Episode 40 The Zero Trust Security Model

Welcome to episode 40 of the Cyber Security Happy Hour Podcast.

Host: Christie

Episode 40: The Zero Trust Security Model 

Today, I take a deep dive into the Zero Trust Security Model, a Cyber Security approach that continuously verifies and never assumes trust.

The zero trust framework challenges conventional methods of trust based on entities' locations, securing potential loopholes through constant verification whether users are inside or outside the organization network.

The goal of the Zero Trust Model is not just to prevent unauthorized access to data and services, but to enhance security, protect sensitive information, and mitigate cyber risk.

 

In today’s hybrid work environment, combining remote and office work, securing access to critical information is paramount. It is crucial to verify user identity and restrict privileges, applying the principle of least access.

I also highlight how partitioning networks into smaller segments controls access, reducing the potential impact of a security breach and containing potential threats.

 

Additionally, continuous monitoring and behavior analysis enable proactive defense and early threat detection, further backed by encryption to secure data in transit and at rest.

 

Multiple technological solutions can be utilized to implement the Zero Trust Architecture.

 

I also discuss several popular and integral methods, such as multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, Identity and Access Management, and Zero Trust Network Access.

 

These solutions provide a multi-layered defense against security breaches, collaborating to achieve a robust zero trust ecosystem.

As valuable as Zero Trust Model is, it’s important to understand the challenges such as implementation complexity, user experience, resource intensity, requirement for training, and cost.

However, with careful planning, a thorough risk assessment, and commitment to ongoing improvements, many organizations find that the benefits of adopting a zero trust model outweigh these challenges.

Stay tuned to our future episodes as we continue to provide insights into Cyber-Security and the Zero Trust Security Model.

I appreciate our listeners and invite you to follow our podcast, leave comments, and share it with others. Together, let's continue learning, growing, and taking proactive steps in Cyber Security.

 

Enjoy!

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Cybersecurity Happy Hour podcast.
I'm your host, Christy, and this is episode 40.
And today's topic is the Zero Trust Security Model.
The Zero Trust Security Model is a cybersecurity approach.

(00:20):
And when organizations, I would say, typically use this model,
What's behind it is the trust issue, comes down to trust,
and it challenges the traditional notion of trusting different entities based
on their location within the organization or if they're outside the organization's network.

(00:46):
So that is the zero trust framework. So trust is never assumed,
and the verification process is constant.
And it's a constant ongoing, regardless of where the person is,
the employee is, the customer is, regardless of where the user is.

(01:07):
So the principle behind this is it operates on never trust and always, always verify.
So what is the main goal of the zero trust model? The goal is to prevent unauthorized
access to data and services and ensure that access is given on a granular level as possible.

(01:30):
Other primary goals, other goals are to enhance security, which is always a
good thing, protect sensitive data and mitigate cyber risk.
Today's work environment, I would say most, not all, within the workplace is
a hybrid environment. So working remotely and working in the office.
And you have these connections of applications, data and people.

(01:56):
So you can see the access to these critical information must be protected.
We can't assume that a member of staff is actually logging in from a said location
and they're actually that person, that's that user.
So they must find a way to constantly verify and never, never trust.
What is the key thing here? So let's walk through this.

(02:17):
So first of all, the identity of the user must be verified.
So user authentication is a fundamental aspect of zero trust.
So the users, the devices must authenticate their identity before accessing any resource.
And as I said previously, this verification is an ongoing process.

(02:40):
The trust model also uses the principle of least privileged access.
And what this does, this again is access by giving users and the devices,
they must have the minimal level of access that is necessary to do their job,
to complete their job or their task.

(03:01):
So any unnecessary permissions is restricted. And what this does,
really, the effects of this is that it reduces the potential impact if there's
a security breach at all.
Microsegmentation. So, again, the network, so you have a network,
and they're divided into smaller segments.
And within these segments, each segment will have its own access control.

(03:25):
The advantage of this is it reduces or limits lateral movement across the network,
makes it more challenging for attackers to navigate what's inside the network
because the objective of attackers is once they have reached your perimeter,
then they go in and try to move laterally across your network with the objective

(03:47):
of gaining admin rights.
So the smaller segments enforces or reduces security risks. let's say one segment
is breached, then the others are secure or they will have time to further protect themselves.
Continuous monitoring. So again, zero trust requires continuous monitoring across the network.

(04:11):
So what does it monitor? It monitors the user's behavior.
So, for example, a user works 95, less than 95, and they're typically logging
8.30 a.m., typically finish about 5, yes?
Giving the employer half an hour. But if there's a change in the behaviour pattern,
if they're still contracted to work nine to five, however, their counts...

(04:37):
Is all logging in, let's say, 10 p.m. at night, then that will obviously trigger a red flag.
So there's ongoing monitoring and also device health check.
So again, so any deviation from any of these behaviors,
what this does is it will trigger an alert to either to the admin,

(04:59):
to get security admin on, so that they can further investigate to ensure ensure
that the organization is not being breached.
So with the zero trust model, again, they've seen they've been breached.
Compared to our traditional security models that focus on the defense,
defense, okay, let's protect the defense.

(05:21):
With the zero trust, as I said, assumes that threats can come from both external and internal sources.
Because sometimes the threats are things, oh, there's hackers,
because people are coming in, and sometimes the threat source is within.
So with the shift in this mindset, the focus is towards early detection and containing the threat.

(05:44):
Encryption. So there is encryption. So how does this work in this model?
It's securing data in transit and at rest.
So when the data is going from point to point, through that transmission,
the data is encrypted. And these components are critical of zero trust.

