Traditional security assumed that the inside network was safe and the outside was dangerous. Cloud services, mobile devices and remote work have undermined that model. Zero Trust follows the principle of never trusting implicitly and always verifying.
Zero Trust principles
- Authenticate every request based on both user and device identity
- Apply least privilege by default
- Continuously evaluate every access session using context
- Use network microsegmentation to limit paths for lateral movement
- Continuously update risk scores using behavior and telemetry
Where to begin?
Zero Trust is a journey, not a single product. For many organizations, the right starting point is centralized identity through providers such as Microsoft Entra or Okta, combined with conditional access policies. Then add mandatory MFA, device compliance checks and application-level access policies.
ZTNA: The successor to VPN
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) replaces broad VPN access with access to specifically authorized applications. This limits lateral movement even if an endpoint is compromised.
Zero Trust is an organizational change as much as a technology project. Technology starts it; the organization completes it.
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