A well-functioning society is based on trust between people; trust in the authorities, the workplace, the police, and the healthcare system, etc., but also trust in data, applications, devices, and systems. If trust in the data technology elements is lost, their use will decrease, and digitalization will stagnate.
Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
It is problematic if emotional trust is transferred to the digital world, and this is a vulnerability that can be exploited. Trust in digital systems should be strongly limited, and verification should be used both on the way in and out of critical systems. Operate as if someone is on the inside and that you are compromised!
Zero Trust was developed by then analyst at Forrester Research Inc, John Kindervag, in 2010.
There are many good reasons why your company should use Zero Trust. Digital attacks are happening more and more frequently, including in companies that have invested significant funds in security equipment. The attacks may include, among other things, disruption of operations, data leakage, or alteration of data.
Traditionally, the focus has been on attacks occurring from the outside and into the systems. Attackers know this and find other ways into the systems, for example via email, VPN, RDP, Citrix, exploitation of vulnerabilities, or malicious insiders. If they find these vulnerabilities, the way forward to critical data and systems can be short.
Data gone astray will be very serious for most companies, whether it happens internally in the organization or outside it. In recent years, many companies have adopted cloud storage for, among other things, storing sensitive data. This makes the requirements for visibility, monitoring, and control even greater.
Mindset and strategy must change to be better equipped against these new threats. Attackers are constantly evolving. The defense must be as well.
This type of strategy is based on never trusting anything, whether external or internal. This applies to IT components such as PCs, phones, servers, IoT, etc. If an intruder finds a weakness in the system, there is a high probability that they can proceed to critical data.
Access should therefore be granted after verification, based on the access being absolutely essential for someone to do their job (principle of least privilege).
In combination with such an approach, it is recommended to conduct a ROS (risk and vulnerability analysis) to map your assets, risks, and vulnerabilities. Work priority is based on this result.
Access control is performed for risk-assessed elements based on the following criteria:
Zero Trust is recognized for its thorough access control carried out for allowed traffic to reduce the attack surface to an absolute minimum. To reduce the likelihood of data leakage, outbound security will be central. Therefore, outbound access control must be carried out in the same way as inbound access control.
Full inspection of all allowed traffic, both directions, which will require SSL decryption, as well as logging of all data traffic, is absolutely central to this type of strategy.
Never trust, always verify.
Zero Trust is a cybersecurity strategy focused on protecting data and resources, regardless of where they may be located.
Zero Trust alone is not a guarantee against being hacked, but it makes it as difficult as possible to compromise an entire infrastructure.
Elements of Zero Trust:
External and internal threats exist on the network all the time
Network location is not sufficient to build trust
All devices, users, and communication are authenticated and authorized
Rules must be dynamic and formed based on as many elements as possible
With Zero Trust, only people with a genuine need get access to data (“need to know”), and only to the data that is absolutely essential for them to do their job in a satisfactory way (“principle of least privilege”). Once access is granted, all communication is continuously monitored to be able to stop harmful incidents.
By reducing access to and from the organization’s data, you minimize the risk of malware and hacker attacks. With Zero Trust, access is governed by needs and areas of responsibility. Microsegmentation forms the foundation that prevents internal spread if any part of the data has been compromised.
Successful attacks occur in permitted traffic. For Zero Trust to succeed, you depend on consistent logging of all traffic, from both external and internal sources. By continuously monitoring user behavior, it becomes easier to detect potential security threats.
Netsecurity is a total supplier of security solutions and aims to be one of Norway's leading suppliers of cost-effective and modern solutions within security and data communication.
In addition to Zero Trust, we deliver complete security installations with traditional perimeter security, security in the data center, security in the cloud, and new innovative endpoint security tools. Zero Trust has been in focus for a long time and has been central in our communication with customers for a safer everyday life by changing the status quo to adapt much better to today's threat landscape.