Today's technological world changes at breakneck pace, and the cybercriminals that would seek to do harm to a company like yours are no exception. As a result, IT and cybersecurity must fight to stay up to date, developing protections and defenses against threats that become more and more sophisticated as time passes. Zero-trust architecture is one approach that has proven especially successful in preventing cyberattacks and minimizing the damage that a security breach can do. This structure is straightforward but powerful when it comes to safeguarding your network against intrusions. Keep reading below to learn more about what it can do for you!
Always Verify: What is Zero-Trust Security?
Zero-trust security is a simple yet incredibly effective approach, despite its name. Based on the idea of "never trust, always verify," it is an approach to IT design and implementation that emphasizes constant user verification and device verification. While other security strategies may be lax toward users or devices that are already recognized by the network, such as accounts or devices issued by the company, this method requires everyone and every device to prove their trustworthiness at multiple stages.
With different approaches, an attacker can access everything on the system without restriction once they get inside, giving them the chance to wreak havoc and do a great deal of damage. This risk is lessened by zero-trust security, which not only makes it harder for a hacker to get into a system, but creates additional roadblocks within the system’s boundaries to keep them from accessing even more.
Principles of Zero-Trust Architecture
Identity Verification
One of the most basic principles of zero-trust architecture is identity verification. Everyone who wants to get into a system defended by zero-trust security has to prove that they are who they say they are, and this goes beyond an easily breached password. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is one of the most dominant forms of identity verification. Simple to use but difficult to hack, it requires users to supply an additional verification source on top of their password, often a one-time code from a specific app. This additional layer of security doesn’t largely disrupt a team’s daily workflow, but it does make it exponentially harder for a hacker to gain access to a system.
Endpoint Security
You might never have thought that locking your office door could be considered cybersecurity, but think again! Proper security practices for the “endpoints” of your system (the devices like laptops, phones, and tablets that can access the network) is a critical pillar of zero-trust architecture. One part of this is protecting your devices from physical theft that could give a hacker easy access to the system, so locking office doors and avoiding leaving your devices unattended and unsecured is vital. It’s also important to have digital security measures in place on individual devices, like programs to scan internet downloads for viruses, to ensure that an endpoint doesn’t become the starting point of a breach.
Continuous Monitoring
Zero-trust security means not implicitly trusting any entity trying to gain access to a network, but it also means not trusting any security measure to be foolproof. When you employ zero-trust principles for your system, you’re expecting that a breach or attack is still possible. Continuous monitoring of the network for suspicious activity is essential to this approach, allowing potential threats to be noticed, found, and eliminated as quickly as possible.
How Zero-Trust Architecture Can Help You
Utilizing zero-trust architecture is incredibly useful for small businesses. Not only are smaller organizations just as likely to be targeted by cybercriminals today as larger ones, but they can often pose an even more tempting target to hacks specifically because their cybersecurity is often lax and easier to breach. Despite this fact, you might not have the capability to hire and maintain a large IT staff to help you deal with these threats.
Zero-trust security, with its emphasis on prevention instead of reaction, doesn’t require the same dedicated manpower of other cybersecurity approaches, but can provide the amount of safety and reassurance that you need with minimal effort and expense! For example, a small law firm could require all staff to use MFA when logging into the network in order to protect sensitive client information instead of granting some users or devices access by default. A simple adjustment like these can have a huge impact on the safety of your business!
If you’re interested in adopting zero-trust principles into your company’s security architecture, Progressive Computer Systems can help you! Contact us today for more information.