(06:07):
And what this does is ensures that even if an unauthorized entity gains access,
the data will remain unreadable because it's encrypted.
It remains unreadable without the decryption keys.
So there are many technologies that can be used to implement zero trust architecture.

(06:29):
And some of them, people will be familiar with them already.
For one, let me give one example, multi-factor authentication.
Single sign-on, typically used today in most organizations, I believe.
So the important part of the zero trust implementation is to ensure that the

(06:50):
trust is not based on the network, as I mentioned before. The network segmentation, I would say.
And how this works is, obviously, there's zero trust. So the user must authenticate
using usernames, passwords, which are, just by, those two are not easily compromised.
So there must be a third aspect of something that you have to ensure that the

(07:18):
user can be identified and to reduce the impact of credential breach.
Also, single sign-on as well. So users can sign in with one set of credentials
and access all enterprise applications.
Identity and access management is a key aspect of Zero Trust.
This identity and access management provides things like privileged access management,

(07:43):
central identification of governance, but role-based attribute access controls
are back on ABAC. just-in-time access.
This helps personnel to access systems on a need-to-know basis.
The Zero Trust Network Access, also known as the Software Defined Parameter, SDP.

(08:04):
And in this instance, it gives an advanced access solution and then allows users
to connect to an application if they need to perform certain tasks within their roles.
Zero Trust Network Access replaced Zero Trust Network are replacements for Virtual Private Networks.

(08:26):
VPN does offer a secure connection and gives the user access to the entire network.
However, with this, Zero Trust focuses on a particular segment.
Other solutions are Secure Access Edge, which is a cloud-based service that
provides a wide access, well, wide access networking, remote access as well,

(08:49):
security functionality to the user.
Again, what are the benefits of Zero Trust? So by implementing least privileged
access and micro-segmentation,
the attack surface is significantly reduced and limits the potential impact
in the security incident.
Zero Trust model provides a proactive and dynamic approach to security.

(09:15):
And as we know, our threats are
evolving and it helps to adapt to evolving threats and vulnerabilities.
Data protection, continuous monitoring and encryption, I mentioned encryption
before, and also protects sensitive data.
And what is it we're protecting against? Unauthorized access.
With the change in environment, hybrid work, hybrid work, remote work,

(09:39):
hybrid work, it helps to adapt to modern network environments.
And again, we're focused on security here, so it ensures that those environments
are secure compared to traditional networks where the boundaries are defined.
It can help support compliance.
So the Zero Trust models align with most regulatory requirements.

(10:03):
Why? Because they enforce strict access controls and data protection measures.
And whilst the Zero Trust model offers, as I've listed, a few advantages with
the objective of enhancing cybersecurity,
there are some disadvantages I would also like to mention, because it's not all bells and whistles.

(10:24):
So implementing this model could be quite complex because you have to fully
understand the technologies or solutions within these type of models.
And these can be challenging for organizations, especially if they have legacy systems.

(10:46):
Systems and implementing that
then you could not just implement then you have to configure the necessary components
and then break i said these are segments breaking
down a segment into micro segments and
then monitor them continuously requires some time and having various resources
in place to achieve this disadvantage i would say involves the user experience

(11:11):
so when you when you I'll go to change user behavior.
And as we all know, I will say this, as humans, some of us are resistant to change.
And what I'm saying is change here is that the organization is going to introduce
new or rigorous authentication and access controls.

(11:37):
And with these new experiences, it will take time to have some sort of acceptance.
Acceptance so then the users or your
staff may need to go through additional verification depths
and during this this process
it can affect productivity because you take time for some people to some users

(11:59):
to get accustomed to the system and also user satisfaction zero trust model
also can be resource intensive and
why is that because of the continuous monitoring So not just monitoring,
it's analyzing the data that's been captured from the network in order to ensure

(12:21):
that the threats are not actual threats.
Okay and with these
continuous monitoring it provides it's
about the system has to provide ongoing resources so it
needs to you need to compute these results and
again it can be resource tiresome or i'll say resource intensive training so

(12:46):
you've implemented this system has gone live then you need to train the users on how to.
To use the system, how to understand and how to adapt to the zero trust model.
So again, training must be provided. What are you training them?
Understanding implicit authentication, access controls, and other security measures.

(13:11):
Now, I think some organizations, obviously, they will have some of these implemented
because I mentioned before, multi-factor authentication, single sign-on.
So some of it will not be foreign.
However, if there's going to be changes and with additional steps,
especially for those organizations that do not have these solutions as part of the infrastructure,

(13:32):
then it would take time for some behaviors to change.
Cost. Now, the initial cost of implementing the Zero Trust model includes acquiring
and configuring necessary technology.
So you're going to have to get the technology and configure it.
And that time it may take time not just to configure to test as well and again

(13:56):
the ongoing maintenance and updates of the solution can contribute towards long-term expenses.
Like these potential disadvantages many organizations find the benefits of adopting
a zero trust model at wage challenges so successful implementation requires
careful planning doing a thorough risk assessment and having a commitment to

(14:20):
ongoing improvements and adaptation.
If you have enjoyed this episode, I greatly appreciate if you can follow our
podcast and leave a comment.
It would help us reach more people. You can share this as well.
And please stay tuned for upcoming episodes where I will dive into to very compelling

(14:45):
topics or introduce a new guest.
I'm looking forward to giving you more valuable insights.
Until next time, keep learning, growing and taking action. Thank you for listening.
Music.