How to implement Zero Trust Strategy in 3 easy steps

The major strategic objective of cyber security in the digital age is to combat and contain privacy violations. A company's data is its most valuable asset that must be protected. In the last blog post "What elements does a ZERO trust model consist of" we talked about the pillars of a Zero Trust architecture. In this article, we explain step by step how to implement Zero Trust in your company.

ZERO-TRUST STRATEGY PROTECTS AGAINST PENALTIES

The primary goal of Zero-Trust is to protect businesses from what is known as "advanced threats" and the effects of data theft.

When cybercriminals steal intellectual property, it leads to lost revenue. When attackers steal sensitive customer data, data breaches and their solutions can result in high costs. In addition, legal disputes, governmental investigations and damage to the company's reputation are often the result.

Zero Trust strategy does not prevent every conceivable attack or breach, but an IT security architecture according to Zero Trust ensures that companies do not fall victim to simple attacks or that these are not discovered for months, perhaps even years. Security experts who are guided by Zero Trust as the main driver of their IT security strategy fulfil many compliance requirements with significantly greater efficiency.

In doing so, a Zero Trust ecosystem should be geared to the business area of every company. Different industries such as eCommerce, energy or finance have different potential entry points for attackers. It is not enough to simply provide technologies. Internal processes, organisational measures and employee awareness of potential risks must also be taken into account. 

HOW TO IMPLEMENT ZERO TRUST INTO COMPANIES?

With the following three steps, we provide you with an initial guide on how to implement Zero Trust and thus comprehensive protection of business-critical data in your own organisation. 

The detailed checklist with the 6 steps is available
for free download in our E-Guide. 

• What should be protected and why?
• Where are these digital and physical assets located - in the cloud or on local servers?
• Which data is classified as public and which is highly sensitive?

Step 2: Discovery & Inventory

• Disk and file & folder encryption
• Device control
• Application Control with whitelisting
• Identity & access management

The complete checklist of the steps you need to take to introduce Zero Trust in your organisation is available for download in our free E-Guide. Order here:

Would you like some basic information about Zero Trust? Then take a look at the recording of our webinar "Never trust, always verify! - the DriveLock Zero Trust platform".

About the author: Andreas Fuchs is a product manager at DriveLock SE and a know-how provider for Zero Trust.