What is Zero Trust
Zero trust is a security model based on the principle that no devices or users are trusted by default. Every access request, whether internal or external, must be authorized every time before being granted access to the network. The zero trust model stands in contrast to traditional security, which assumes that any device or user could be a threat and compromised.
How Zero Trust Fits into Cloud Security?
Cloud environments are different from traditional on-premises IT infrastructure. The main reason for this is due to the dynamic and distributed nature of the cloud environments.
Applications and data are often stored and shared across multiple cloud providers,on-premise servers, etc. In such a setup, traditional security measures will become obsolete, and it assumes everything in the network is safe, which no longer suits the modern threat landscape. Here is how zero trust fits into cloud security
✅ Perimeter-less Network
In cloud environments, the network perimeter can’t be defined due to its dynamic and distributed nature. Comparing to traditional on-premise IT networks, cloud environments spread across multiple geographies, organizations, and service providers.
In this scenario, Zero trust perfectly fits here to avoid intrusion from other networks, with the help of IAM (Identity Access Management) zero trust can be implemented to ensure that users are authenticated every time they request access.
✅ Segmentation
Segmentation involves dividing the network into smaller and isolated chunks, each with its security protocol. This is important for cloud environments where sensitive data, applications, and workloads are often distributed across different regions, availability zones, or even multiple cloud providers.
In zero trust model,segmentation prevents the movement of attackers laterally to other parts of network,limiting the impact of a breach.Many modern cloud service providers have inbuilt tools and features that can allow organizations to implement zero trust model.
✅ Least-privilege
A critical feature of zero trust in the cloud is the concept of least privilege-where users,devices and applications are only granted access to the resources they need.Cloud environments often involve multiple layer of infrastructures with full of sensitive data and intellectual property,making it crucial to ensure that users needs to have minimal access minimal to data.
Zero trust facilitates this by role-based access control (RBAC) or attribute-based access control (ABAC), where access is granted based on predefined roles or attributes or current projects they are working on. This reduces the overall attack surface and prevents unauthorized access even if there is any security incident.
✅ Safe Communication
Many cloud-based applications and services rely on microservices, APIs, and service-to-service for communication. Zero trust can ensure secure communication between users by only allowing authorized entities to interact.
✅ Continuous Monitoring
Zero trust emphasize continuous monitoring to ensure the access remains secure at all times.For example,if a user in odd time accessing sensitive data from suspicious location,zero trust polices can trigger alerts to security teams or perform verification to confirm the identity or deny the access promptly.
✅Automation
Managing security policies in hybrid environments can be challenging and daunting. Zero-trust frameworks often use automation to enforce security policies in real time. For example, when a device fails a security check(Unusual geographic location), it could be automatically removed from the network and denied access without human intervention.
How to Implement Zero Trust in Cloud Security
Implementing zero trust for securing cloud environments can be a challenging task.Zero trust is built on the principle “never trust”.This means continuous monitoring and verification of every user and device.Here is the step-by-step approach to implement zero trust in cloud environment.
Step1:Define and Classify Assets
The first step in implementing zero trust is to identify your organization’s assessments and classify them based on the sensitivity of the resources you want to protect at any cost. Once identified, the sensitive assets are called “protect surface”-only authorized users and devices can access them.
Step 2:Map The Flow of Data
After defining and classifying assets, the next step is to understand how data flows within your cloud environments. This involves mapping the flow of data between users,devices,applications and clients across your cloud environments.Mapping the flow of data helps you in implementing micro-segmentation to prevent the intruder’s lateral movement in network.
Step 3:Implementing Identity Access Management(IAM)
The next step is to implement an Identity and Access Management (IAM) system. Zero trust relies on IAM to determine whether the users are authenticated to access the cloud environment.
Step 4:Draft Zero Trust Policies
Now you can draft your organization’s zero trust policies based on who should access sensitive data and how least privilege model should be enforced etc.After finalizing your zero trust policies,educate your employee about it.
5. Monitor and Update Zero Trust policies
After enforcing the zero trust policies in your organization’s cloud environment,continuously monitor and inspect the logs to check how good the policy it.Morever regularly update the policy to stay head of threat actors.
Conclusion
Zero trust in cloud security has become non-negotiable due to the threats and challenges that cloud environments face now. As organizations continue to migrate to the cloud, they are faced with a growing attack surface, insider threat, and complexities in managing security across the cloud environment, etc. By implementing zero trust, organizations are now perfectly armed to address the security gaps in the cloud environments.
With the right implementation, zero trust can prevent unauthorized access reduce the lateral movement of the attacker, and provide clear visibility into the cloud environment, making it a critical strategy in improving the security posture of the organization.
