Time To Break the Myths About Zero Trust Model
- By Dave Russell, Veeam Software
- November 14, 2022
One of the latest buzzwords in the cybersecurity industry is ‘Zero Trust.’ In short, a zero-trust model means you do not leave any room for errors and do not trust anyone or anything.
With the hybrid workplace becoming the new norm, led by the after-effects of the pandemic and several emerging technologies such as the Metaverse, Web3, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality, the cybersecurity industry is working hard, as usual, to be as future-ready as possible. But since we have yet to see the evolution of these technologies and their impact, we need to tread carefully when using them.
So, what exactly is Zero trust? Is it a new product? Is it a certification or a mere buzzword within the cybersecurity industry?
Some organizations are mistaking zero-trust for an actual product or certification. A zero-trust model is not a product or certification in the cybersecurity industry. The model is deployed to ensure end-to-end cyber and cloud security. It is deployed for the security of our internal and external stakeholders.
It lives by one essential concept: ‘never trust, always verify.’ It also includes enabling multi-factor authentication to grant access to any application or platform. It is also about embracing the micro-segmentation of security perimeters to avoid any security breach.
Any new security feature or model is not completely risk-free without building compliance and good habits among employees. Similarly, zero trust is all about your employees building good habits. It is also about ensuring that your employees enable multi-factor authentication when accessing any apps or platforms. It is an added compliance layer that shouldn’t be bypassed by the IT Admin, someone at the top level, or even the deployer. There should be a top-to-bottom approach and a must for all employees to be authenticated and validated continuously to build a better security posture within the organization.
A zero-trust model isn’t just about multi-factor authentication. It also requires all the users to be authenticated and authorized and have their security configurations continuously validated to access any application or data. This is done as an additional layer of security. This model has various benefits, such as remote authentication and employee verification. This will allow them to work peacefully in a remote or a hybrid situation.
So, can you adopt the zero-trust model whenever you want?
Before deploying any new security model, we need to understand the return on investment. We need to know whether we need it. We need to realize that while zero trust is an approach to secure the most critical assets of the business, it’s equally as important to know whether the ‘juice is worth the squeeze.’
You already need to be a digital organization as you decide to deploy zero-trust security. To apply the zero-trust model within your organization, you need to be an already digital organization with digital assets that need cloud and cyber protection. For example, your employees should have digital assets to verify themselves.
We don’t need to jump into every bandwagon or deploy every new technology just launched. We need to understand our security needs first and then act accordingly. Your cyber security investments will only be worthwhile if you and your employees are willing to commit to it long-term and build good habits to ensure complete cyber security.
Dave Russell, vice president of enterprise strategy at Veeam Software, wrote this article.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CDOTrends. Image credit: iStockphoto/Viorel Kurnosov