Also known as: zero trust architecture · ZTA · BeyondCorp
Zero trust is a security architecture that removes implicit trust based on network location, requiring every request to be authenticated, authorised, and continuously validated regardless of whether it originates inside or outside the corporate network.
The model replaces the castle-and-moat perimeter, in which anything inside the network was implicitly trusted. That assumption fails badly against lateral movement: one compromised laptop inside the perimeter historically meant broad internal access.
Zero trust is an architectural direction rather than a product, despite extensive vendor marketing to the contrary. Real implementations combine strong identity, device posture checks, per-application access policies, and microsegmentation — and are typically multi-year programmes rather than deployments.
Lateral Movement
Lateral movement is the process by which an attacker who has compromised one system moves through a network to reach additional systems, typically hunting for higher-value data or credentials.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires two or more independent categories of evidence to verify identity — typically something you know, something you have, and something you are — so that a stolen password alone is insufficient to gain access.
Defense in Depth
Defense in depth is a security strategy that layers multiple independent controls so that the failure or bypass of any single control does not result in compromise.
Principle of Least Privilege
The principle of least privilege holds that every user, process, and system should be granted only the minimum permissions necessary to perform its function, and no more.
Microsegmentation
Microsegmentation is the practice of dividing a network into small isolated zones with explicit policies governing traffic between them, so that a compromised system cannot freely communicate with unrelated systems.