Why a zero trust security architecture model is needed by your business

The idea of the network perimeter where everyone within a network was good and everyone outside it was bad once prevailed. Later on, there was a shift from the "trust but verify" to "never trust, always verify" network security strategy, and now we have moved to zero trust network security model that assumes that there are attackers both within and outside the organization, so no user or machine should be automatically trusted.

Today’s workforce and workplaces have changed, and with the rise of the cloud, traditional network perimeters no longer exist. This has introduced weakness in the network perimeter, providing opportunities to malicious actors to exploit it. Zero trust network security model operates on the principle of least privilege access, so users are given only as much access as they need. It also requires strict controls on device access, and ensures that no device is compromised. The model utilizes microsegmentation to maintain separate access for separate parts of the network.

In the zero trust environment, no device is trusted to access the resources until both its identity and authorization are verified. The process generally applies to a private network, like the employees accessing office computers remotely through their own laptops or mobile phones. This doesn’t matter how many times you have accessed the network before, your identity is not trusted until verified again and again.

The zero trust network security model relies on strong authentication and authorization for every device and person before they can access data. The network security model combines analytical, filtering and logging to verify behavior, and to continually watch for signals of compromises. Attackers can no longer spend time taking advantage of weaknesses in the perimeter, and then exploit sensitive data and applications.

What are core principles of the zero trust architecture?

Core principles of the zero trust architecture include:

• External and internal threats always exist on the network
• Every user in the network security model is assumed to be hostile
• Network locality is not sufficient to decide trust in a network
• Every user device, and network flow is authenticated and authorized in the network security model

Zero trust architecture is not a discrete technology, rather it uses a variety of different technologies and principles to address common network security challenges. The components of the network security model are designed to address common network security challenges, and provide advanced threat protection as the distributed remote workforces increasingly become normal. Today’s zero trust architecture has principles expanded to include:

• Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)
• Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), and
• Zero Trust Edge (ZTE)

Proactive identification, blocking and mitigation of threats

Zero trust architecture ensures that users and devices can safely connect to the internet, without the complexity associated with legacy approaches. Traditional legacy technologies, like VPN (Virtual Private Network), rely on antiquated trust principles, and are particularly vulnerable through compromised user credentials. On the other hand, zero trust network security model uses advanced technologies to ensure that the enterprise network is secure at all times. It also proactively identifies, blocks and mitigates various threats related to:

• Phishing
• Malware
• Ransomware
• DNS data exfiltration, and
• Advanced zero attacks

This way, zero trust architecture can reduce the risk and complexity, while delivering a consistent user experience. By reducing complexity, zero trust architecture reduces complexity and saves on your IT resources.

The capabilities of the zero trust network security model include:

• The network controls flow between all assets
• Least-privilege user access to all applications
• Verified identity and access to the cloud
• VPN elimination
• Security at the edge
• Improved security posture against advanced threats

Protect enterprise data, wherever the users and devices are

There are some compelling reasons to employ a zero trust network security model as users, devices and applications are moving outside the enterprise model. "Trust and verify" is no longer an option as targeted advanced threats are moving inside the corporate perimeter. Traditional parameters are no longer compatible with today’s business models. To be competitive, businesses need zero trust network architecture to protect enterprise data, wherever the users and devices are, and to ensure that applications work quickly. The best approach to a zero trust architecture is to start with a single use case, or a vulnerable user group, for validation of the mode.

Benefits of Zero Trust security posture

Akamai adopted a Zero Trust security strategy to enable automation, orchestration, visibility, and analytics over workloads, networks, people, and devices to secure data. This has also improved productivity by enabling streamlined access by Akamai’s workforce while reducing costs with more efficient allocation of IT resources.

A holistic approach to Zero Trust should extend to all the organization’s entities, including identities, network, and apps. Akamai has assembled a comprehensive portfolio to deliver integrated end-to-end Zero Trust capabilities that are essential for the modern organizations. You can easily setup new applications and users through a single portal, and scale remote access. The solution is designed to enable you to make smart decisions about access while reducing cost and complexity.

Businesses can safely connect users and devices to the internet with secure internet access using a secure web gateway. Organizations can keep their users and devices safe with a multilayered defense of real-time intelligence and detection engines on the world’s largest edge platform. This way, you will be able to enjoy proactive protection against zero-day malware and phishing.

Akamai powers and protects life online. With the most distributed compute platform — cloud to edge — customers can build modern apps while keeping experiences closer to users and threats farther away.