Zero Trust

Why Zero Trust?

Approaches in traditional security assume that network architecture within the company can be trusted. The concept of Zero Trust says, assume no trust internally or externally.

Zero Trust is a security concept that centers on the belief that organizations should consider all resources including internal ones to be external and to consistently verify trust before granting access. It encourages organizations to never automatically trust anything, regardless of whether it is inside or outside the organization’s perimeters. It is a strategic approach where trust is neither binary nor permanent. 

With the continuous rise in cyberattacks, Zero Trust is something that all organizations must consider taking into account. The average cost of a data breach across the world is $3.62 million. In the 2017 Annual Cybercrime Report of Cybersecurity Ventures, they have reported that cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion up until this year. 

In today’s environment, cybercrime has dramatically increased as people and businesses were forced to maximize digital opportunities due to the limitations brought by the pandemic. Remote working has been a sudden trend that has taken aback organizations that are not agile enough to adapt to the new demands of today’s workplace and industries. This resulted in the massive emergence of security services, hence, organizations must remain more vigilant as they develop their security infrastructures.

Getting Started with Zero Trust

To establish Zero Trust means implementing the technologies it requires. Experts explain that Zero Trust draws on technologies such as orchestration, encryption, scoring and file system permissions, and multi-factor authentication. 

At Croyten, our security team believes that there are core principles that organizations must remember when deploying a Zero Trust approach: 

Re-examine all default access controls.

There is no such thing as a trusted source. It must be assumed that attackers are present both inside and outside the network resulting in more authentication and authorization processes.

Leverage a variety of preventative techniques.

Use multi-factor authentication. This process relies on two or more pieces of evidence to verify the user’s identity and credibility. Having this adds more security to the network. 

Enable real-time monitoring to identify malicious activity quickly.

Real-time monitoring capabilities should be always present in order to track all activities within the network. This makes it easy to detect and mitigate intrusions.

Align to the broader security strategy!

Zero Trust may be a proven effective preventative measure against cyberattacks. However, this is only one feature of a should-be comprehensive security strategy of any organization. Invest in a good security framework and infrastructure in order to ensure guaranteed security. 

Role-based security access

Once properly authenticated, limit access to applications and data, based on the role and responsibility of the user.

As core business systems move digital and to the cloud, Zero Trust is a reliable strategy that can help organizations avoid cyberattacks and reduce vulnerabilities, most especially that hackers these days have become sophisticated and advanced.