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Before the pandemic lockdowns, less than 8% of the workforce worked from home. Now, that number is over 40%. This presents a problem for a company’s cybersecurity solution. With larger numbers of employees logging in remotely through the company’s virtual private network, larger numbers of attack surfaces are opened up for cybersecurity threats. The Zero Trust Security Model aims to close those security holes.
What Is Zero Trust?
In a typical security setting, such as a basic virtual private network, the user signs in once and is then considered inside the firewall. From there, they are trusted to do whatever their account has been granted access to. Zero trust security models treat every interaction as though they are untrusted. The model allows trust to be granted based on factors such as the user role, access device, location, and desired endpoint.
Who Is Zero Trust For?
A zero-trust security model is for anyone who wants to provide greater cybersecurity protection to their system. Typically, the architecture is used by entities that have a large number of users logging in to systems that work with sensitive information. In the era of remote work, keeping everyone physically behind the same firewall is no longer practical, necessitating stronger cybersecurity strategies.
Based on the realization that not everything within an organization’s network can be trusted, the zero-trust security model relies on the mantra, “never trust, always verify.”
How Does The Zero Trust Security Model Work?
The zero-trust security model is built around newer technologies, such as multi-factor authentication, identity protection, and more to ensure that the user that’s being granted access to a resource has permission to do so. Because every transaction must be thoroughly vetted, a zero-trust system often relies on real-time data about the access attempt. The data can include
- User identity
- Geographic location
- Operating system and version
- Security protocol of endpoint
- Device type and firmware version
- Behavior pattern analysis
- and more
The system evaluates any of these variables necessary each time a transaction with the network is requested, significantly increasing the difficulty of a cybersecurity threat getting access to sensitive resources.
What Areas Of A Network Are Secured?
The entire premise of zero-trust is that every access point of the network is secured. When fully implemented, a zero-trust model will provide enhanced cybersecurity for all aspects of your network. Some of the areas covered and how zero-trust helps secure them are discussed below:
- Identification – Using strong authentication features, including multi-factor authentication, you can ensure that the users logging in with a set of credentials are who they say they are.
- Access Points – Each endpoint can use any of the visibility tools discussed above to verify the usage rights of the person requesting access and that the details of their access pose no risks.
- Software Programs – Each application in your tech stack should have its own access requirements and include monitoring and analytics that can help track down unauthorized entry attempts.
- Connected Devices And Digital Tools – Advanced software now allows you to track and flag risky behavior so compromised devices and digital tools can no longer easily compromise your whole system.
- Networks – Access should no longer be granted based on a single login. In addition to verifying identity at each access point, users should be granted the least amount of privileges required to do their jobs.
Moving Closer To The Zero Trust Security Model
Zero trust isn’t one particular methodology but rather an overall strategy. As a first step, utilizing SSL security and domain privacy protection is an important part of laying the groundwork for zero-trust. Be sure to cover other basic security steps such as, ensuring the latest software and firmware updates have been applied to the tools you use.
As you move on to the steps listed in the previous section, consider restricting access to any site that isn’t on an HTTPS domain, or from any device that isn’t authorized by your company and using the lastest patches.