Zero trust security: A dynamic approach to government agencies
Zero Trust Security: A Dynamic Approach To Government Agencies

Zero Trust Security approaches the traditional Local Area Network (LAN) security model at a much higher level of networking. It was originally developed by Microsoft as part of their Trustworthy Computing Initiative to secure their huge network and make it more resistant to attacks and is now being used to protect organizations around the world.

 

What is Zero Trust?

"Zero trust" is a term coined by Forrester Research to describe a new way for companies to manage their cybersecurity and protect themselves from cyberattacks. Companies don't need to depend on fixed security measures with this approach. Instead, they monitor and control access to systems according to user identity and behaviour at any given time. Security teams can create policies that allow users with different levels of trust (such as employees or contractors) on the same system, depending on the time of day, location, or other factors.

 

The Benefits of Zero Trust Security

Zero Trust Security is a methodology that aims to stop the misuse of data by implementing three layers of security:

  1. Technical controls (such as firewalls, IDS/IPS, antivirus)
  2. Access controls (role-based access privileges)
  3. People controls (policies and training for the users)

 

This approach requires strong communication between the various teams so that no one team takes responsibility for the other’s area of expertise. Most importantly, this approach must be backed up by a culture of ownership and responsibility with employees who know what it means to serve their customers.

 

How can organisations implement Zero Trust Security?

One of the most important parts of implementing a Zero Trust Security model is to understand how it impacts your organisation. For example, if you have a distributed enterprise, that means all devices will be considered untrusted by default. As such, it's important for staff to be able to access sensitive data from anywhere in the world. It's also important for organisations to make this adaptive approach as simple as possible and include features like automated user provisioning where possible. Zero Trust Security mandates the use of two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication is a security technique that requires more than one form of identity verification. For example, a user might be asked to type in a Personal Identification Number (PIN) or confirm their identity by providing another form of security information, such as a fingerprint.

 

Why does Zero Trust apply to Government agencies?

Zero Trust security is about keeping the bad guys out. This is achieved by limiting access to only what's needed when it's needed and from where it's needed. Moreover, Zero Trust relies on a tactical approach that continuously monitors networks, data and users while building controls. Speaking of these, we have Trusted Apps, which limit the number of devices or users that can access particular applications; Perimeter Architecture; and the highest level of security - Data Exfiltration Prevention. Who can benefit from Zero Trust? Basically, anyone, who has valuable data they don't want leaked. This may include healthcare facilities, government agencies, manufacturing plants, retail stores and credit card companies. Zero Trust security architecture was created to solve the ever-rising cybersecurity risk. It's a smart architecture that relies on network, data and user behaviour analysis to grant access to various applications. Zero Trust is exactly what it sounds like - a no -revenue-trust model. If a remote user is authenticated, they are granted zero trust to access a network. This means that if an application user logs into a network and the network is breached, only that application has been compromised. Zero Trust may be more difficult to implement than traditional trust models, but it removes much of the risk.

 

The Risk: Zero Trust is a relatively new concept and the idea of granting zero trust to remote users may be a hard sell for organizations. Nevertheless, Zero Trust is definitely worth considering as a response to the recent data breaches.

 

The Benefit: Zero Trust may be challenging to implement, but it does offer a very secure approach to managing an organization’s access to data. It also offers a way to control the use of applications by allowing only authorized with the advent of information sharing and cloud computing, the rules of protection are changing. Even if a government agency is working on classified data, it is not immune to hackers. With a Zero Trust approach, agencies do not need to concern themselves with such problems because all users are treated as potential threats.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the first step to achieving a zero-trust security system is to change the culture and mindset. This means shifting from a "firewall" mentality to one of trust, cooperation, and information sharing. It is also crucial to create a common language for talking about information security, regardless of the organization’s size or industry. Layer3 is strategically positioned to help organizations design and implement a Zero Trust Security system. Contact us for more details enquiry@layer3.com.ng --or contact us here. Our consultants will be on hand to answer your questions.

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