Zero trust is a high-level strategy that assumes that individuals, devices, and services attempting to access company resources, both externally and internally, can't automatically be trusted.
Digital transformation, embracing of SaaS, remote work, operational technology, third-party services, and data exchange have all led to a far more complex attack surface.
Organizations often focus their zero trust program on authentication, but entitlement and environment are also critical to understanding.
Putting Zero Trust to Work When implemented properly, multifactor authentication and other zero trust authentication capabilities should enhance, not hinder, security.
From an asset perspective, it's important that organizations have an understanding of both leading and trailing indicators of attack - for example, knowing how secure the system is and whether there is any indication that that level of security has been compromised.
Within an increasingly complex and broad security infrastructure, there is no single solution that delivers on zero trust.
There are a few techniques that can help overcome the challenges that can arise with a zero trust approach.
Pair Up Data Lakes and APIs There are some tools that help manage the chaos the cloud brings.
Data lake solutions have simplified the process of distilling disparate data sources into a unified view.
Waiting on the shores of data lakes is the workhorse of the data-gathering world - the ubiquitous and useful API. APIs are making it far easier for platform architects to gather critical insights and dump them into the data lake for automated analysis.
Data lakes can centralize and streamline the analysis of vast amounts of logs, alerts, and other security data, enabling the use of machine learning to efficiently detect and respond to threats.
APIs can facilitate real-time data sharing between security platforms, enhancing the speed and accuracy of threat detection and response.
Block Attack Paths By implementing zero trust, a compromised asset or user is a lot less likely to lead to a domainwide breach due to the ability to isolate affected systems.
Zero trust can prevent lateral movement and privilege escalation, which are how attackers conduct ransomware attacks.
To stop breaches, security teams should focus on breaking the attack paths favored by threat actors.
To do this, teams need to address the underlying exposures on the assets, as well as employ the segmentation and verification inherent in zero trust implementations.
Metrics are generally control-specific, so it's best to leverage existing best practices from organizations like the Center for Internet Security.
Zero trust architecture is a pivotal enabler in the landscape of cloud cybersecurity, but its implementation is far from straightforward.
The strategic integration of data lakes and APIs, coupled with automation of attack detection and isolation of compromised systems, is key to enhancing security in the cloud.
Employing precise metrics helps security teams navigate the complexities associated with the adoption of zero trust and unlock its full potential.
This Cyber News was published on www.darkreading.com. Publication date: Tue, 09 Jan 2024 01:40:27 +0000