Understanding Zero Trust Architecture as the Future of Modern Cybersecurity

In previous years, companies only focused on perimeter security, which comprises firewalls, VPNs, and intrusion detection systems to secure the network boundaries and prevent unauthorized access to those outside the network. With cyberattacks becoming more sophisticated and also coming from inside the network, the need for more security-focused plans arises.

An ITRC annual data report for 2023 revealed that there were 3,205 compromises in 2023 alone, with about 353,027,892 victims. This shows a 72% increase in data breaches since 2021. A recent report on the cost of data breach report by IBM reported that the global average cost of a data breach in 2024 was about $4.88 million, showcasing a 10% increase over last year.

These two statistics explain one simple thing: “The rate of cyberattacks is high, and you need to do something about it.” Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is a strategy that caters to security outside and inside the network.

In this blog post, we will explore zero trust security in detail, explain how it works, and explain its benefits to your organization.

What is Zero Trust Architecture?

Zero Trust Architecture is a security strategy that assumes no one, inside or outside the organization’s network, should automatically be trusted. It is a framework that ensures the continuous verification of every user, device, and application attempting to access the organization’s data or resources.

Zero-trust security takes a stricter approach to safeguarding an organization’s data and resources than perimeter security.

5 Core Principles of Zero Trust Architecture

Zero Trust Architecture operates on several core principles. Here are five core principles of Zero trust architecture:

Assume Breach Mindset

Zero Trust Architecture assumes that security breaches will occur through internal or external influence. Therefore, designing systems that can contain and minimize their impact in such times is important. This mindset leads to adopting workflows like micro-segmentation and automated incident response workflows.

Continuous Monitoring and Verification

With the recent statistics explored earlier, one thing is certain—cyber threats evolve rapidly, and engaging in a one-time verification alone will not do your organization good. Based on this, every user, device, and network activity is constantly monitored to identify and respond to potential threats as soon as they are spotted.

Least Privileged Access

The Zero Trust security strategy leverages the principle of least privileged access to limit users' full access. It only grants users, applications, and devices the minimum access required to perform their job roles, which is necessary to reduce potential damage during a security breach.

Micro-segmentation

Micro-segmentation is a security principle that allows organizations to divide their network into smaller segments or zones to isolate resources and maintain strict access to other parts of the network. This practice prevents attackers from moving laterally within a network if they ever gain access.

Device Security

Compromised devices can be a major entry point for attackers. This principle emphasizes the need to enforce strict controls on all devices in the network. It monitors all devices accessing or trying to access the network to ensure they meet security standards and checks to ensure they aren’t compromised.

How Zero Trust Architecture Works

Zero Trust security works solely on the principle of ‘never trust, always verify.’ Ideally, an MFA is triggered when a user logs into the company’s system. The user’s device is checked for security compliance, and their location and behavior are analyzed, too. If everything is in place, the user only gains access to the applications and data their role allows. The system also continuously monitors and tracks the user’s activity to track anomalies, and if a breach is suspected, access is revoked, and the incident is flagged for investigation.

Some security technologies leveraged by ZTA are

• Encryption

• Micro-segmentation

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

• Identity and Access Management (IAM)

• Real-time monitoring

Benefits of Zero Trust Security

ZTA offers a modern security approach that minimizes cyber risks while providing businesses the peace of mind they deserve. Here are five benefits of implementing Zero Trust security within your organization.

Support and Promote Remote Work

ZTA provides employees secure access to the company’s resources from any location, device, or network. This ensures productivity for remote workers who can work from anywhere worldwide and complete tasks without compromising security. It also gives corporations the confidence to promote a remote work culture.

Improved Threat Detection and Response

ZTA allows businesses to monitor and obtain continuous real-time analytics of their network. This enables them to identify and mitigate cyber threats on time, reduce response times, and limit further damage from cyber attacks.

Saves Cost from Data Breach Prevention

IBM's cost of Data breach report revealed that the global average cost of a data breach in 2024 was about $4.88 million, a 10% increase from the previous year and the highest total ever. Preventing data breaches is now necessary for organizations as it saves them from the high cost associated with recovery, fines, and lost revenue. ZTA helps avoid data breaches, minimize downtime, and provide financial stability and improved ROI on security investments.

Improved Compliance

Zero Trust security principles align with regulatory frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA by ensuring strict access to data and monitoring all endpoints. This confidence helps organizations implement ZTA and avoid legal penalties while maintaining trust with customers and stakeholders.

Adaptability to Emerging Threats

ZTA relies on continuous monitoring, and the implementation of advanced analytics allows it to evolve alongside new cybersecurity threats. Organizations can be assured that ZTA provides long-term protection as it is not a one-time feature but a continuous security strategy.

Step-by-Step Process to Implementing Zero Trust Architecture for Your Organization.

This section will guide you through implementing Zero Trust Architecture within your organization.

Understand your Organization’s Existing Environment

A deep assessment and inventory of all organizational assets is the first step to implementing ZTA. Assets to include in this inventory include

Devices: All laptops, smartphones, servers, and workstations are to be included in this assessment.

Users: This category includes the number of employees, contractors, and third-party vendors accessing your network.

Applications: All cloud services, internal applications, and legacy systems should be included.

Data: Customer data, intellectual property, internal emails, and any other sensitive information stored digitally should be included.

Consider each asset included in the inventory's importance and sensitivity. For example, a server hosting customer data is highly critical compared to an employee’s device, and intellectual property like product designs is highly sensitive. As such, you need to properly rank each asset according to how critical it is to your operations and how much damage could occur if compromised.

