‘Zero trust’ is becoming the gold standard in IT security strategies

Especially in recent years, it’s become more and more clear that security fortification can be a major source of competitive advantage in business. If your security is more robust than that of your competitors, the impact will be real and tangible – you’ll have greater business continuity, and therefore greater profitability. So if you want to get ahead, you need to look for the latest and best ways to protect your IT infrastructure.

According to VentureBeat, “zero trust” security strategies are the hot new topic in 2022. Kevin Lynch, CEO of security firm Optiv, explained that for businesses looking to enhance their security posture, adopting a zero-trust approach is an idea that numerous IT leaders are taking a look at – though it may still be a while before many of them have fully actualized their plans.

“My sense is that we’re still in the buzzword side of zero trust, rather than in the mainstream of the market,” Lynch said. “A lot of our clients are talking about it. They’re thinking about it. But when I think about the efforts to be taken, to really deliver on a zero trust architecture, I would tell you, we’ve done less of what I think is required in that, than remains ahead. So we’re still in the early innings of that game."

Adopting a new security framework

There’s a real incentive for companies to take action where zero-trust security is concerned. This is even more true in light of COVID-19 and the resulting shift in people’s work lifestyles – with more employees than ever adopting remote and hybrid approaches to work these days, companies are dealing with a proliferation of new endpoints. They’ve got more people, accessing more networks, from more locations, with more different devices, than they’ve ever had. It’s difficult to verify that everyone has the credentials to go where they want to go. That’s why zero trust has become such a big deal – it’s the principle that no device, no interaction, no endpoint can be trusted until their identity is confirmed.

This is a big step forward from the old methods companies had for managing security. Not too long ago, the gold standard was the virtual private network (VPN) – that was the technology that businesses invested in and employees familiarized themselves with. But what we’re seeing now is a transition from a VPN approach to one based on zero-trust network access (ZTNA). With a simple two-step process in place – authenticate users first, then trust them – companies are upending their old security measures and implementing a more robust business model.

At Zones, we are more than willing to help clients everywhere make the transition to zero trust. We’ve always had Security Fortification as a core tenet of our business model – we work tirelessly to help organizations like yours to defend their endpoints, networks, data center, and the cloud. As zero trust grows to become the prevailing security strategy in 2022 and beyond, we’ll be there every step of the way, ready to guide you on your security journey. Reach out today if you’re ready to get started.

Learn more »