A zero trust security model aims to reduce the ability of hackers to access internal resources once they gain access to an account. In traditional security architecture, a compromised account would mean that a malicious actor could use the account’s access to interact with any resources they need.
Zero trust security eliminates this possibility, adding additional layers of security that constantly seek authentication and user validation. To effectively enforce zero trust systems, cybersecurity professionals can turn to other tools like a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to achieve granular control over access requests and stop unauthorized users from accessing private resources.
In this article, we’ll explore the power of zero trust security models, outline the role of WAF technology in upholding these models, and demonstrate how your business can enhance cybersecurity one step at a time.
What Is Zero Trust?
A zero trust security model is system of security operation in which a user must first validate their identity before performing any action in your business. A traditional security system uses something called a ‘Castle and Moat’ approach, which prevents anyone without an account from accessing any internal resources but lets internal accounts have free reign.
While this can be effective, if a hacker were to phish account details, they would be able to access all of these internal resources as they would effectively be on the inside of the moat. A zero trust security model turns this on its head, giving absolutely no one access privileges apart from those on the inside who first validate their identities.
Zero trust means that no single account is trusted in this ecosystem. Even accounts that validate their identity will only have access to the lowest possible level of privilege in the system that allows them to complete whatever task they may have.
A zero trust approach helps to minimize the potential for hackers to access a company’s system and breach any of its data. Even if they were to access an account, the zero trust limitations placed upon it would prevent them from being able to achieve any significant progress.
Part of what makes a zero trust system so effective is the rigorous number of required identity validation and account authentication checks. Whenever an employee logs into their account, they will have to go through a multi-factor authentication to confirm they are the actual owner of that account. Explicit verification will use factors like a user’s location, the ability to validate their identity, the device they’re currently using, and other contextual information to then decide whether or not to grant access to the person.
Even this level of verification is constantly improving, with advancements in biometric scanning and behavioral biometrics providing further layers of authentication that companies can opt for.
The complexity and depth that zero trust systems offer to companies is astounding, helping to radically increase baseline levels of data protection and prevent many forms of account-based breaches.
How WAFs Can Fit Into Zero Trust
While zero trust security systems are an effective solution to reduce the impact of a compromised account in your organization, they are not an infallible technology. To get more from a zero trust solution, businesses should strive to incorporate additional layers of defense to reduce the number of security events that would even require a zero trust solution to act.
One great example of effective cybersecurity architecture when preventing breaches is WAFs. Web application firewalls sit on the protocol layer and monitor all of the requests that come in and out of an organization. By monitoring all of the traffic to an application, a WAF can quickly spot any potentially malicious traffic and block it from connecting.
Modern-day WAFs are highly effective at pinpointing malicious traffic. By detecting any potential threats ahead of time and preventing them from connecting to your application, WAFs effectively minimize the risk of these threat vectors. If a hacker is able to connect, you place your faith in your zero-trust solution to protect you. But with a WAF, this threat vector won’t ever be able to connect to your application to begin with, avoiding the situation entirely.
Additionally, WAFs provide enhanced request monitoring and logging. By creating a log of all of the incoming and outgoing traffic to your application, WAFs can build up a more precise understanding of what counts as malicious traffic and what doesn’t.
This context can provide invaluable insight that a zero trust solution can use when conducting the explicit verification process. The additional understanding that WAF can offer will enhance the access controls of your zero trust system, resulting in fewer false positives and a higher overall accuracy.
Enhancing Security and Access Control
Zero trust solutions are one of the most effective ways of reducing the threat from compromised accounts. Especially considering that 90% of all cyber attacks start with a hacker phishing account details, this could represent a major security enhancement for your orgnanization.
To get the most from zero trust solutions, businesses should endeavor to implement other cybersecurity technologies to improve their efficacy. Partnering with a specialized WAF service will help better monitor access to your company accounts, manage requests, and prevent malicious interactions from impacting your business.
