Zero Trust network access - Accops

Busting Popular Myths About Zero Trust network access

4 min read

Zero Trust network access - Accops

“Trust but verify” was a popular security adage for many years. This approach, however, is no longer enough in today’s borderless, global, mobile, cloud-based threatscape. 

Gartner predicts that firms will spend $137 billion on IT security and risk management, despite this 66 percent of all companies suffered security breaches last year. With so much money put in security, you’d think we’d be a step ahead of  the malicious elements lurking in the dark world. But rarely a week goes by without the latest high-profile hack being exposed. 

As it requires companies to never trust and always verify, zero-trust security is an alternative to old security techniques. Every organisation must acknowledge that attackers reside both within and outside the network — and that perimeter-based security no longer protects against identity-based and credential-based intrusion, which are today’s primary attack vectors. The answer is to eliminate trust from the equation altogether by providing just enough permission at precisely the right moment.

That being said, despite proving its effectiveness, companies are still hesitant to adopt zero-trust security measures in their company due to certain misconceptions. In this blog, we’ll look at the top misconceptions and set the record straight. 

The First Myth: Zero-Trust is a Commodity

It’s critical to understand that zero-trust is a process, not an endpoint. Simply described, zero-trust is a data security architecture that progressively removes elements of trust from the network infrastructure.

The problem for companies new to the zero-trust paradigm is not avoiding suppliers that promise to provide a one-size-fits-all “zero-trust solution” yet fail to deliver. Rather than that, IT directors should seek providers that develop solutions to aid in the move to a zero-trust architecture.

Numerous product categories allow the installation of a zero-trust network architecture, which may help enterprises achieve the highest possible level of security. When integrated and utilised appropriately, these technologies successfully lower the attack surface and restrict the explosion radius in the event of a breach while maintaining network availability, business functions, and productivity. 

Finally, when done correctly, a full zero-trust system with ongoing trust verification strives to eliminate the attack surface entirely.

The Second Myth: Zero-trust Is Detrimental To Network Availability

Not only does zero-trust security boost network availability, it also improves the application access encounters. Security and network teams may have divergent objectives. For example, the network team may be tasked with the responsibility of quickly and effectively moving assets between locations, while the security team afterwards adds controls on the data. 

Network performance as well as availability may deteriorate as a result of this procedure. This is not the case when the network fabric is approached with a security-first mindset, which is critical to the zero-trust architecture.

As identity and its traits take the place of IP addresses and ports as the new dynamic edge, businesses may gradually establish a virtual micro perimeter around their assets. This benefits IT by reducing the blast radius of an assault via the use of an evolving model.

The Third Myth: Zero-Trust Solutions Will Displace VPNs

There are a few exceptions to this myth. To begin, the replacement of virtual private networks (VPNs) is often cited as a reason for the use of zero-trust network access (ZTNA) technologies. ZTNA has traditionally defended authenticated VPN technologies for application access and eroded the confidence required for employee and partner cooperation. 

This is particularly true in a context where remote work has risen tremendously, highlighting the speed, scalability, and security limits of VPN infrastructures.

What distinguishes zero-trust from older VPN systems is the manner in which it is implemented. When implemented incorrectly, ZTNA does not address all VPN constraints. However, when implemented properly, ZTNA may go beyond just replacing VPN to unleash new possibilities and overcome the constraints and hazards associated with the traditional implicit trust architecture.

The Fourth Myth: Zero-Trust Architectures Prevent Breach

Regrettably, there is no “silver bullet” in the security sector that will prevent all intrusions. Likewise, ZTNA technologies are not impenetrable and cannot remove all risks. It is critical to “trust nothing and verify everything” while working with zero-trust – this involves your zero-trust security stack.

A trusted broker, for example, that does not use multifactor authentication (MFA), has the potential to be exploited at some time. One approach to address this is by the use of several entry and exit points, which may help reduce the risk of outages. It’s important to realize that zero-trust is a journey that gradually minimises the attack surface in order to eliminate it entirely. This cannot be accomplished in a single day and needs appropriate preparation.

The Fifth Myth: Zero-Trust Affects User Experience & Productivity

It’s reasonable to determine that customer experience and productivity would suffer as a result of the zero-trust measures. However, with the appropriate technologies in place, a seamless experience is attainable by nanosegmenting individuals, devices, applications, processes, and data, and enforcing intelligent rules as near to the asset as possible.

Administratively, production grows as complexity declines. For instance, when an individual leaves an organisation, deleting access is complicated or even disregarded, and access may persist, posing a long-term danger to a company’s security. On the other hand, when an employee leaves the company, the zero-trust method immediately revokes their access. 

In short, zero-trust is a path that businesses wanting a creative, aspirational approach to security should pursue. Zero-trust is a continuous process of policy adaptation and verification that supports the coexistence of security and networking goals. Organizations may begin their journey with confidence by following a zero-trust strategy and implementing the appropriate set of integrated security technologies. At Accops, we can guide you through the entire process and ensure your company is able to leverage the benefits of zero-trust. 

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