United Kingdom, Dec 12, 2023
Zero Trust is everywhere. Seemingly replacing ‘Digital Transformation’, it has rapidly become the new darling of the marketing word of our time. Yet beneath the marketing veneer, it has fundamental message that everyone should take note of; it will help protect your organisation, your people and your reputation.
Crucially, and despite what many security products and vendors would have you believe, Zero Trust is not something you are just going to be able to buy and Voila, you have Zero Trust. Fundamentally, it is a logical, structured and proven approach to security, with a clear framework of policies, processes, tools, and technologies to help you achieve the best possible protection. But what is exactly is ‘Zero Trust’?
Well, let’s start with the basics. What is the industry definition for Zero Trust? Gartner defines Zero Trust as ‘a security paradigm that explicitly identifies users and devices and grants them just the right amount of access so the business can operate with minimal friction while risks are reduced’.
Similarly, Forrester states
Zero Trust is an information security model that denies access to applications and data by default. Threat prevention is achieved by only granting access to networks and workloads utilizing policy informed by continuous, contextual, risk-based verification across users and their associated devices."
So, now we are all on the same page of what Zero Trust is, you may be thinking, why do I need a Zero Trust approach anyway?
3 Clear Reasons why Organisations should be thinking about adopting a Zero Trust approach
Firstly, times have changed. Cyber Criminals are becoming smarter, more innovative and more organised by the day, as is the technology. The draconian approach of castle and moat protection is not going to cut it in the new world. Workers are no longer tied to a desk in an office, they need to be enabled to work securely from anywhere. Supply chains are being integrated and whilst frictionless customer experience is king, agile development is constrained by rigid security controls.
Secondly, the volume and sophistication of cyber-attacks is more than a match for traditional network, perimeter-based security. In fact, it is estimated by Astra Security that in 2023, there will be around 33 billion account breaches globally, with a hacker attack occurring every 39 seconds. In a traditional approach, once perimeter defences have been breached, there is little to stop a cyber-attack proliferating across all systems, quickly and swiftly, resulting in a data breach or ransomware event.
Finally, Zero Trust enables an organisation to better manage risk and compliance. It promotes business agility by shifting security from being a set of static controls to a set of dynamic polices. And it is built on digital foundations that support your digital evolution by securely connecting users, customers, partners, and 3rd parties wherever they are, with access to the services they need, while stopping hackers helping themselves to your data.
Crucially though, for Zero Trust to really succeed and have full affect within the organisation, managing security and risk need to be embraced by the C-level as a business challenge and necessity, not solely an IT problem.
So, should you be considering reviewing your posture against zero trust?
Absolutely, by embracing it as a never ending journey, just a widget you can buy. If you would like to understand more about Zero Trust, where to start and what it could do for your organisation, please get in touch.