{"id":4625,"date":"2021-08-24T11:56:24","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T16:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/?p=4625"},"modified":"2021-08-24T11:56:24","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T16:56:24","slug":"why-zero-trust-has-become-the-go-to-framework-in-todays-world-of-hybrid-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/why-zero-trust-has-become-the-go-to-framework-in-todays-world-of-hybrid-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Zero Trust Has Become the Go-To Framework in Today’s World of Hybrid Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AnWhen many offices abruptly shut down and sent workers home\u00a0at the beginning of the pandemic, it became much more difficult for cybersecurity professionals to safeguard corporate networks. Taking advantage of weak points in hastily launched remote work infrastructure, cybercriminals ramped up their attacks.\u00a0Google’s Threat Analysis Group<\/a>\u00a0reported 18 million COVID-19-related phishing and malware Gmail messages daily in April 2020, and the average ransom for ransomware attacks rose to $111,605 in the first quarter of 2020, a 33 percent increase compared to the previous quarter, according to\u00a0Coveware<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Initially, many organizations deployed virtual private networks (VPNs) to maintain data security while everyone worked from home. However, the\u00a0U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)\u00a0warned in an alert<\/a>\u00a0that enterprise VPN utilization could lead to data breaches without patching, updates, and\u00a0multi-factor authentication (MFA)<\/a>. Supplier errors also pose a threat, as evidenced by security incidents involving free VPN platforms that have potentially exposed the personal information of millions of end users, according to Malwarebytes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, one type of technology emerged as the best possible solution to the pressing problem of ensuring\u00a0secure access for remote workers<\/a>: zero-trust network architecture.<\/p>\n

What Is Zero-Trust Architecture and How Does It Work?<\/h2>\n

Essentially, zero-trust solutions take the idea of regarding any entities outside your network with skepticism and extend that to everything inside the network as well, according to the CSO article “What is Zero Trust? A model for more effective security<\/a>.” Anyone seeking access to any resource must have their identity and permissions verified first.<\/p>\n

A zero-trust network carries out micro-segmentation and granular perimeter enforcement based on user characteristics (e.g., permissions, role and location) to give people access to only the resources they need to do their jobs, according to\u00a0Palo Alto Networks<\/a>. This makes it much more difficult for bad actors to get their hands on sensitive data.<\/p>\n

“Based on the principles of verify explicitly, use least privileged access, and assume breach, a comprehensive Zero Trust architecture creates safeguards within and across identity, endpoints, apps, infrastructure, network, and data, partnered with increased visibility, automation and orchestration,” wrote Vasu Jakkal, corporate vice president of Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity, in the supplier’s\u00a02021 Zero Trust Adoption Report<\/a>. “We not only recommend this approach with our customers and partners, we embrace it in our approach to global security and software development here at Microsoft.”<\/p>\n

The Reasons Behind the Rising Zero-Trust Adoption Rate<\/h2>\n

Based on surveys and interviews of over 1,200 security decision-makers, Microsoft found that nearly all (96 percent) of those surveyed identify zero-trust as critical to their company’s success. The vast majority (90 percent) of security decision-makers reported familiarity with zero-trust, and 76 percent say their organization is either in the process of implementing the framework or has fully adopted it.<\/p>\n

The Zero Trust Adoption Report identifies the following as the main motivating factors for implementing a zero-trust framework.<\/p>\n