Learning the definition of zero-trust security will help to understand more how it works. Also, Zero trust security consists of principles. These are the things we will consider in this section.
Introduction Of Zero Trust Security
Zero trust security is a concept that is growing in popularity. Many companies are adopting it, and it has been featured in many publications. Let’s see what makes it so popular.
Security is an important aspect that every company needs to pay attention to. There are a lot of threats that we need to identify and protect against. This can be done through the use of tools and other solutions.
The Zero Trust security model is something that has gained popularity recently. The reason for this is that:
- it offers something valuable for companies,
- better protection and more efficient operations.
Simply put, the Zero Trust security model focuses on prevention rather than detection. It focuses on protecting assets before they are attacked instead of after they have been compromised.
Prevention is always better than detection, as it saves time and money.
The definition of zero-trust security will help you understand how it works. What its principles are and what are the benefits of using it. We will cover all these aspects in the rest of this article.
What Is the Definition of Zero Trust Security?
To define the term zero-trust security, we will first need to define the term trust. Simply put, trust is the belief that someone or something can be relied upon.
In the context of security, we have multiple parties. One party is the user and another one is the provider of security. The user must trust that the provider will protect him or her from any threat.
If a user does not trust a provider, they will either move to another one or stop using it altogether.
The Zero Trust security model was created to solve this issue. It was created to make sure that users don’t have to rely on their providers.
Instead, they are given access only to the parts of the system they need and nothing more. This makes sure that users can protect themselves from any threat if their providers fail them.
Principles
Now that we know what zero trust security is and why it was created, let’s get back to its principles and how they work:
Pre-Authentication Enforcement
This principle states that all users must prove their identity before being granted access to any resource. The access should not be given automatically even if the user has been granted it before. This principle is for one simple reason.
It makes sure that users cannot use their identities for authentication. If they are no longer trustworthy or may have been compromised. This principle is also known as forced re-authentication (FR).
Access Control
This principle states that every user should only have access to resources they are authorized to use. There should be no exceptions in this regard and every resource should be protected against unauthorized access in some way or another.
How this is done depends on the type of resource we are talking about. But it should always be considered when implementing a Zero Trust security model.
This principle is also known as least privilege (LP).
User Segmentation
Users should be segmented into different groups according to their needs. Also, permissions for accessing different resources in an organization’s network infrastructure/systems.