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What Is Zero Trust Security?

Cybersecurity has been a hot topic in the world of tech for quite a while now. In fact, cybercrime has increased 600% since the COVID-19 pandemic. If a company experiences a breach, it could forever damage the trust between them and their customers.

In order for organizations to uphold the best security standards, it’s important for them to be on track with the newest security methods and technologies. Zero trust security is a modern security model taking over the tech industry as the latest standard in cybersecurity

How Zero Trust Security Works

Traditional security models assumed users and endpoints could be trusted if they were verified once, or existed within a specific domain or network. On the other hand, zero trust security works by never assuming users or endpoints can be trusted. In fact, there’s a common phrase for zero trust security that goes “never trust, always verify.”

Zero trust security works by requiring any entity within a network that requests access continuously verify itself and be authenticated. Verification is done with various methods, often used together, like user roles, multi-factor authentication, location, device, data requested, and more.

A zero trust security model assumes any request for access is a breach, and the user or endpoint that made the request must validate their identity. For a zero trust security model to work, your organization must have clearly defined user roles as well as employ continuous monitoring of communications and requests.

Why Zero Trust Security Is the Best Security Model

Zero trust security has a number of benefits. Not only does it prevent many breaches from ever happening at all, but it can also help to mitigate the damage if a hacker does break in.

For one, by continuously verifying the identity of a user on any request, there are more chances for the breach to be stopped. On traditional security models, a hacker could enter the network by falsely identifying themselves one time, then have free rein in the environment. With zero trust security, a hacker would have to identify themselves falsely (and get away with it) over and over again.

Another benefit of zero trust security is that security protocols are directly attached to workload communications, meaning that if a breach does happen, it is easy to identify where the problem occurred and mitigate the risk going forward.

Upskill Your Team in Zero Trust Security 

Zero trust security is the security model of the future. If your organization is lacking cybersecurity talent, this up-and-coming technology may be your solution. Learn more about how you can upskill your teams in zero trust security and position your company for continued success with Udacity’s Enterprise offering

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Jennifer Shalamanov
Jennifer Shalamanov
Jennifer is a content writer at Udacity with over 10 years of content creation and marketing communications experience in the tech, e-commerce and online learning spaces. When she’s not working to inform, engage and inspire readers, she’s probably drinking too many lattes and scouring fashion blogs.