Are you familiar with the zero trust security concept? Are you wondering what makes this concept effective in securing companies today? Let us find out below.
Zero Trust Security Concept
The zero trust security concept starts with the aim of eliminating the concept of trust from security. The term zero means that you do not trust any entity. It is because the outside world is not ideal and the actions of entities are unpredictable. This is why you do not trust them.
Then, the zero trust security concept has three pillars:
Minimal Trust
The core pillar of zero trust security is minimizing the amount of trust an organization places on an entity. This could be a user, client, device, or even an application. You have to assume the worst from everyone and everything. You should also assume that they will try to get out of their intended role and will attempt to access your data.
Then, what is interesting about the concept is that it enables you to perform access control. This is based on user actions rather than identity or device type. This allows you to control access based on who is using what and where particular actions are taking place.
Data Protection
The second pillar of the zero trust security model involves designing your environment with a focus on data protection instead of device protection or app protection. This makes sure that your environment can protect itself against malware and unauthorized access attempts. All while creating more flexibility in terms of providing access to users who need it. This is of course based on their specific roles in your organization.
User Information
The third pillar of this model involves designing your policies with a focus on securing user information. This is instead of securing the devices they are using or applications they are interacting with.
Then, Zero Trust Security Policies help make sure that users cannot share sensitive information. No matter where they are located or what network they are connected to at any given time.
Further, they also help ensure that employees only have access to the data they need for doing their job and nothing more. Thus, this reduces mistakes.
Zero Trust Security Benefits
What, then, are the benefits your company can enjoy if you implement this security concept? Here are some:
Perimeter Security
The first benefit is that you can eliminate the need for perimeter security. This is because you do not have to trust any entity. Thus, you can eliminate the network perimeter and allow users to work from anywhere they like.
Enables Mobility
Another great benefit of using this concept is that it enables mobility and seamless access to data from anywhere in a manner that does not impact your ability to protect it. Moreover, this also allows you to reduce your costs for deploying and maintaining infrastructure for connecting users in remote locations to your data center and applications.
Integrates with Cloud-Based Applications
In addition, you can also integrate this concept with cloud-based applications so that you can transfer sensitive data between them without having to worry about unauthorized access attempts. This is because your environment is designed with a focus on protecting data instead of devices or apps.