Zero-Trust Access (ZTA) is a security model that works on the principle where no user or device is allowed to access a service or data until they are proven to be trusted. This approach aims to improve security by assuming everything, whether from outside or inside a company’s perimeter, is a potential risk.
In the past, organisations commonly operated under the notion that attacks only came from the outside, while people and devices inside of the security perimeter can, for the most part, be trusted inherently. In today’s digital environment, however, the corporate perimeter is expanding rapidly, blurring the lines between internal and external users, services and data.
Zero-Trust Access works by requiring all users to validate themselves through various technologies such as multi-factor authentication, authorisation, Identity and Access Management (IAM), encryption and analytical tools. Only by going through all the necessary processes will users be granted access to the corporate data, applications and services.
Additionally, Zero-Trust Access confines users to the resources that are necessary for their role, securing other sensitive resources from being accessed. ZTA also stipulates the identification, monitoring and control of networked devices, effectively detecting and mitigating unsecured or unknown devices attaching to the network that may pose a threat.
Various Zero-Trust Access solutions are now becoming a fundamental part of many organisations for their cybersecurity. Providers like Fortinet, with their Zero-Trust Access Control Framework, aim to deliver technologies necessary to achieve Zero-Trust within any company.
Fortinet offers a highly effective ZTA framework that delivers visibility and control in three key areas: Users on the network, devices on the network and those users’ and devices’ offline activities.
Fortinet offers FortiAuthenticator, which serves as the hub of authentication, authorisation and accounting; access management, single sign-on and guest management services. It establishes user identity through logins, certificates and/or multi-factor inputs.
Fortinet also has FortiToken, which provides two-factor authentication services to FortiAuthenticator, either through a hardware token or as a mobile solution. The mobile solution is an open authorisation (OAuth)-compliant one-time password (OTP) generator application for Android and iOS devices that support both time-based and event-based tokens.
The “never trust, always verify” principle of a Zero-Trust Access approach is quickly becoming a vital component for protecting modern digital environments.
To learn more about how you can achieve Zero-Trust Access to your security solutions, click here.
