Zero trust is a security approach built on the principle never trust, always verify. Every request is authenticated, authorized and evaluated against context such as device health, rather than being trusted because it comes from inside the corporate network.
Why it matters
Perimeter models assumed anything inside the firewall was safe, so a single stolen credential could allow wide movement. Zero trust limits that by combining strong identity, MFA, least privilege, segmentation and continuous monitoring. It is a strategy rather than one product.
Example
An employee on the office network still needs to authenticate with MFA to open the finance system, and the system checks that the laptop is managed and patched. Access is granted only to that application, not the whole network.
Common mistakes
- Treating zero trust as a product you can buy and finish.
- Verifying users at login but never reevaluating during the session.
- Skipping device posture checks.
Related
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