What is zero trust?

Since users of mobile devices started connecting through unmanaged devices to company applications through the internet, there has been a growing need to execute zero trust security. If you can’t trust the network, device, or connection, zero trust will sound like an excellent idea. However, in the past few years, there’s been a confusion regarding the real meaning of the term.

The concept of zero trust came up in 2010 when John Kindervag of Forrester Research submitted a paper that made the concept of zero trust more popular. Kindervag talked about how the model of zero trust security is created around the idea that companies that must not inherently trust attempts to connect to a business application or system and should be verified before any granting any level user access.

The concept is pretty simple. Zero trust security assumes that all attempts are hostile. Although this may seem pretty obvious, the idea is antithetical to the model followed by corporate network security. Because back in the 1990s, firms have been creating a network architecture with a safe and secure perimeter through end-point based controls, depending on approved IP addresses, protocols, and ports to validate users, data, or/and applications which are then allowed to communicate within the network.

 

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On the other hand, a zero trust approach will treat all traffic, including the traffic within the perimeter, as hostile. Unless the workloads have been determined by certain attributes, a workload identity or fingerprint, they are blocked and untrusted from communicating.

One important aspect of zero trust is providing least privilege access, which means it gets rid of the excessive trust users get when inside a conventional network. With a zero trust security method, least privilege access isn’t just applied before providing access, but also to which connections, devices, or services – where and when, which significantly minimizes the attack surfaces, providing defenders a much narrower scope of focus.

Zero Trust Is Based On 4 Principles

• Least privilege access – all workloads, devices, and users are authenticated before providing access and regularly reauthenticated and authorized again based on the context.
• Microsegmentation – performed at the application level without the network segmentation.
• Network and applications stay invisible to the open internet.
• The internet will serve as the new transport network through encrypted microtunnels.

Why Should You Adopt A Zero Trust Security Model?

Reduce organizational and business risk

All services and applications are considered as malicious and are not allowed from communicating until their identities have been proven.

Provide access control over the cloud and the container environments

Network security policies of zero trust are based on the identity of the communicating workloads and then are tied right away to the workload itself. Through this, security will remain as close as it can be to the assets that need protection and isn’t impacted by the network constructs like protocols, ports, and IP addresses. Because of that, protection will travel with the workload where it will try to communicate but stays unchanged even when there are changes in the environment.

Reduces Risk of Data Breach

Zero trust security will reduce the risk of data breach because it will always verify, therefore unverified workloads are prevented from communicating anywhere on the company’s system, to and from the command and control, as well as between hosts, applications, data, and users.

 

Call SpartanTec, Inc. now if you would like to know more about zero trust security and how it could help protect your business.

 

SpartanTec, Inc.
Charleston, SC 29407
843-418-4792
https://manageditservicescharleston.com/

Serving: Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Florence