Zero Trust Network ZTN

 

 

Zero Trust Network ZTN

In an increasingly interconnected world, the need for robust cybersecurity measures has never been more critical. Traditional security models, built around a trusted perimeter, are no longer sufficient to protect against evolving threats. Enter the Zero Trust Network, a revolutionary approach that challenges the conventional notion of trust and aims to enhance data protection across organizations of all sizes. In this blog post, we will explore the concept of Zero Trust Networking, its fundamental principles, and its benefits in bolstering cybersecurity defenses.

Zero Trust Networking is a security model that operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” Unlike traditional network security models, which assume that everything within an organization’s network is trusted, Zero Trust Networking treats every user, device, and application as potentially untrusted. This approach ensures that access to sensitive resources is only granted after thorough verification and validation, regardless of whether the request originates from within or outside the network perimeter.

Highlights: Zero Trust Network

  • Everything is Untrusted

Stop malicious traffic before it even gets on the IP network. In this world of mobile users, billions of connected things, and public cloud applications everywhere – not to mention the growing sophistication of hackers and malware – the Zero Trust Network Design and Zero Trust Security Strategy movement is a new reality. As the name suggests, Zero Trust Network ZTN means no trusted perimeter.

  • Single Packet Authorization

Everything is untrusted; even after authentication and authorization, a device or user only receives the least privileged access. Such is necessary to stop all these potential security breaches. Identity and access management (IAM) is the foundation of excellent IT security and the key to providing zero trust, along with crucial zero trust technologies such zero trust remote access and single packet authorization.

 

Before you proceed, you may find the following posts helpful:

  1. Zero Trust SASE
  2. Identity Security
  3. Zero Trust Access

 

Back to basics with a zero-trust network

A zero-trust network is built upon five essential declarations:

  1. The network is always assumed to be hostile.
  2. External and internal threats exist on the network at all times
  3. Network locality alone is not sufficient for deciding trust in a network.
  4. Every device, user, and network flow is authenticated and authorized.
  5. Policies must be dynamic and calculated from as many data sources as possible.

Critical Principles of Zero Trust Networking:

1. Least Privilege: Zero Trust Networking follows the principle of least privilege, ensuring that users and devices only have access to the resources necessary to perform their specific tasks. This prevents unauthorized access and minimizes the potential impact of a security breach.

2. Micro-Segmentation: Zero Trust Networking emphasizes the concept of micro-segmentation, dividing the network into smaller, isolated segments. By implementing strict access controls between these segments, the lateral movement of threats is contained, reducing the risk of a widespread breach.

3. Continuous Authentication: Zero Trust Networking emphasizes continuous authentication, requiring users to verify their identities at each access attempt. This helps prevent unauthorized access even if login credentials are compromised.

Benefits of Zero Trust Networking:

1. Enhanced Security: Zero Trust Networking significantly reduces the attack surface for potential threats by assuming that no user or device is inherently trustworthy. This approach ensures that even if one part of the network is compromised, the rest remains protected.

2. Improved Compliance: With increasingly stringent data protection regulations, organizations must demonstrate robust security measures. Zero Trust Networking provides a strong framework for ensuring compliance with industry-specific regulations like HIPAA and GDPR.

3. Flexibility and Scalability: Zero Trust Networking can be implemented across various network environments, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid setups. This flexibility allows organizations to adapt their security posture as their infrastructure evolves.

Zero Trust Remote Access

Zero Trust Networking (ZTN) applies zero-trust principles to enterprise and government agency IP networks. Among other things, ZTN integrates IAM into IP routing and prohibits the establishment of a single TCP/UDP session without prior authentication and authorization. Once a session is established, ZTN ensures all traffic in motion is encrypted. In the context of a common analogy, think of our road systems as a network and the cars and trucks on it as IP packets.

Today, anyone can leave his or her house and drive to your home and come up your driveway. That driver may not have a key to enter your home, but he or she can cause it and wait for an opportunity to enter. In a Zero Trust world, no one can leave their house to travel over the roads to their home without prior authentication and authorization. This is required in the digital, virtual world to ensure security.

zero trust remote access
Diagram: Zero trust remote access.

 

 

The challenges of the NAC

In the voice world, we use signaling to establish authentication and authorization before connecting the call. In the data world, this can be done with TCP/UDP sessions, and in many cases, in conjunction with Transport Layer Security, or TLS. The problem is that IP routing hasn’t evolved since the mid-‘90s.

IP routing protocols such as Border Gateway Protocol are standalone; they don’t integrate with directories. Network admission control (NAC) is an earlier attempt to add IAM to networking, but it requires a client and assumes a trusted perimeter. NAC is IP address-based, not TCP/UDP session state-based.

 

Zero trust remote access: Move up the stack 

The solution is to make IP routing more intelligent and bring up the OSI stack to Layer 5, where security and session state reside. The next generation of software-defined networks is taking a more thoughtful approach to networking with Layer 5 security and performance functions.

While organizations, over time, have added firewalls, session border controllers, WAN optimizers, and load balancers to networks for their ability to manage session state and provide the intelligent performance and security controls required in today’s networks.

For instance, firewalls stop malicious traffic in the middle of a network and do nothing within a Layer 2 broadcast domain. Every organization has directory services based on IAM that define who is allowed access to what. Zero Trust Networking takes this further by embedding this information into the network and enabling malicious traffic to be stopped at the source.

zero trust security meaning
Diagram: Zero trust security meaning.

 

Another great feature of ZTN is anomaly detection. An alert can be generated when a device starts trying to communicate with other devices, services, or applications to which it doesn’t have permission. Hackers use a process of discovery, identification, and targeting to break into systems; with Zero Trust, you can prevent them from starting the initial discovery.

Conclusion:

In an era where cyber threats continue to evolve, traditional security models are no longer sufficient to protect sensitive data. Zero Trust Networking offers a paradigm shift in cybersecurity, shifting the focus from trust to verification. By adopting the principles of least privilege, micro-segmentation, and continuous authentication, organizations can strengthen their defenses and mitigate the risk of data breaches. Embracing Zero Trust Networking is a proactive step towards ensuring the security and integrity of critical assets in today’s digital landscape.