Identify and Classify Sensitive Data

Sensitive data refers to all information that, if compromised, could potentially harm your organization, its customers, and its reputation. Examples of this type of data include Personally Identifiable Information (PII), financial information, intellectual property, etc. Manual audits or data discovery tools can be used to identify these data.

Once all sensitive data are correctly identified, the next step is to classify them based on regulatory requirements. Sensitive data can be classified as public, internal-only, or confidential.

Create a Zero Trust Policy

A Zero Trust policy provides clear and organized guidelines for implementing and maintaining Zero Trust within your organization. This policy serves as a blueprint for aligning technical architecture and organizational goals. Without a clear policy, implementation risks being misaligned.

Design your Zero Trust Architecture

After creating a Zero Trust policy, the next step is to launch the design of your Zero Trust Architecture. The design process includes the following:

• Implementing Strong Identity Verification

Strong identity verification ensures that only legitimate users and devices gain access to resources. Two main identity verification that can be implemented are:

Multi-Factor Authentication(MFA)

MFA is a security measure that requires users to verify their identity through multiple factors instead of relying on inputting a password alone. These factors could be something a user knows, such as a PIN, something a user has, such as an authenticator app or mobile device, or something the user is, such as facial recognition. Passwords alone can easily be compromised through data breaches or brute-force attacks. MFA creates an additional layer of security that attackers must bypass.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

RBAC is a security strategy that ensures users only have access to the resources needed for their job, based on the principle of least privilege access. For example, an HR employee can only access the payroll systems, not marketing resources.

Limiting access to only what’s needed for the job reduces the risk of accidental or malicious misuse of sensitive data. If an account is compromised, the attacker’s reach is also limited.

• Micro-segmentation

Micro-segmentation is another critical process when designing your ZTA. This process focuses on creating smaller, isolated sections within your network, which makes it harder for attackers to move between systems after breaching a particular section. Each segment functions independently of the next and cannot communicate with systems in another segment. For example, the engineering segment cannot access the HR databases in the HR segment.

Continuous Monitoring and Real-Time Threat Detection

The next step in implementing ZTA for your organization is continuously monitoring it. This ensures that all threats are detected and responded to quickly to avoid escalation. To execute this process effectively, you can deploy advanced monitoring tools to collect, analyze, and correlate data from devices, users, and applications to identify unusual activity and set alerts for anomalies.

Test and Adapt

ZTA implementation is not a one-time project but an evolving strategy; therefore, the security framework must be continuously tested to remain effective. This can be done by mimicking attacks, such as penetration tests, to identify vulnerabilities in your systems and develop policies to review access controls, incorporate feedback and lessons learned from pen tests, and adjust policies based on threat.

Educate your Workforce

Make it a goal to create a culture within your organization where security becomes second nature to employees. Data breaches will be significantly reduced when everyone in your organization understands and practices ZTA principles. Train employees on the importance of Zero Trust security, how to spot phishing attacks, and how to encourage vigilance against suspicious activities.

5 Common Challenges to Implementing Zero Trust

While many organizations would love to migrate from perimeter security models to ZTA, they face some challenges. Here are five common challenges to implementing zero trust security often faced by organizations.

Asset management and Visibility

Every organization needs to know what it owns, such as devices, software, and applications, and how these are used daily. However, many organizations struggle to create a clear inventory and map vital resources. Without this, it's like trying to protect your home without knowing all the entry points. There also needs to be more visibility into how these systems interact, making it challenging to spot vulnerabilities or unusual activity.

Management of Access and Identity

ZTA is a system where every person or device must prove its identity before gaining access. This means organizations must track who has access to what and ensure precise permissions. However, the complexity of modern IT environments makes it difficult to manage these access controls as there is a combination of both on-premise systems and cloud-based apps.

Operational and Organizational Challenges

Switching to Zero Trust is a team effort that requires specialized skills. Many organizations face the challenge of hiring and retaining skilled personnel for the IT and security teams who can confidently manage security complexities and standards.

Creating Unified Policy

ZTA relies on consistent rules to determine who or what gets access. However, many organizations have yet to create a unified approach to managing these rules. Instead, they may have fragmented systems, creating a further security gap. Smaller organizations assume that ZTA is out of their reach and should only be implemented by larger corporations with big budgets.

Implementing and Integrating Technology

ZTA is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Every organization must tailor it to meet its needs, which can be tricky. Without adequate priority and knowledge, organizations risk investing in the wrong tools or becoming overwhelmed.

Implementing ZTA Made Easier

Doing it all on your own can be pretty overwhelming. In this section, we will explore some top companies that can help make the migration and implementation of ZTA easier for you.

Nexus Group

Nexus Smart ID helps organizations enable zero trust and digitalization with trusted identities. These trusted identities can be used for access control to organizational facilities, passwordless authentication to digital resources, and digital signature documents. Nexus offers a comprehensive corporate ID solution that covers all types of identities, such as common access cards, RFID cards, key fobs, smart cards, and digital smart cards for mobile phones and laptops.

CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike offers a zero-trust solution that provides security for the most critical areas of enterprise risk to stop breaches in real time. It also offers hyper-accurate detections and automated protection, ensuring a frictionless zero-trust journey regardless of organizational size. With CrowdStrike, your security team can achieve superior zero-trust protection and performance without the pressure of managing extensive data and ongoing personnel costs.

Fortinet

Fortinet Universal ZTNA is a security solution that offers businesses the flexibility, granular access control, and ongoing verification required to keep their organization secure. It enables ZTNA policies to be enforced for both remote workers and on-site workers, giving you flexible deployments while also providing organizations with a VPN. ZTNA, vulnerability scanning, URL filtering, and endpoint protection with a single agent.