Securing company networks became a little bit easier with the emergence of the Zero Trust model. That’s why we keep hearing about this great verification approach and security system. But as we have a mountain of information, it is very easy to misunderstand the concept and have the wrong idea about it.
Before taking the next step on Zero Trust adoption, we first need to correctly define it. We got you covered with this article explaining what Zero Trust is and what it isn’t. Keep reading to learn more about customer experience.
What is Zero Trust?
The term Zero Trust was first introduced by John Kindervag in 2010 as he mentioned that organizations cannot trust anything either inside or outside of their network. It is a holistic security approach that eliminates implicit trust in private networks. Let’s see more in detail.
1-) The very core of Zero Trust
The first and the most important thing for the Zero Trust model is the motto “trust none, verify all.” This means that end-users and applications either within or outside the private network can be a threat to network security and integrity.
As a Zero Trust architecture trusts none, it needs constant and continuous verification, meaning that it acts as if there is always a security threat and is always ready for one.
2-) Verification before every access
The tools companies use, the systems team members access, and the endpoints are increasing in number every day. Employees request access from their personal devices at airports or coffee shops. These make repetitious identity verification a must.
Verifying and authenticating the user before every action is one of the principles that Zero Trust mandates. A Zero Trust security system constantly monitors users’ access permissions to make sure they are actually validated to access.
3-) Increasing visibility on networks
Zero Trust solutions are great to increase visibility on private networks. If your current security model doesn’t have granular security features such as network segmentation, you’ll have problems with monitoring your database.
But luckily, Zero Trust can be used to operate network segmentation so you can specify access permission levels for your employees. Let’s say there are more sensitive data on one of the applications you use. You can easily decide who can actually see them and monitor the access processes.
This would increase your visibility as it allows you to see everything that happens in your network. At the end of the day, making sure not everyone accesses everything is a crucial part of network security.
4-) Improving cloud security
Today’s modern businesses rely heavily on SaaS applications and cloud computing in general. Protecting these environments is a significant problem since they are not within the traditional perimeter.
Using Zero Trust for cloud security can help you with improving the protection level since this security model doesn’t rely on hardware. They are perfectly applicable to cloud environments and they can assure secure access remotely to the cloud by verifying the identities of the users.
Zero Trust is not…
In addition to great explanations about this wonderful security model, there are also unfortunate misconceptions. So let’s see what Zero Trust is actually not.
1-) Zero Trust is not a product, but a model.
Since this security model is usually offered by service providers, people may think that this is an actual product you can just go ahead and grab one. But in fact, Zero Trust is not a product but a security model that combines access control and identity management policies to implement a Zero Trust environment.
2-) Zero Trust is not exclusively for larger organizations.
Some people believe that Zero Trust architectures are only for larger organizations with incredibly diverse network environments.
However, when you compare this security model with traditional ones that require hardware and constant maintenance, Zero Trust is definitely small-business friendly. You can gradually implement this model as you get bigger, but there is no doubt that Zero Trust is also great for small to mid-size businesses.
3-) Zero Trust is not difficult to implement.
There is a misconception about Zero Trust implementation that argues it is hard to do. While this may be somewhat true in the first years of its debut, it is definitely wrong now. There are hundreds of reliable vendors that provide assistance and service for Zero Trust. Its implementation is just as easy as contacting one of them and leaving the rest to them.
Conclusion
The Zero Trust security model helps businesses overcome security challenges, especially when these businesses have a diverse network full of sensitive data. This model basically believes that nothing inside of a private network can be considered “trusted” and they need constant monitoring and verification in order to continue their operations.
As much as this security model made a name for itself in the cybersecurity sector, there are still misconceptions flying around the internet. So you want to make sure to learn about what is Zero Trust and what actually is not Zero Trust. We highly suggest not to take a step further or backward in Zero Trust adoption before understanding these points.
