#DoT #ZeroTrustArchitecture #Telecom

Transition to Zero Trust Architecture



A broad security model that has been considered for implementation is modern cloud-native architecture for enterprise applications. The Zero Trust (ZT) approach leverages continuous resource monitoring and dynamic risk evaluations to protect every individual asset/resource against a potential attacker within the network, hence “Zero Trust.” The heart of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is the Policy Engine (PE). PE is ultimately the decision maker on granting or refusing access using various datasets per session basis. This allows us to move away from the user-id/password-based authentication and authorization model. Most enterprises will not implement a Policy Engine but buy one from a leading solution provider. The Policy Engine providers are actively innovating and providing interesting approaches to mitigate threats. However, the biggest hindrance has not been solution capability but the implementation and configuration of the architecture that best suits their needs. This leads to clients asking how they go about enabling this “ZTA” in their organization.





The good news is that this does not mean you have to start building your organization network and access policy from scratch; there are hybrid opportunities that can be leveraged. Every organization can follow a different approach to implement Zero Trust Architecture that is ideal for their user flows and resource usages. The key success for migrating to any ZTA-based implementation from a legacy flat network depends on multiple factors. Based on research and industry experience, this has classified overall success factors into the following buckets: Right Initiation, Operational Success Factor and Executional Success Factor. Today’s landscape requires change/reliability for the future. Given the nature of cloud-based applications and adoption of SaaS solutions combined with an i.