Skip to main content

What is Zero Trust?

 Secure Your IoT Data With a Zero-Trust Strategy | Sirius

Zero trust is a security model based on the principle of maintaining strict access controls and not trusting anyone by default, even those already inside the network perimeter.

Zero Trust is a security concept that requires all users, even those inside the organization’s enterprise network, to be authenticated, authorized, and continuously validating security configuration and posture, before being granted or keeping access to applications and data. This approach leverages advanced technologies such as multifactor authentication, identity and access management (IAM), and next-generation endpoint security technology to verify the user’s identity and maintain system security.
Zero Trust is a significant departure from traditional network security, which followed the “trust but verify” method. The traditional approach automatically trusted users and endpoints within the organization’s perimeters, putting the organization at risk from malicious internal actors and allowing unauthorized users wide-reaching access once inside.
However, Zero Trust can only be successful if organizations are able to continuously monitor and validate that a user and his or her device has the right privileges and attributes. One-time validation simply won’t suffice, because threats and user attributes are all subject to change.
As a result, organizations must ensure that all access requests are continuously vetted prior to allowing connection to any of your enterprise or cloud assets. That’s why enforcement of Zero Trust policies heavily relies on real-time visibility into user attributes such as: User Identity, O/S versions, Applications installed, User Logins, Vulnerabilities, Incident detections and many more.

Why is Zero Trust important?

Zero Trust is one of the most effective ways for organizations to control access to their networks, applications, and data. It combines a wide range of preventative techniques including identity verification, microsegmentation, endpoint security and least privilege controls to deter would-be attackers and limit their access in the event of a breach.

This added layer of security is critical as companies increase the number of endpoints within their network and expand their infrastructure to include cloud-based applications and servers. Both of these trends make it more difficult to establish, monitor and maintain secure perimeters. Furthermore, a borderless security strategy is especially important for those organizations that have a global workforce and offer employees the ability to work remotely.

Finally, by segmenting the network and restricting user access, Zero Trust security helps the organization contain breaches and minimize potential damage. This is an important security measure as some of the most sophisticated attacks are orchestrated by internal users.

The Edward Snowden Example

The case of Edward Snowden demonstrates the importance of why organizations can’t drop their guard with approved internal users. As a subcontractor for the NSA, Snowden had the appropriate credentials to access the network.  However, without a Zero Trust framework in place, once he was granted access to the network, there were no further authentication procedures required for Snowden to download top-secret material. Had Zero Trust and the principle of least privilege been in place, Snowden’s activities would have been more easily discovered, if not outright prevented.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Important Cybersecurity Practices for your Business

  10 Important Cybersecurity Practices for your Business 1. EDUCATION  It’s much easier to prevent a hack than it is to recover from a hack. Once your company’s sensitive data is stolen through a ransomware attack, recovering it is often a long and arduous process. Teaching employees about basic security, personal cybersecurity, and the prevalence of cyber threats goes a long way in stopping ransomware attacks before they can really do damage. Your employees should understand that they might be targets of malicious actors, eager to exploit any entry they can find in your company. The average cost of a cyberattack is 3.86 million and the cumulative total for global cybercrime is expected to cost $6 trillion. If you don’t pay to train your employees about cybersecurity best practices eventually you may end up paying more in the long run. High quality and free trainings for your employees are available from several government resources including Department of Homeland S...
Post a Comment
Read more
Top 20 Most Asked Third Party Risk Questions for Vendors  These questions help organizations assess the overall risk posed by third-party vendors, covering critical areas like data protection, regulatory compliance, and incident response. Here’s a list of the Top 20 Most Asked Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) Questions for Vendors in TPRM questionnaires: 1. What types of sensitive data do you handle for our organization? Vendors should clarify the types of data they collect, process, or store, such as personal information, financial data, or intellectual property. 2. How do you protect data at rest and in transit? This question probes into the encryption methods, protocols, and security controls in place for safeguarding data during storage and transmission. 3. Do you have a formal Information Security Program in place? Vendors should describe their overall cybersecurity framework, including policies, procedures, and governance. 4. How do you manage user access to our data and s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nearly 500,000 workers are needed in cybersecurity roles around the country

The push to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic is straining cybersecurity professionals around the country tasked with ensuring workers are able to not only work efficiently from remote locations — but to do so safely. This rapid shift is a tall order for an industry that was already in need of skilled professionals long before the pandemic took hold.  Cybersecurity workers were taken off some or all of their typical security duties to assist with other IT-related tasks, including equipping mobile workforces, according to an April survey from global nonprofit (ISC)2, the largest association of certified cybersecurity professionals. The survey of 256 cyber pros found nearly half were re-tasked and that a quarter said cybersecurity incidents increased since the transition to remote work, with some seeing as many as double the number of incidents. Separate data from another nonprofit cybersecurity group, the Information Systems Security Association, found a 63% increase in...
Post a Comment
Read more