A Review of the Zero Trust Framework

The current cyber landscape, complicated by the shift to remote work, has exposed the limitations of traditional security models like VPNs. As home and business networks commingle, the risk of compromised credentials has skyrocketed. To combat this, organizations are adopting the Zero Trust Framework.

What is the Zero Trust Framework?

The core philosophy of Zero Trust is: "Never trust, always verify." Instead of assuming everything behind a corporate firewall is safe, this model assumes a breach is already underway and verifies every request as if it originates from an open network.

Key Principles:

• Verify Explicitly: Always authenticate and authorize based on all available data points.
• Use Least Privilege Access: Limit user access with Just-In-Time and Just-Enough-Access (JIT/JEA) to protect data and productivity.
• Assume Breach: Minimize blast radius and segment access. Verify end-to-end encryption and use analytics to get visibility and drive threat detection.

Core Components Under Scrutiny

Zero Trust extends beyond just login screens; it impacts every layer of the business:

• Devices: Ensuring only healthy, managed devices (not rogue personal smartphones) access the network.
• Applications: Verifying that the software used by remote employees is authorized and legitimate.
• Data: Implementing multiple layers of authentication to protect Intellectual Property (IP) and PII.
• Physical Infrastructure: Applying Zero Trust to data centers using smart cards, unique IDs, and biometrics.
• Network Infrastructure: Dividing networks into smaller "Subnets" to prevent attackers from moving laterally if they manage to breach one segment.

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