It has been the goal of every organization or business to secure its customers’ data. But many times, they fail to do this. Cybercriminals are always searching for weaknesses in a system, network, and its people. One should be taking measures on how to defeat them. The five steps to a zero trust network would be a great help.
What is zero trust security? It is an information security concept that enforces strict identity verification. It’s based on the “never trust and always verify” principle. Any user or device trying to connect to a network must pass authentication first. Once successful, they gain network access with certain restrictions. The five steps to a zero trust network is also be helpful here.
The Forrester zero trust model redesigns network security. Its fundamental approach is data-centric. This means that data protection is the center of focus in a zero trust security framework. An attacker would find ways to steal someone’s sensitive and confidential data. They would then sell this on the dark web in exchange for cryptocurrency. The five steps to a zero trust network can prevent data breaches from occurring.
There are various zero trust solutions that can help you secure your network. Mastering the basics first is important. You can have strong network security by following the five steps to a zero trust network. You will learn more about this in the next section.
The Five Steps to a Zero Trust Network
Protecting the sensitive data of your clients is your top priority. Loss and theft of data break the trust of your customers. It is crucial to secure your network against any threat. Here are the most important five steps to a zero trust network:
Step #1: Identify and Classify Data
The basic logic in this step is that you can’t protect what you can’t see. You must first know where your business stores its clients’ data. Who uses this information and how sensitive is it? Not knowing the answers to these is allows data breaches to happen. It is necessary to identify and classify the data you want to secure.
Forrester’s data classification model sorts data into three categories:
- Public.
- Internal.
- Confidential.
Step #2: Map the Flows of your Sensitive Data
Understanding how data moves across your network is important. You must find and map all dependent network and system objects. You can discover obsolete hardware and outdated software in the process. Mapping the application is helpful in disaster recovery planning. This exposes sanctioned and unsanctioned third-party and cloud-service dependencies. End-to-end encryption for sensitive data flowing to a third party is necessary. Protecting data while in storage, in use, and in transit is vital.
Step #3: Architect Your Zero Trust Microperimeters
You must define microperimeters or segments around sensitive data. Determine where the flow of data is optimal. After this, you can identify where to place the microperimeters. There are many ways of enforcing microperimeters. One method is to make use of a physical or virtual next-generation firewall (NGFW). Another is to use a software-based microsegmentation approach. The next thing to do is to enforce access limitations. This will decrease the chances of an internal threat from happening. Users and devices should only get the necessary privileges to do their tasks.
Step #4: Continuously Monitor the Zero Trust Network
It is mandatory to log and inspect network traffic for any malicious activity. A web application firewall (WAF) can examine all inbound and outbound traffic. This ensures 24/7/365 network protection.
Step #5: Embrace Security Automation
Some people still use manual processes to do their tasks. This takes away too much of their precious time. Doing manual processes slows breach detection time. It also makes your network vulnerable to attacks, giving hackers more time to exfiltrate your data. This is the reason automation is necessary for network security.
Conclusion
Now you know the five steps to a zero trust network and are aware of the importance of having a zero trust security framework. For more information, please click here.