Zero Trust Architecture in Cyber Security

Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is a kind of back dated security model of 2011, when John Kindervag, former Forrester analyst, authored the original trilogy of Zero Trust papers. ZTA  is a security strategy which eliminates implicit trust and constantly authorizes at each stage of digital interaction. This strategy is designed to protect modern environments and enable digital transformation by leveraging network segmentation. This makes use of strong authentication methods, thus, providing Layer 7 threat prevention, preventing lateral movement, and “least privilege” or “least access” policies. The Zero Trust Security model is getting popular in recent years with the increase in awareness of risk of traditional security models.

What is Zero Trust Architecture?

Zero Trust Architecture in cybersecurity is a security architecture designed to reduce a network’s attack surface, prevent lateral movement of threats, and lower the risk of a data breach based on the zero trust security model. It is based on the principle of least privilege. Least privilege means that users and devices are only granted the permissions they need to perform their tasks. This, in turn, reduces the attack surface and makes it more difficult for attackers to obtain access to sensitive data. 

This model ensures that no user or device can be trusted, even if they are inside the corporate network. In contrast, the traditional security models trust users and devices inside the network and only require authentication for users outside the network.

Difference between Zero Trust Architecture and Zero Trust Network Access

Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is a design that supports zero trust principles including airtight access management, strict device and user authentication and strong segmentation. It is different from “castle and moat” architecture, which trusts anything inside in general.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a zero trust use case that allows the users a secure access to applications and data when the users, apps or data may not be inside a traditional security perimeter, which has become common in the age of the cloud and hybrid work.

When we put the two terms together, a zero trust architecture provides the basis for organizations to deliver ZTNA and make their systems, services, APIs, data and processes accessible from anywhere, at any time from any device.

How Zero Trust works?

Zero Trust works by executing several security controls that are designed to verify the identity of users and devices before granting them access to resources, and includes the following:

• Authentication- Authentication is performed each time a user or device attempts to access a resource. This helps to ensure that only authorized users have access to resources they need.
• Authorization- When a user or device is authenticated, they are only granted the permissions they need to perform their tasks. This helps to lower the attack surface and makes it more difficult for attackers to obtain access to sensitive data.
• Continuous monitoring- Every segment of network traffic and activity is continuously monitored for suspicious behavior. It can help to detect and respond to attacks quickly.
• Micro-segmentation- Here, the network is divided into smaller segments, each with its own security policies. This makes it more difficult for attackers to move laterally within the network, when they are able to breach one segment.
• Identity access management (IAM)- This includes implementing strong IAM controls and ensuring that only authorized users have access to resources they need.

A comprehensive Zero Trust approach is enclosed with users, applications and infrastructure. Zero Trust requires strong authentication of user identity, application of “least privilege” policies and verification of user integrity. The fundamental concept of Zero Trust Architecture is that none of the user, device, network flow, or application can be fully trusted. Hence, regular monitoring is necessary to validate any behavior. Once you apply these security controls, Zero Trust Architecture can help to prevent attackers from obtaining access to sensitive data even if they are able to compromise the network perimeter.

How to implement Zero Trust Architecture?

It is quite a complex procedure and a challenging one too, to implement the Zero Trust Architecture, but at the same time, an important step in protecting your organization from cyber attacks. The stages can differ depending on an organization’s specific needs and requirements. Below are some of the general steps that most organizations need to follow:

1. Assess the current security posture- This stage involves identification of assets of the organization, get an understanding of the current security controls and assessing the risk of cyber attacks. The assessment should also identify the goals of the organization for implementing Zero Trust Architecture.
2. Develop a Zero Trust strategy- Here, it involves defining the security goals, identifying the security controls required to achieve these goals and develop a plan for implementing these controls. This include a timeline for implementing Zero Trust and a plan for monitoring and maintaining the Zero Trust environment.
3. Implement Zero Trust controls- This stage involves deploying the necessary technology, configuring the security controls, and training users on the new security policies. This process should be phased in gradually, thus, the organization can test and validate the new security controls before deploying them to all users.
4. Monitor and maintain the Zero Trust environment- This involves a continuous monitoring of the security environment for threats, responding to incidents, and making modifications to the security controls as required. The monitoring process should include automated and manual monitoring so that the organization can detect and respond to threats instantly.
5. Continuous improvement- This stage involves reviewing the security posture in regular manner, identifying new threats, and making modifications to the security controls as required. The improvement process should be an ongoing process so that the organization can be ahead of the evolving threat landscape. 

Benefits of Zero Trust Architecture

A Zero Trust Architecture provides the precise, contextual user access you need to run at a speed of modern business while safeguarding your users and data from malware and other cyber attacks. Zero Trust Architecture acts as a bedrock of ZTNA, an effective Zero Trust Architecture helps you:

• Grant safe and fast access to data and applications for remote workers, including employees and partners, from any place, thus improving the user experience.
• Provide reliable remote access along with managing and enforcing security policy more easily and consistently than with legacy technology like VPNs.
• Protect sensitive data and applications on-premises or in a cloud environment, in transit or at rest, with tight security controls, including encryption, authentication, health checks and many more.
• Stop insider threats by restricting permission or implicit trust to any user or device inside your network perimeter.
• Restrict lateral movement with granular access policies down to the resource level, eliminating the likelihood of a breach.
• Gain deeper visibility into what, when, how and where of users’ and entities’ activities with detailed monitoring and logging of sessions and actions undertaken.
• Detect, respond to and recover from successful breaches more quickly and effectively to mitigate their effect.

Want to start your learning journey on Cyber Security and Ethical Hacking field?