security model trusts no one, whether inside or outside of an organization’s network. Hence, user identity and privileges are verified and reverified continuously.
- Strict Access Control for Devices: Not only users, ZTA also emphasizes strict access controls on devices. It verifies the identity and security of devices before allowing access to resources.
- Least Privilege: It ensures the least possible privileges for users to access any resource. As a result, it prevents privilege escalation attacks.
- Microsegmentation: Security perimeters are divided into zones. These zones protect data with separate access controls. Hence, a user with access to one zone cannot access other zones until authorized.
- Prevent Lateral Movement: Zero Trust Architecture can effectively prevent an intruder’s lateral movement in a network. With segmented access, an intruder has to authenticate at different zones, preventing further movement in the network.
- Multi-Factor Authentication: MFA adds one more step to the user authentication process besides entering a password. For instance, 2-factor authentication allows users to authenticate only when they provide a code sent to mobile or email.
The Bottom Line
To summarize, traditionally, organizations followed a “castle-and-moat” approach that trusts everyone and every device by default within a network. So, perimeter security was a primary focus in this approach. However, it lacks robust security due to the fact that it trusts entities inside a network implicitly and focuses on threats outside the network.
Zero Trust Architecture offers a comprehensive security shield by assuming threats both inside and outside and requiring authentication for every instance of interaction between users, devices, and applications. Consequently, it eliminates the possibility of a potential cyberattack.
