Zero Trust: The Ultimate Approach to Cybersecurity

Employees working remotely has opened a new world of opportunity for businesses. What once could only be done at the office can now be accomplished at home, a coffee shop, a beach chair, or just about anywhere Wi-Fi will reach. While this assures there are even fewer interruptions to a business’s operation, this opens more opportunity for the ultimate disruption: a security breach. That’s why you need to think about “Zero Trust.”

IT professionals have develop strategies to protect organizations from security breaches. One of those, “Zero Trust,” addresses the issue of increased remote access. As a rule, this process assumes that a cyberattack will happen. It makes sure that once it occurs, it does not continue to allow access to an organization’s vital information. In the world of remote work and advanced cyberattacks, it is a hot topic in the IT world.

The Zero Trust Process

Zero Trust cybersecurity assumes that attacks could come from inside or outside your organizations network. Iinternal or external access requires verification. A cyberattack would not be able to move throughout the organization to even more sensitive data. With the policy in place, continuous checks and verification occur on the following information:

• Device
• User
• Network
• Location
• Risks

For an organization to adapt a Zero Trust cybersecurity approach, the network must be examined. It’s important to work through these steps:

1. IT Roadmapping

First, users, devices, networks, and sensitive data must be defined. This roadmap is essential in implementing the correct defenses against possible cyberattacks.

2. Complete an IT security assessment

Next, during this process, network security is examined. For instance, there may be a weakness in how users log in. Likewise, missing firewalls or other cybersecurity strategies are discovered. Once those weaknesses are defined, Zero Trust begins to be applied.

3. Continuous monitoring and verifications

As a precaution, Zero Trust involves continuous security checks. Continuous verifications must be made internally and externally.

Cybersecurity Methods for Zero Trust

Zero Trust cybersecurity involves integrating protection processes. Here are a few of the possible security measures that could be in place:

1. Multi Factor Authentication

This measure refers to verifying a user through more than just one of their devices. For example, a user must use a code that is texted to their cell phone or sent to their personal email for access into an application. One of the easiest policies to adopt, multi factor authentication is a great tool that adds a layer of cyber protection against attacks.

 2. Least Privilege Principles

A Zero Trust plan requires an organization to identify their secure data and then provides protection for it. Users that need access to that information may have to verify themselves continuously while users who shouldn’t have access aren’t able to log in at all. If there is a breach, the attacker could not infiltrate any information beyond that user’s level of access.

Benefits in Choosing a Zero Trust Plan

This cybersecurity method is gaining traction for a reason. Examining access of both internal and external points catches any potential attacks. As a consequence, there is less reason to worry about lost devices or exposed passwords. Even if someone accesses a user’s data, they still wouldn’t be able to access anything fatal due to processes such as multi factor authentication. Zero Trust also tracks user activity; therefore, if a breach occurs, an organization’s IT team knows exactly what they accessed.

Are you worried that your organization’s cybersecurity isn’t up to par? Interested in how Zero Trust cybersecurity might fit into your plan? Contact us. We’ll keep your data safe and make the process as simple and easy as possible.

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