The trend of remote working in the pandemic era for the last two years has actually triggered the development of more aggressive cyber threats. As a result, more and more businesses need a more modern network security model to protect their organization’s network.
To overcome this challenge, Zero Trust Security is one of the ideal methods that can be done. Its ability to monitor and authenticate all traffic—regardless of its position inside or outside the corporate network—is able to eliminate various types of cyberthreats.
Zero Trust Security brings advantages that are not only focused on network security. The solution also simplifies the access process and enables company employees to work from a variety of locations and devices, thereby enhancing their productivity and experience.
In fact, according to a survey conducted by Cloudflare, 83 percent of employees found Zero Trust Security to be a solution to ensure developer access is safe and fast, while 81 percent said this solution supports the expansion of remote working programs such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), and 71 percent said that Zero Trust is also more secure than a VPN, and lets them access apps more securely.
Want to know more about Zero Trust Security and which Zero Trust solution is most suitable for strengthening your business security? Check out the full presentation in the following article.
What is Zero Trust Security?
Zero Trust Security is an IT security method that uses strict identity verification for every person and device that tries to access resources on the network, regardless of their position inside or outside the network perimeter. Zero Trust does not apply the concept of trust. Thus, it will not make a system easy to trust. Instead, this solution eliminates trust.
Simply put, if you want to compare with traditional IT networks that trust anyone in their internals, Zero Trust Security actually trusts no one and anything.
Zero Trust Security Concept
In order to implement it effectively, Zero Trust Security has a number of concepts that businesses must understand. Here are some of them.
Continuous Monitoring and Validation
Zero Trust Security has a concept that always assumes that anyone inside or outside the network has the potential to become a threat. So, it is not professional users or devices that must be trusted automatically. Zero Trust also verifies user identity and privileges as well as device identity and security. Periodic login timeouts and connections that have been made, forcing users and devices to be constantly re-verified.
Fewer Privileges?
The next concept is less privileged access, a system that limits access rights and privileges to users who need them only. It is more or less like having a key that can open all the doors in one building, whereas a least privileged access user has a key that can only open a few doors.
When this happens to users who have these keys, they must also perform role-based access control as part of least privileged access, which means that keys (or access permissions) should only be granted to users based on their roles and responsibilities. An example of this mechanism is an HR receptionist in a large healthcare system where she does not have full access to all patient records in the ICU.
Device Access Control
A Zero Trust system needs to monitor how multiple devices are trying to access the network, ensure that each device is authorized, and check all devices to ensure they are not compromised. The control is done to prevent the attack layer on the network.
Microsegmentation
Zero Trust Security also takes advantage of microsegmentation, which is a way of breaking the security perimeter down into a number of small zones to manage separate access across different parts of the network.
Prevent Lateral Movement
In network security, “lateral movement” is the action in which an attacker moves within a network after gaining access to it. This move is very difficult to detect even when an attacker’s entry point is found, because they can immediately go on to damage other parts of the network.
Zero Trust is designed to restrain attackers so they will not be able to move laterally. Because Zero Trust access is segmented and must be regenerated periodically, an attacker will not be able to move to another microsegment in the network. Once the attacker’s presence is detected, the compromised device or user account can be quarantined, and cut off from further access.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication or Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is at the heart of Zero Trust Security, which means it requires more than one token to authenticate a user. This method has been used by many technology companies, such as Facebook and Google. When users log into a platform with a password, those who have multi-factor authentication enabled must also enter a code that is sent to another device, such as a smartphone.
Benefits of Zero Trust Security for Business
Zero Trust Security is becoming a more modern security model by bringing some optimal benefits to the business. What are the benefits presented?
Supports Productivity
Zero Trust is an ideal model for use in remote working environments, and supports employee productivity so they can work anywhere via multiple devices with extra security.
Easy Cloud Migration
Migrating to the cloud also requires maximum security. However, with a Zero Trust scheme, businesses can more easily move to a more complex cloud environment but are still supported by qualified security.
Prevent Various Risks
Zero Trust will always prioritize security above all else, making it prevent various security holes and minimize the risk of system and network intrusion.
What Does a Zero Trust Security Framework Look Like?
In order to effectively implement and manage Zero Trust Security, businesses need to be aware of a number of Zero Trust frameworks. Here are some of them.
Know Identity
Zero Trust can find out who will access the network, and must identify the identity of the accessor in detail.
Device Verification
Zero Trust is also capable of verifying devices and making data access requests to corporate browsers and applications.
Data Protection
Zero Trust can also protect data from unauthorized movement, where this solution uses classification methods and encryption processes automatically.
Monitor Apps
Zero Trust can access and configure the application to ensure security with the policies that have been set. In addition, this solution can also monitor application behavior to prevent suspicious things.
Infrastructure Security
Zero Trust can manage and configure infrastructure in the best way, especially in terms of security.
Internal Communications Encryption
Lastly, Zero Trust will also not allow devices used on the internal network to be trusted easily. The solution will encrypt internal communications and limit access based on policies, and even implement microsegmentation and live threat detection.
Advantages of Zero Trust Security Compared to VPN
As the name suggests, a VPN is a virtual private network that businesses use to connect employees remotely. However, a VPN cannot answer all the complex needs of a business.
This deficiency can be overcome with Zero Trust Security by offering more optimal security when compared to a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Zero Trust even provides more secure access to support the speed of business performance, where VPNs tend to be more vulnerable to data leak risks and slow down the user experience.
Extra Security Inside and Out with Cloudflare Zero Trust
Cloudflare Zero Trust is a Zero Trust Security solution that can help your business achieve optimal security both internally and externally as a whole. With this solution, authenticate and verify all traffic trying to connect to the system, before finally being able to grant access. Here are a number of advantages offered by Cloudflare Zero Trust.
1. Shorter Time
If there are troubleshoots, the IT team using Cloudflare Zero Trust will only need a shorter time to solve various problems. In fact, the time they need can be reduced by up to 80 percent.
2. Faster Setup
Set up akses internet yang lebih aman kini hanya membutuhkan waktu yang sangat cepat, yakni Cuma 30 menit saja.
3. Cost Efficiency??
Cloudflare Zero Trust not only offers convenience and less effort, but also lower costs. With this solution, businesses can more efficiently reduce costs by up to two times.
4. More Active Attack Mitigation
The attack mitigation provided by Cloudflare Zero Trust is able to reduce 91 percent of attacks before they can access applications and browsers.
Read more : Internet Access Gateaway, SolusiEfektif untuk Kontrol Akses Internet Lambat
Get Cloudflare Zero Trust from Helios
It’s time to create a safer network with Cloudflare’s Zero Trust Security solution. By using Cloudflare Zero Trust, you will get Zero Trust access that supports all applications, from cloud, on-premise, to SaaS without VPN. In addition, this solution also provides filtered browsing isolation services, as well as Gateways to secure and inspect traffic without sacrificing performance.
Get Cloudflare Zero Trust from Helios Informatika Nusantara (HIN). Helios as Cloudflare’s partner in Indonesia will assist companies starting from the consultation, deployment, to after-sales support. Professional and certified IT team will help you avoid trial and error. Find out more about Cloudlare Zero Trust visiting this page or contacting us via [email protected].
Penulis: Jeko Iqbal Reza
Content Writer CTI Group
