Wed. Mar 27th, 2024
Zero-Trust Use Cases to Know About

Simply taking trust out of the equation to achieve zero trust sounds simple enough. However, it’s not quite that easy. It takes new tools, methodologies, and a different way of thinking to transition from a traditional security architecture that assumes trust for devices, people, and places to a zero-trust model that trusts nothing until it is verified.

Castle-and-moat security designs from the past focused on the perimeter. Until proven otherwise, everything that was outside the perimeter was hostile. To secure the internet and extranet edges of corporate networks, network security tools, such as firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, VPNs, and other security services, were implemented. Network-connected devices, users, and communications were largely regarded as “trusted” once inside.

Although many in the industry realized this wasn’t the most secure strategy, tools that help assume all network devices, users, and locations should be considered untrusted until they are verified have only recently been developed.

Public clouds and the rise of remote workforces are two additional factors propelling the adoption of zero-trust strategies. Security administrators quickly noticed that network flows were no longer passing directly through the corporate network as applications, data, and services started moving to public clouds. The same is true for employees accessing corporate LAN resources from outside. As a result, when remote traffic is hairpinned through perimeter security tools, edge security tools have significantly decreased in effectiveness and, in some cases, have turned into performance bottlenecks.

A recent Statista survey revealed that 41% of companies worldwide plan to implement a zero-trust design for cybersecurity as part of their overall security strategy.

To demonstrate how this security model can be applied in actual businesses, we will look at 5 zero-trust use cases in this blog post.

Zero-Trust Systems: What Are They Exactly?

Let’s quickly go over the definition and workings of zero-trust systems before moving on to zero-trust use cases.

The identity-based zero-trust security model, which was previously mentioned, verifies and authorizes each entity before granting access requests to resources. Multi-factor authentication, device posture checks, and ongoing user behavior monitoring can all be part of this.

The idea of “least privilege” is a crucial component of zero-trust systems. All other resources are off-limits to users; they are only given privileged access to the resources they need (applications and data) for their job function. By doing this, problems like insider threats or data breaches caused by hacked user accounts are avoided.

Five Actual Use Cases for Zero-Trust

1. Protection of patient data in the healthcare industry

The healthcare sector is a prime target for cyberattacks because it regularly deals with highly sensitive personal data. In actuality, ransomware attacks frequently target the healthcare industry.

Protecting patient data using zero-trust techniques and access control is one example of a zero-trust use case in the healthcare sector. This may entail setting up multi-factor authentication for all users who access patient records and ongoing monitoring and risk analysis to find any potential unauthorized access attempts. IT engineers would then grant authentication and authorization based solely on their trust architecture after using various security tools to identify potential attack surfaces.

2. Protecting customer data in financial services

Like the healthcare sector, financial services companies handle sensitive customer data that must be secured against cyber threats. Credit card numbers and other financial details fall under this category.

In this industry, implementing zero-trust systems can help ensure that only authorized users have access to customer data while continuously monitoring their behavior to detect and stop potential threats. The user experience can frequently suffer due to this strict access control, but the advantages of network security often outweigh the occasional inconvenience.

3. Government Organizations: Safeguarding Private Data

Classified documents and information about national security are just two examples of the sensitive data that government organizations frequently have and need to protect.

While continuously checking for any unauthorized access attempts, whether from secure remote or IoT devices, a zero-trust model can help ensure that only authorized individuals have access to this information.

4. Retail Sector: Insider Threat Prevention

Sensitive customer data is frequently gathered by retail businesses, including payment information and identifying information like addresses and phone numbers. They become prime targets for cyberattacks as well as for internal threats from employees who are dishonest or compromised.

By restricting real-time user access to customer data and continuously checking for any unusual behavior, zero-trust systems can help reduce these risks in the retail sector. Due to their relative lack of security in this relatively new data storage and access domain, companies that heavily rely on cloud services are frequently targeted.

5. Securing Internal Data in Technology Companies

Technology companies frequently have access to various sensitive data, including employee information and intellectual property. Zero-trust systems can be implemented by limiting user access and continuously checking for unauthorized access attempts to help secure this information.

Getting Support for Putting Your Own Zero-Trust Systems in Place

These are merely a few instances of zero-trust use cases in different industries.

Zero-trust will become a standard component of overall security strategies as more organizations come to understand its advantages, according to IT consulting firms in New York City or wherever suits you.

Find out more about zero-trust and how it can help your company if interested. To learn how we can assist your organization in implementing zero-trust, get in touch with us immediately and arrange a free consultation.

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