By Satish Kumar V, CEO | EverestIMS Technologies
“Trust, but Verify” that age old adage when placed under the lens of modern day enterprise security needs to be reworked to “Never trust and Always Verify”. Although this may sound a bit extreme it places us on alert while ensuring that threats to the enterprise are positioned in the spotlight. With the ubiquitous spread of digitization – data, devices, and infrastructure becoming more hybrid, the threat to network security is also changing. Simply put, enterprise security requires a strategic and holistic approach as businesses make their entry or expansion into digital transformation. This brings us to the Zero Trust approach of enterprise, and network application of risk management and security principles.
Zero Trust (ZT) as an approach is largely based on three core approaches:
Verification of each and every user
Thus far, Single-Sign-on (SSO) has been a standard method for user verification. This method is convenient because we don’t have to enter our password every time, and it cuts down the number of passwords we have to manage. Unfortunately, if that one credential gets out of our hands, we have a security gap. Balancing the SSO with multi-factor authentication, we have a tighter web of security on the organizational network. Still, this is not failproof. With a bit of intelligence and context, the security can be balanced with the end-user experience. Here’s where behavior-based access comes into play. By using AI and ML, companies can track the pattern of user behavior and can detect any deviation from that baseline. This enables administrators to act immediately by blocking access and ask for further authentication.
Validate every device
Almost all of our devices are linked, and we lock them with a password. But, better safety can come with multi-factor authentication. Nevertheless, with these two safety measures in place, we still need device management with the right policies and the context, such as the browser it has and where it is used, etc., to ensure safer access.
Limit access intelligently
Access to employees is usually based on their roles and responsibilities. Changes to access are also made based on role changes. While privileges are revoked if the employee exits and new accounts are created, companies need to be on top of their game at every moment. Therefore, all these capabilities must be integrated for real-time applications that cause little to no delays where access decisions are concerned.
Adopting the Zero Trust philosophy across organizations without understanding the Zero Trust advantage can be challenging.
Adopting a complete Zero Trust strategy enables greater protection of the enterprise and data while reducing network security breaches. These can make or break a company, especially in the digital world. What it does offer is a chance at containing the incident before it becomes a data breach. The incident could be limited to one identity access separating the others from becoming compromised. Intelligent response with more authentication methods and controls can contain the threat well ahead of time.
A sound ZT network security strategy, on the other hand, keeps the company standing and builds its reputation for getting things done the right way. Companies using the Zero Trust philosophy can be more confident in bringing new business models and improved customer experiences to the market. Both of these elements impact the bottom line enabling business growth and expansion without fear of security risks.
VPN versusZero Trust
Virtual Private Networking (VPN) has been at the heart and soul of remote access solutions for enterprises till recently. However when work went remote during the pandemic companies started to realize the shortcomings of this system as the various risks and threats started to emerge, and impact operations. What VPNs do is to create a pipeline of connectivity for credential based remote users and managed devices, while on the other hand zero-trust networks restrict access to all users at all times. The issue is that increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks cannot be prevented by VPNs. And if the attacked has gained access to the system, they then get a free-run of the system without anything to stop them. VPNs are unable to help in this scenario. If the same system were to be zero-trust enabled, attackers would face restrictions and be closed off from internal designated zones even if they acquire authorized credentials. What Zero trust does is to offer a more reliable, secure and flexible solution of protecting systems better by offering the necessary checks, monitoring, and log data analysis at every crucial point of contact.
Zero Trust is no longer an option but a necessity in an increasingly digital world if businesses wish to survive and flourish.
