With businesses across the globe attempting to protect themselves from a host of different malware attacks, dangerous phishing activities, ransomware, scams, and numerous other risks online, there’s never been a greater need to explore new ways to reduce your chances of falling victim to major problems.
In the past, businesses may have relied on perimeter-based security, which focuses on the use of firewalls and other similar features to keep unauthorized users and programs at bay. However, modern times call for more modern solutions, meaning perimeter security may not be enough to protect your business from advancing dangers that adapt and evolve each day.
If a hacker is able to make it past your established security perimeter, then they will be able to inflict a great deal of damage.
The Push to Adopt Zero-Trust Policies
That’s where zero trust security comes into play. It was first thought up in the year of 2010, but the strategy has become a mainstream solution over the past couple of years as a whole new way to approach cybersecurity.
Zero trust security treats every device as equally as possible, viewing each person or program as a potential point of compromise and danger to make sure nothing can slip through the cracks.
Zero-trust security is best described as a strategy that adapts and responds to changing times, maintaining a mindset of zero trust to treat all devices as potential threats. This setup can include actions and features such as requiring you to log in every time you access a system instead of remembering devices, only granting access on an as-needed basis, etc.
Though to many this level of suspicion can seem like an overkill, it’s more than necessary in today’s unsafe and unsecure online climate. With many employees now working remotely and lots of different companies encouraging their staff to provide and bring their own devices to work, it’s becoming far more difficult for IT teams to protect such an array of devices with a basic firewall feature as they may have done previously. With cyber-attacks increasingly traced to third parties, companies should learn more about available vendor risk management solutions.
What Role Does Zero Trust Architecture Play in CMMC Compliance?
For defense contractors who are attempting to prepare for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), or for other businesses preparing to comply with common security frameworks, zero-trust concepts may actually hold the key to the protection of controlled unclassified information (CUI).
Many contractors face an uphill battle after chronic underinvestment in IT and security, so this solution is a welcome break that can meet needs with ease. Leveraging a zero-trust strategy in the cloud can assist contractor’s when scoping out technical debt, as well as helping them to fully modernise their IT infrastructure whilst accelerating compliance timelines, too.
Zero trust builds on the past network-based security techniques such as firewalls and VPNs, implementing reliance on user identities and individual resources that have an increased ability to promote well-rounded security.
Rather than granting access to all within the protected boundary of a commercial network, the zero-trust method seeks to verify and authenticate every access request. As a result, a user’s identity becomes the new security perimeter that has to be evaluated to warrant full access.
