{"id":62791,"date":"2023-03-14T09:52:18","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T13:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?p=62791"},"modified":"2023-08-30T09:30:15","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T13:30:15","slug":"ways-you-already-implemented-zero-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/blog\/ways-you-already-implemented-zero-trust","title":{"rendered":"7 Ways You\u2019ve Already Implemented Zero Trust (and May Not Have Realized)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interested in Zero Trust security<\/a>, but overwhelmed by the idea of starting from scratch? Many IT professionals feel this way when it comes to Zero Trust. Fortunately, they\u2019re usually farther along than they realize.

Several Zero Trust implementations<\/a> come with the territory of shifting to distributed, cloud-based environments. Organizations that have begun making this shift often have Zero Trust implementations in place, even if they don\u2019t realize it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even partial implementations can move companies significantly closer to achieving Zero Trust. And fortunately, they\u2019re often easy to expand upon as a quick way to improve your Zero Trust posture. Read on to discover the seven ways you may have already implemented Zero Trust, and how to expand on those implementations for quick and effective Zero Trust wins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Authentication at the Resource Level <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Zero Trust was developed as a direct response to perimeter security\u2019s inability to reliably secure modern IT environments. Perimeter security creates a firewall-based perimeter around the organization\u2019s central network and requires authentication at the perimeter level for users to access the resources on the network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, organizations\u2019 shift away from centralized infrastructure in favor of cloud computing makes maintaining a perimeter difficult, because the physical infrastructure it\u2019s meant to encompass is dissipating. Perimeter-based security no longer makes sense for the modern organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zero Trust addresses this problem by taking authentication to the resource level: instead of requiring authentication upon entry to the infrastructure, Zero Trust prescribes authentication upon access of any resource. This replaces the outdated 0-perimeter concept with more reliable security that reduces the chances for lateral movement<\/a> and meets the needs of modern, distributed networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many organizations make this shift to resource-level authentication without realizing it\u2019s a key part of the Zero Trust methodology. If your organization uses SaaS applications that require users to log in before using them, you\u2019re on your way! There are a few ways you may be able to expand on this practice to improve your Zero Trust security posture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to expand upon resource-level authentication:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Apply it to more resources. <\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The more resources you can apply this practice to, the better your security posture will be. Eventually, this practice should apply to all the resources in your corporate stack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consolidate it with SSO. <\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Resource-level authentication everywhere can be a lot <\/em>of sign-ins. To reduce the user burden of memorizing and inputting credentials over and over again, consolidate your access transactions with a single sign-on (SSO) tool. Learn more about SSO in tip #3.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back it up with MFA.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) drastically improves authentication security<\/a>. Apply MFA to your resource-layer security and your SSO <\/a>instance to further improve your Zero Trust security posture. Read on to learn more about MFA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Multi-Factor Authentication <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is one of the most common Zero Trust implementations; in fact, 88.9% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)<\/a> have implemented it in at least some places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MFA supports Zero Trust by improving the security of the traditional username\/password authentication model. Zero Trust security acknowledges the critical shortcomings of the traditional password and requires that passwords be supplemented with a more rigorous authentication method like MFA<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to expand your MFA instance:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Put it everywhere.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In a true Zero Trust architecture, MFA is everywhere \u2014 that is, at every access transaction \u2014 unless another Zero Trust-powered action, like conditional access<\/a> or passwordless authentication<\/a>, overrides it. If you\u2019ve implemented MFA<\/a> to protect a few applications, consider expanding it to cover more of your architecture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often, it\u2019s possible to do this without upping your MFA license \u2014 and some tools, like JumpCloud, provide free MFA<\/a>, so you can implement it everywhere without paying for separate MFA licensing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make it more user-friendly. <\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

While this may not offer a direct Zero Trust benefit, user-friendliness improves adoption and encourages correct usage; a user-friendly MFA tool like push notifications<\/a> or biometrics<\/a> can significantly improve users\u2019 Zero Trust adoption while reducing human error and workarounds. Ultimately, that means better security for the business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Single Sign-On<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Single sign-on<\/a> (SSO) is another method of securing authentication. SSO relieves some of the user burden of MFA by facilitating secure authentication to all the user\u2019s applications with a single set of login credentials (ideally backed up with MFA). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SSO uses secure protocols like SAML and SCIM to bypass the user\u2019s need to input credentials for every application without compromising security. It both reduces password usage and uses secure authentication protocols for every application, both of which are significant Zero Trust wins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to expand your SSO capabilities: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Apply it to more applications. <\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

True SSO combines all<\/em> the applications in an organization\u2019s infrastructure; users only have to input their credentials once to access everything they need to do their work. Bringing more applications into your SSO instance only increases security \u2014 even moving slowly and adding one at a time can yield significant security benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If adding SSO capabilities to all your applications is too expensive, spread the costs over time by starting with the most critical applications. While these may vary from organization to organization, applications that handle the following should generally be secured first:<\/p>\n\n\n\n