In the old work model, company security seemed like a simple matter. As every morning, the employees arrived at their workplace, greeted the security guard, who already knew them one by one, sat in their corresponding position the same day every day, and turned on the equipment, which had not moved from there in months, even years.
By entering the username and password, they were already inside the system, accessing all the information without further verification. In recent years, a different work model has evolved in which mobile devices prevail, and more and more importance is attached to teleworking.
Being able to work from anywhere in the world has its advantages. Still, the security guard cannot teleport to verify that whoever accesses your company’s network is who they say they are.
As a result, the Zero Trust model has begun to gain popularity, but what does it consist of? As its name indicates, it means ”zero trust,” and it is about distrusting any user or device that tries to access any of our organization’s resources from outside our company’s infrastructure, even if they have previously accessed it.
In other words, it is like putting many security guards that control the access and transfer of data in the corporate network from different places.
In addition, another of the characteristics of this model is that it analyzes and records behaviours to anticipate possible future threats; that is, if a user who usually connects from Madrid suddenly tries to log in from Dodoma in Tanzania, it will make our security guard think Zero Trust that it is a suspicious movement and, even if the username and password are correct, it will go through other verification processes.
In summary, we could say that the Zero Trust architecture is based on the following fundamental principles:
- Continuous verification for all accesses, all the time. It is no longer a question of trusting and verifying but of never charging and constantly checking.
- Minimize the impact through Micro-segmentation, breaking down the company’s infrastructure into small modules. Each of these modules has its own security policies, so it is easier to block in the event of a threat and would not affect the rest of the network.
- The principle of the least possible privileges, through which each user is given only the primary benefits to carry out their work and if their activity changes, these privileges would also be changed. Thus, if a user is attacked, only the party to which his benefits allow access would be affected.
- Analyze and record behaviours, obtaining more accurate responses to future threats.
So, what are the advantages of implementing the Zero Trust model in your company?
- First, guarantee trust, ensuring that every device or user connects securely from anywhere. First, guarantee trust, ensuring that every device or user connects securely from anywhere.
- Avoid possible attacks that endanger the security of the company.
- Also, constant logging provides an accurate inventory that helps us with security and can benefit our organization in the long run.
- Thanks to Zero Trust, the privilege management process is also made more accessible, being able to withdraw access to users who end their contractual relationship with the company or modify them for those who change their functions.
- Lastly, this model acts as data protection insurance, which could prevent both internal and external information leaks.
Although the Zero Trust model implementation process can be complex for some companies, the benefits, as we have seen, are multiple. One of the first tasks to be carried out will be the registration of an inventory of all the devices used to work in the organization, in addition to the creation of policies that specify which of these devices are necessary for the development of the business and the services of those that we can do without to reduce the risk of suffering a security incident.
On the other hand, the training of all employees will be crucial to face the change that the transition to this new model entails and to carry it out gradually, taking into account the technology used and the size of the company.
Implementing the Zero Trust model may involve an initial investment of time and resources. Still, in the long run, the benefits will guarantee a company greater information security, a reduction in the number of incidents and, consequently, in the damage that these can cause.