In the rapidly-changing landscape of digital security, being one step ahead of those who may do you harm is not optional. Deloitte’s Jan Vanhaecht is on the cutting edge, leading organizations in the adoption of a Zero Trust security model. This whole of government approach is intended to safeguard sensitive data and insecure systems in an environment where threats are ever present and changing. Calloutcoin.com is focused on delivering deep-dive analysis of the bright and dark sides of emerging digital identity solutions. In this piece, we’ll explore how Deloitte’s deep expertise in Zero Trust is revolutionizing digital security.

Understanding Zero Trust

The fundamental tenet of Zero Trust is “Never trust, always verify.” Assume breach—treat every user, device and application as a potential threat. It is irrelevant whether they are in-network or out-of-network. Older, perimeter-based security models operated under the assumption that all devices within the network were secure. By contrast, Zero Trust removes that assumption altogether. You need to be able to regularly re-authenticate and re-authorize users. This databased process depends on data, like user identity, data classification, location, device health, etc.

Key Principles of Zero Trust

Zero Trust is more than a product, it’s a comprehensive security framework based on the following nine key tenets. These tenets ensure that security is comprehensive and adaptable:

  • Continuously Verify: This is the foundational principle. It moves beyond one-time validation, acknowledging that threats and user attributes are dynamic. Continuous verification ensures ongoing security.
  • Verify Explicitly: Authentication and authorization should always be based on all available data points. This includes user identity, location, device health, the service or workload being accessed, data classification, and any detected anomalies. Explicit verification leaves no room for assumptions.
  • Least Privilege Access: Users should only have access to the resources they need to perform their specific tasks. This minimizes the potential damage from compromised accounts.
  • Assume Breach: Organizations should operate under the assumption that a breach has already occurred. This mindset encourages proactive monitoring and incident response planning.

Deloitte's Role in Zero Trust Implementation

Deloitte has been centrally involved with federal and commercial organizations deploying Zero Trust frameworks. Their approach focuses on understanding an organization’s existing security posture, determining the vulnerabilities at play, and developing a customized Zero Trust architecture. Deloitte’s digital identity solutions Digital identity solutions are a critical component of this process.

Digital Identity Solutions

Deloitte’s digital identity solutions are focused on creating a more trusted and safe digital environment. They address urgent questions more broadly than just the matter of security. These are the kinds of solutions that secure access everywhere, ensuring seamless, secure access to employees, customers and things on any device. According to Wendy Henry, a managing director at Deloitte, digital identity can be particularly complex in blockchain pilots with government clients. Deloitte has partnered with Attest Inc. Jointly, they’re bringing government clients innovative digital identity solutions to help them address critical constituent-facing challenges.

Benefits of a Zero Trust Architecture

To say that adopting a Zero Trust architecture would have multiple benefits to drastically improve an organization’s security and operational efficiency is an understatement.

Enhanced Security and Visibility

  • Improves Security Posture: The most direct benefit is a stronger security posture. By continuously verifying every access request, Zero Trust minimizes the attack surface and reduces the risk of successful breaches.
  • Increases Visibility into Network Traffic: Zero Trust provides greater visibility into network traffic. This allows security teams to detect anomalies and potential threats more quickly.
  • Provides Continuous Compliance: Real-time threat monitoring and seamless audit trails ensure continuous compliance with industry regulations.

Cost Savings and User Experience

  • Reduces Security Costs: While initial implementation may require investment, studies suggest that long-term security costs can fall significantly with an effective Zero Trust solution.
  • Enhances User Experience: A Zero Trust architecture can improve the user experience by creating a frictionless authentication process. Users can securely access resources without unnecessary delays or complexities.

Implementing Zero Trust: Key Steps

Here are some key steps to consider:

  1. Classify Information: Understand the value and sensitivity of your data. Classify information based on legal requirements, criticality, and potential impact of unauthorized disclosure.
  2. Integrate Compliance and Security: Adopt a holistic approach to cybersecurity that balances regulatory requirements with proactive threat mitigation.
  3. Implement Organizational Controls: Ensure that organizational controls and policies are interdependent to support both compliance and security objectives.
  4. Verify Explicitly: Ensure that applications can explicitly verify access requests and support the principle of least privilege.
  5. Continuous Monitoring and Logging: Continuously monitor and log network activities to detect anomalies and potential security breaches.

Securing IoT Devices with Zero Trust

Securing IoT devices is its own challenge since these devices are so varied and frequently very low on security. Zero Trust principles can — and should — be applied to IoT environments to help limit these risks.

Applying Zero Trust to IoT

To protect IoT devices, that requires an all-encompassing approach. This philosophy starts on the device and continues to the cloud or hybrid service where we analyze that data. With AWS IoT, organizations can easily adopt an NIST 800-207-based Zero Trust architecture (ZTA) by implementing the seven tenets of Zero Trust.

  • IoT devices need to authenticate with AWS IoT Core and be authorized before performing any action. Trust in the device is evaluated by AWS IoT Core before granting permissions.
  • IoT device data can be used to make continuous improvements in security posture with AWS IoT Device Defender.

By adopting Zero Trust principles, organizations can better secure their IoT deployments and safeguard them from ever-evolving threats.

Vanhaecht’s work at Deloitte serves as a reminder that we need to start thinking about security in a proactive and adaptive way. By fully adopting Zero Trust principles and working with Deloitte’s security, technology, and analytics experts, agencies can advance their Zero Trust journey toward a safer, more resilient digital landscape. Calloutcoin.com is committed to providing a valuable perspective on the most exciting digital identity and security developments. We arm our readers with the knowledge they need to be informed and ready.