Cyber Defense eMagazine November Edition for 2021

Solving for the long run
All these limitations drive the requirements for the transformation of network security and how information
security is approached altogether. Some of this transformation was in progress before the pandemic, but
it accelerated rapidly out of necessity when it struck. Zero Trust is still riding the hype curve, and many
fragmented point solutions exist that address specific use cases without accounting for the bigger picture.
This bigger picture is the need to decouple security from the underlying network construct to avoid the
traditional cybersecurity vs. networking trade-offs that either cripple network availability or the security
posture.
There is also a need for ubiquitous access policy management (across all domains) and simplification
via automation of cybersecurity operations to accelerate detection and response times. An ideal Zero
Trust Access (ZTA) platform should deliver full visibility about what’s flowing through the network (users,
devices, apps) by integrating with existing identity providers (IDP). The solution should also provide a
unified policy management plane across multiple domains that would address the need for ubiquity and
agility.
It’s just then, through a single pane of glass across all domains, that the never-ending Zero Trust journey
to eliminate the attack surface can start. Organizations can begin by securing the crown jewels first, or
by piloting Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) to secure access for the hybrid workforce. Alternatively,
Network Security Architects may choose to learn the ropes of Zero Trust network security by addressing
the sprawl of IoT in the workplace. Whatever the most pressing use case may be, the worst they can do
is to lose sight of the long game: that the same solution should address all use cases and avoid network
chokepoints that prevent scalability.
The ideal end game is a distributed architecture where multi-domain policies are managed centrally but
distributed and enforced as close to the resources as possible, with continuous identity verification via
integration with any flavor of IDP, including those providing telemetry about health status and other
contextual attributes alongside identity. By making identity, context, and behavior the new (and now
dynamic) enterprise perimeter, it becomes easier to manage risk and implement a potent cyber defense
system that works under the Zero Trust paradigm.
Cyber Defense eMagazine – November 2021 Edition 76
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