From Zero to Winner: How Zero-Trust Security Can Save Your Network

How using Zero Trust can secure your network

For companies and organizations, Zero Trust technology is the best option to ensure the security of your IT infrastructure, connected devices and users.

Zero Trust is not a new concept. However the pandemic and the shift toward a more digital society are highlighting issues that were previously not considered, making Zero Trust security a hot topic.
Today there are more Internet-connected IoT devices than ever before. This equipment is designed to perform a single task, and unfortunately security is not a priority of the device. The lack of built-in security makes IoT devices vulnerable to attacks and also creates a potential entry point into an organization’s internal network.
As companies begin their digital transformation journey, it is critical that their network infrastructure is protected. Network segmentation, a Zero Trust security principle, helps prevent attacks. Once a compromise is detected, the likelihood of an attack can be reduced and lateral movement within the network can be limited so that other connected systems are not affected.

A brief overview of Zero Trust

In corporate and business environments, two approaches to network segmentation are used depending on the existing level of trust. Traditionally, the trust boundary was physical and implicit, so the computer network was protected by a firewall. Simply put, this means that what is inside is protected from the outside. However, this approach has had to evolve as risks and threats have increased.
In the Zero Trust world, trust is dynamic and adaptive and is no longer assumed even inside the network. The guiding principle is “never trust, always verify,” meaning acting as if attackers are already present in the system. With this principle in mind, the first step is network access control (NAC), identification of devices, and authentication of connected users. Based on these factors, macrosegmentation is configured using firewalls to filter traffic between different classes of devices and users. For example, you can isolate surveillance cameras and building management sensors. Then, based on identification, a second level of filtering within the segment allows refinement and achieves microsegmentation. At this second stage, the goal is to prevent data exchange between surveillance cameras within the same network segment.

Why Zero Trust is so important now

Over the past 18 months, the number of cyberattacks has increased and has become extremely costly for companies. In addition, hackers are carrying out increasingly sophisticated and malicious attacks. Since Zero Trust requires identification and authentication of every device and user before granting network access, attacks can be contained and even prevented. This is due to network segmentation, which limits access scope and reduces attack propagation.
Through the intelligent combination of macro- and microsegmentation, the Zero Trust approach provides a limited and mobile security perimeter around each user and device. Organizations manage network access control, define permissions (such as role-based access), and can protect and contain threats because the network continuously looks for abnormal or suspicious behavior.
New network functions enable Zero Trust, which proportionally increases protection against advanced and sophisticated cyberattacks.

Five steps to your Zero Trust network

While it is relatively easy to build a secure Zero Trust network from scratch (for example, a new facility or structure), most companies already have an existing network. The challenge for these organizations is to align approaches to meet business needs while protecting against attacks. Below are five steps to Zero Trust:

1. Monitor: identify all equipment, endpoints, connected devices, and verify the authenticity of all users with access to the network. An asset inventory is created and populated automatically.
2. Verify: control all connected devices and revoke those that are not justified for activity, as they increase attack risk. Apply the principle of least privilege, granting only the minimum permissions required to perform a task. If the network detects non-compliant equipment, a remediation or correction plan must be implemented.
   
3. Be aware: you must know everything about devices and workflows, and the traffic generated by these processes should intelligently combine macrosegmentation (input/output control) and microsegmentation (granular security rules).
   
4. Simulation: parallel application of identity, authentication, and security policies in “fail-open” mode: all devices are authorized, and network behavior is logged and indexed to establish authorization patterns and adapted security policies. This critical step refines security policy while ensuring normal operations are not affected.
   
5. Enforcement: in the final stage, “fail-open” becomes “fail-closed”: authentication failures are no longer tolerated, all users or devices without reference are denied, and all unauthorized flows are stopped. Network monitoring is immediate to ensure all devices are identified, and users are authenticated for network access or possibly placed in quarantine during security verification.

In short

The Zero Trust approach enables traffic identification, automatic asset inventory, creation of scheduled network rules, and shared user and IoT profiles according to policies. It also allows detection of central IDS or DoS switch attacks and, if necessary, placing suspicious traffic in quarantine within a limited and dynamic perimeter.
Zero Trust provides a consistent authentication strategy and security policy across the entire network infrastructure, implemented according to the needs of users and connected technologies. The intelligent combination of macrosegmentation and microsegmentation, with quarantine in case of policy violations, ensures the highest level of security for your network infrastructure. In an increasingly unstable, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world, Zero Trust is the best choice to protect your network and business assets.

Never forget the main rule — your security depends first and foremost on you. And if you or your company need help with cybersecurity, InfoTel can help you understand this task and entrust the protection of your data to our team of professionals. InfoTel is a full-service systems integrator of complex telecommunications and information solutions, with implementation experience since 2004.