Most systems today are built on the assumption that someone who has a login and password is trustworthy. In this way, security exists to prevent anyone who doesn't have the password from logging in. However, as remote environments become more common, we have no way of knowing if we can trust everyone. For this reason, the Zero Trust model allows us to look at security in a new light.
Zero Trust is a way of thinking about the security of your organization. Considering that most cyber attacks involve credentials, this means that there are risks and vulnerabilities within the methods used today.
Thus, this security model arises to control corporate resources, defining which data, applications, devices, and services should be protected.
In this text, we will demonstrate how the Zero Trust model can be used to think about your organization's security in a different way.
Furthermore, we will discuss how you can apply this model within your reality. This way, you will be able to better understand how it works.
How to apply Zero Confidence
The Zero Trust methodology seeks to understand what is already on the network. Thus, not everything that is stored has the same importance.
Thus, it is necessary to list what requires more security, so that it is possible to allocate more resources to ensure that sensitive data and systems are protected.
Once we have the list of what needs maximum security, among data, applications, devices, and services, it is necessary to define the conditions for access. A login and password are not always enough.
To apply this security model, it is necessary to follow some fundamental points. First, have visibility over the assets that will be protected, monitoring all of them.
Then, the organization needs to implement policies to control access to specific assets, so that only specific people are authorized.
Finally, process automation allows the policies to be disseminated and enforced correctly. In addition, automating the process also aids monitoring and decision making.
Adopting strategies for your organization
Remote working has allowed people to access corporate resources from different locations. This means that these resources are not fully protected.
Some of them can be accessed with credentials, such as those that do not contain important information.
But following the methods applied by the Zero Trust strategy, those resources that are considered essential must contain other layers of security. In this way, resources can be protected when accessed from poorly protected places, such as public networks.
It may be that access is allowed only for specific devices. Or even allowing an application to only be accessed from a local network in your organization's building.
Thus, there can be different strategies within Zero Trust models. Controlling the traffic of information from devices, data, services or applications considered important is also one of the methods used.
Limiting the amount of users accessing these corporate resources can also be one of the steps to apply this type of model.
Why is this model more secure?
Zero Trust requires analyzing your organization's resources and knowing the ways they are used. Thus, it is necessary to think about what is considered sensitive and what is not.
According to a recent IBM study, most cyber attacks begin using credentials. Whether they are leaked or acquired through social engineering methods, login and password no longer guarantee the security of organizations' information.
Since most of these attacks start using credentials, many of them could be prevented by using Zero Trust models.
This is because this model segments the access to information, preventing a person with credentials from accessing any kind of data, even those considered sensitive.
In addition, this security model allows teams to have complete control over corporate resources, identifying possible threats and even when data is stolen or manipulated.
Do you believe your organization can adapt to this type of methodology? Besides Zero Trust, there are other strategies that can protect your organization from the dreaded cyber attacks.
If you want to know more, read some of these articles we have published on our blog:
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