Zero trust programs have gained the enterprise due to the speed, cost savings, and scale over legacy systems. Eighty-three percent of security and risk experts accept that a zero-trust solution is an important strategy for organizations, while 80% plan to adopt zero Trust in 2022.
For better navigation in remote working, findings conducted by Forrester Consulting showed how organizations would be embracing their zero trust strategies in 2022.
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Zero Trust Defined
Zero Trust is a modern security model founded on the design principle “Never trust, always verify.” It demands that all users and devices, regardless of location, be authorized, authenticated, and validated before granting access to an organization’s network.
In a nutshell, Zero Trust says, “Don’t trust anyone until they are verified.”
This helps prevent security breaches by eradicating the total Trust in your system’s architecture. Therefore, Zero Trust insists on validating at every access point. It also protects modern network environments by adopting a multi-layered approach, and this include
- Network segmentation
- Simplified granular user-access control
- Layer 7 threat prevention
- Detailed security monitoring
- Security system automation
With the increase in remote working, bring your device and cloud-based assets not located within an organization’s-owned network boundary; there is a limitation in traditional perimeter security which is where Zero Trust comes in. It is designed so that there is no traditional network edge, retiring the old perimeter security model.
Zero Trust security will not only admit that threats exist inside and outside of the network, but it acknowledges that a breach is not unlikely. Hence, it constantly checks for any malicious activity and restricts a user’s access only to what is required to carry out the job. This effectively prevents users from moving through the network and accessing data that hasn’t been restricted.
Zero Trust securely connects with users, applications, and devices adhering to business policies over any network, ensuring a safe digital transformation.
Zero Trust Strategies 2022
Businesses are combating accelerated change, and a study revealed that over 75 percent of leaders surveyed quoted the relevance of zero Trust to security threats.
The study also found that teams are still struggling to meet critical initiatives (more than 60 percent of respondents admit that they were not prepared for the fast pace of cloud migration and transformation) and are rapidly turning to zero Trust to better adapt to today’s hybrid realities.
Advanced zero trust programs present clear organizational benefits, and their adoption will not cease to mature.
Benefits Of Zero Trust Security In 2022
It’s widely accepted that the zero trust model is an effective framework for IT security. However, what is yet fully realized are its outstanding benefits, especially to businesses. Asides from securing confidential data and resources, below are seven unique benefits to be considered:
1. Reduction In The Cost Of Compliance And Security Initiatives.
Adopting a zero trust architecture demands an upfront investment in platform and tool acquisition and the number of hours an employee needs to get the system running. However, the consecutive increase in employee productivity with a reduced burden on IT teams will result in a reduced cost in the long run.
2. Seamless End-user Access And Experience.
Uncompromising security often evokes an employee’s visions of more difficult access, bureaucracy, and increased obstacles in getting work done.
But zero trust architecture is formed upon a platform of identity access management, ensuring that end-users get a streamlined and clear experience.
Instead of signing in each time, they will have to access a different data, folder, or application—single sign-on, which means that users need to sign in once to gain access to relevant resources.
Also, remote workers don’t have to worry over taking any enterprise-issued devices to finish their work due to easier workflows resulting in improved productivity using the zero trust model.
3. Improved Monitoring And Increased Visibility
A zero-trust architecture demands seeing and verifying everything on the network. Establishing this framework requires a lot of activities like framing the flow of sensitive data, executing a decryption solution such as TLS/SSL that offers perfect network traffic visibility, building a stockpile of applications and devices, and more.
Having those visibility initiatives perfected, businesses have broad visibility into the entire network and every connected device. With automated detection and response being part of the zero trust architecture, it is faster for organizations to discover something wrong while assuring that they are accounting for the entire network activity.
4. Simplified IT Operations Management
Zero trust architecture lightens pressure on IT staff (especially when staff is managing a growing workload due to remote working) and simplifies IT operations. This is so because zero trust security controls and authenticates network-connected devices and sends notifications when an issue occurs. It minimizes the burden on IT departments by lessening the workload.
Zero Trust also eradicates help desk requests that distract IT teams from business-critical work, For instance, requests for help with application access issues and forgotten passwords. With those issues managed by the zero trust model, IT teams can concentrate more on critical work.
5. It Enables The Adoption Of New Technologies And Empowers Digital Transformation
While zero Trust is the right security model for every cloud-based business, it empowers organizations to take advantage of new technologies that can enhance business operations.
6. Streamlined Security Policy Creation And Continuous Compliance.
Zero trust security adopts dynamic policies based on each user and device. These policies based on access patterns, data sensitivity, devices, users, and applications that impose the “least privilege” methodology of zero Trust can be generated automatically on a constant granular basis.
This results in an easier security policy creation than the traditional network segmentation approaches based on port numbers, IP addresses, and virtual local area networks. Instead of just creating virtual walls, zero trust architecture makes enterprises recognize what they have and determine while policies should apply, heading to a more manageable policy implementation process.
Conclusion
Zero trust security was founded out of the need for a more efficient security methodology, and it has been able to reveal ways through which enterprises can spend less while still able to work more efficiently, hence creating a better experience for both IT teams and end-users, creating a foundation for digital transformation.
