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Zero Trust
Architecture:
What, How 
And Why?

A model for more

effective security
What Is Zero Trust?
Zero Trust is a security concept centered on the fact
that organizations should not automatically trust
anything outside and inside its perimeters and instead
must verify everything trying to connect to its systems
prior to granting access. This extra layer of protection
has been established to prevent data breaches.

Businesses are presently functioning more differently

than they did just a few years ago. We find that
devices, employees, and also applications are no longer
locked inside the corporate perimeter. They are all on
the web and hence a unique approach is needed to
provide security for a whole new type of anywhere,
anytime workers and cloud-based applications.

Organizations are now moving away from solutions that

secure the perimeter and are instead going towards
employing a zero trust model in order to protect
sensitive data and resources.
Key Principles And Technologies
Behind Zero Trust Security

Zero trust security follows two key concepts: Never

trust machines or users automatically, and least-
privilege access. Attackers exist within and outside the
network and hence one should not automatically trust
machines or users. Users should be given only limited
access that they need in order to minimize each user’s
exposure to sensitive parts of the network.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is another key

concept followed by zero trust security. This procedure
will need additional evidence in order to authenticate a
user. Hence, access cannot be gained by just entering
a password. MFA is mostly used in the 2-factor
authorization (2FA) employed on common online
platforms like Google and Facebook. Besides entering
a password, users who have enabled 2FA for these
services will also have to enter a code sent to another
device, thus supplying two bits of evidence that they
are who they claim to be.

The concept of microsegmentation is also employed

by zero trust network architecture. This concept refers
to the process of breaking up security perimeters into
small zones in order to maintain separate access for
separate parts of the network. For instance, a network
containing files existing in a single data center that
employs microsegmentation may comprise of dozens of
separate, secure zones.
Security And Business
Benefits Offered By
Zero Trust Security

Reduce complexity of the

security stack

Resolve security skills

shortage

Protect business and

customer data

Deliver excellent security

and end-user experience

Lower breach detection

time and attain visibility
into enterprise traffic
 Zero trust security will provide enterprises with
the following security and business benefits:

Reduce complexity of the security stack

Applying security with legacy technologies is

greatly expensive and complicated. The standard
perimeter mostly consists of hardware or virtual
appliances for access control, security
mechanisms, and application delivery and
performance utilities.

To operate in a global setting, these security

stacks will have to be repeated for redundancy
and high availability across data centers and
regions. Each of these components will have to
be separately purchased, installed, configured,
and deployed for each data center in several
localities.

Administrators will be responsible for managing

all of this equipment in-house by handling
ongoing monitoring, troubleshooting, upgrades,
and patching. Cloud-based zero trust models are
capable of removing that complexity by moving
all of these functions to a cloud-services
approach.
Resolve security skills shortage

With the ongoing spread of cybercrimes,

threats are becoming more refined and tools
are also available to help criminals in
developing, installing, and monetizing
templated attacks, such as ransomware-as-a-
service and malware-as-a-service.

Zero trust is employed in the cloud and

because of this, organizations that adopt this
process need not install a complicated stack
of security equipment used for protecting all
data centers. To secure all of their data, users,
devices, and applications, organizations can
just use a single service in the cloud.

Besides decreasing the number of security

professionals needed for monitoring,
handling, updating, securing, and improving
security controls, organizations employing
zero trust will also be able to retask resources,
assign business-critical efforts, and carry out
proactive planning measures in order to more
senior members of IT, eventually reducing
costs.
Protect business and customer data

After successfully getting onto an end-user machine within

the firewall, malware will go ahead and exfiltrate customer
data to a command and control (CnC) server placed outside
of the network. Permitting sensitive and confidential
customer data to go into the wrong hands can have grave
consequences for both your business and your customers.
Hence, zero trust security will help in safeguarding all such
details and preventing them from being misused.

Deliver excellent security and end-

user experience
Users compromise on security when they try to remember
complicated passwords by writing them down, or even by
using easy-to-remember passwords. Secure access, ease
to use, and productivity are offered by zero trust solutions.
Cloud-based zero trust architecture is known to enhance
the performance and help deliver a continuous user
experience across a wide range of devices and network
conditions.

Lower breach detection time and

attain visibility into enterprise
traffic

Zero trust follows the principle that location is not an

indicator of trust, hence the network is presumed to be
hostile. The principle of “trust but verify” is replaced with
“always verify and never trust”, with visibility being the
foundation of verification.
What Does Zero Trust Mean
To An Organization?
With zero trust solutions you will be able to gain greater
control in your cloud environment. Zero trust is a solution
that is customized for all network types. It limits
communication by permitting only workloads confirmed
by their identity fingerprint to communicate.

Zero trust architecture is not controlled by static network

constructs that cause it to slow down. Adding 2-factor
authentication and several other verification techniques
will increase your potential to correctly verify users.

Besides enhancing visibility across the enterprise and

lowering the breach detection time, enterprises will also
be able to decrease the complexity oftheir security stack,
protect customer data to avoid reputational damage and
major financial losses, and minimize the impact of the
security skills shortage. At the same time, businesses will
also enhance user experience and facilitate migration to
the cloud via the adoption of a zero trust security solution.