What is a zero trust security assessment? What is involved in this kind of process? And how should your company do this? Read on to know.
Zero Trust Security Assessment
Zero trust security assessment refers to a process where any devices (including mobile devices, laptops, desktops, and so on) connecting to a company’s network are considered untrusted by default. This is in contrast to the traditional approach of “trust-first” security where all devices are assumed to be trusted until proven otherwise.
Zero trust security requires that you have the following elements in place:
1) A policy for what devices and users can connect to your network.
2) A mechanism to enforce this policy.
3) A system to track compliance with this policy.
4) An ability to detect when a new device has connected to the network and assess its risk before allowing access.
5) An ability to respond to a security breach in real-time and in an automated way.
6) A way of auditing compliance with your security policies as well as detecting any changes that may occur. Especially when someone tries to circumvent these policies.
How To Do Zero Trust Security Assessment?
To make sure your company’s network is truly secure, you must do a zero trust assessment of it. So, this means you have to assess all of these elements:
- Policies. You have a set of policies in place for your company’s network, defining what users or devices can connect. And what kind of access they get based on their roles or identity. Then, these policies should be clear and specific about the permissions granted on the network. So no one can misuse them or break into your systems under the pretext of doing something that has been authorized by these policies.
- Mechanism. You have a mechanism in place for enforcing these policies, which should use centralized controls instead of relying on individual endpoints. Such as firewalls or proxies. This then allows you to create a consistent experience across all devices while still maintaining granular control where needed.
- Tracking. You need a system that can track not only what users or devices are connected to but also their behavior on the network. Such as if they access certain resources. So you can identify suspicious activity at an early stage and take corrective actions before it can cause harm.
- Automation. Your system must be able to detect new devices, assess their risk level automatically, and then act upon them immediately.
- Auditing. Finally, you need to have a way of auditing compliance with your security policies as well as detecting any changes that may occur. Especially when someone tries to circumvent these policies. This auditing also has to be automated so you can detect any changes no matter how small they are.
Conclusion
So, if you want to make sure that your company’s network is secure, you need to do a zero trust security assessment of it. This means you need to audit all these elements: policies, mechanism, tracking, automation, auditing, and more.