What is a zero trust approach to security? How does this kind of approach work? Is this beneficial for your company? Find out below.
Zero Trust Approach to Security
A zero trust approach to security means that every user or machine attempting to connect to your organization’s network is treated as a potential foe. Such an approach requires a shift in thinking, as well as a change in security practices.
Further, this approach is considered ideal for modern organizations. It involves applying cybersecurity best practices, and monitoring network activity. As well as detecting and responding to threats. This type of approach is more dynamic than the traditional one, which assumes that most users are trustworthy.
When you implement this approach to security, you can’t just rely on old-school practices of segmenting networks into trusted and untrusted zones, deploying firewalls, and using antivirus software. You need to monitor all incoming and outgoing traffic on your network. As well as detect suspicious activity, and respond quickly to threats.
The zero trust approach to security relies on these four pillars:
- user identity management (UIDM). It allows you to control who can access resources within your organization’s network. It also involves implementing policies that specify what devices users can use and what applications they can run.
- privileged access management (PAM). This helps you control who has access rights within your organization’s network. To achieve this goal, you will need policies that define which activities are allowed – or not allowed – for each user role.
- application control (AC). This helps you monitor all applications running on your network to prevent unauthorized activities. You should then use AC on servers hosting databases and other critical applications that contain sensitive data
- and network encryption. This ensures that all communications between users of your organization’s network are encrypted in a way that only authorized individuals can decode them.
Zero Trust Approach to Security: The Benefits
What, then, are the benefits of a zero trust approach to security? For starters, it provides a higher level of security than traditional security approaches. It also helps your organization to avoid data breaches that could result in loss of reputation, financial damages, and other consequences.
Aside from that, it allows you to reduce the overall costs of cybersecurity by enabling you to detect network threats quickly and respond immediately. To put it simply, it helps you to effectively address the threats that you can’t see.
Last but not least, this approach can help you improve user productivity. This is because it allows you to grant users access to information they need while also minimizing their exposure to data that they shouldn’t have access to. Thus, protecting your data from harm and ill-willed people.
Final Words
As you can see, it is beneficial to implement a zero trust approach to security. This is because it helps you to become more agile and proactive in your approach to security. It also allows you to improve the level of security on your network, as well as protect your organization from threats that you can’t see.