Zero Trust
zero trust architecture · ZTA · ZTNA · never trust, always verify · perimeterless security · confiance zéro
A security model that grants no default trust to any user or device, even inside the network, and checks every access request against identity, device health and context.
In practice
The traditional model protected a perimeter: once inside (VPN, office network), you could reach almost everything, and a single compromised laptop was enough. Remote work and the cloud have dissolved that perimeter. Zero Trust, described by NIST in SP 800-207 (2020), grants minimal access, application by application, and reassesses it continuously. It is a gradual journey, not a product: most organisations start with multi-factor authentication, a device inventory and network segmentation.
Fictional case: a sales rep logs into the CRM from a hotel. Their identity is checked with multi-factor authentication, their laptop must be encrypted and up to date, and they can reach the CRM and nothing else. If the laptop is infected, the attacker cannot jump to the finance systems or the servers.
