What is the zero trust security model NIST? How can companies follow this standard? And why should they? To know more, read on.
Zero Trust Security Model NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology or NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency. It works for the U.S. Department of Commerce to develop and promote standards, measurement, and technology for all industries.
The Zero Trust Security model is also known as ZTEM or Zero Trust Architecture. It is a security architecture that treats all remote connections as untrusted and is based on the principle of “trust no one.” The model assumes that all users, devices, and systems are untrusted and can be compromised by malicious attackers or other unauthorized agents.
Since this model assumes all users, devices, and systems are untrusted, it employs a multi-layered approach. This is to protect against data theft. The model gives a fine-grained application access control where access depends on the trustworthiness of the user. As well as the device, or system requesting access.
Then, it uses a variety of access control methods. Such as role-based access control, attribute-based access control, or behavior analysis. This is to ensure only valid requests are granted.
Based on the access request, it allows the grantor to monitor and audit the behavior of the grantee. This is to confirm whether it is still operating per its assigned permissions. This helps in detecting anomalies in their behavior and taking corrective measures to protect against any unauthorized breach of information. So there is no single point of failure or attack vector in this security approach as well.
Following the Zero Trust Security Model NIST
How to follow this standard? Theoretically speaking, this requires more than just implementing an identity management system. One that supports multi-factor authentication for users. It requires an identity management system that can seamlessly integrate with existing systems. Such as directory services and network equipment.
Further, organizations should also update their policies and procedures to follow this standard. Because it’s not enough just to have a secure architecture you need to have the right process put into place. So that you don’t have any gaps or vulnerabilities left unaddressed.
Thus, you need a way to make sure your security controls are working as designed at all times. Not only during an annual review cycle or after a breach has been detected. Identity consolidation solutions let you automate identity governance processes.
So you can meet compliance mandates while ensuring your employees’ identities are always protected. Then, you need to monitor your environment. This is to make sure that you can respond to any attacks or breaches as quickly as possible.
Not just that, you need to make sure your users are compliant and following your security policies. To be able to do this, you need to have a solution in place. One which lets you integrate with existing identity management systems. Along with some other internal and external information sources.
Conclusion
So yes, the Zero Trust Security Model NIST does require a lot of work from an enterprise’s end. However, it’s not impossible to follow this standard.