Project Management - The Whys, Hows & What Nots

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Geethanjali Kalibhat
Engineering Project Manager
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Welcome to the Cybersecurity Era

Good day, wherever in the world you are. In these pandemic times, we are the cybersecurity warriors and the backbone of IT infrastructures at our various organizations. My name is Sophia, a cyber safety veteran with over 15 years of exposure, primarily in compliance and risk management. I am currently working as a security evangelist at Insta and am also a chief community builder of Women in Cyber and involved in many diverse initiatives.

In today's digital session, we are going to explore a ubiquitous term in cybersecurity that has seen a surge in usage during the pandemic, "Zero Trust". So what is Zero Trust? What is trust? We will explore these topics and more during our conversation and hopefully answer your queries and concerns surrounding these concepts.

Customer Challenges in Cybersecurity

The pandemic has resulted in a global increment in cyber attacks. During 2021 and 2022, there was a noteworthy rise in instances where Zero Trust was mentioned as a defense model to safeguard digital assets. Major challenges that we face today in IT infrastructure boil down to four salient points:

  • Business continuity
  • Security risks
  • Performance
  • User experience, alongside a lack of access visibility

Trust – Its Importance and Contribution

Trust, defined as having confidence, faith, or hope in someone or something, has become the big vulnerability in the realm of cybersecurity. Not only is trust a major vulnerability, but it is also an exploit technique. By achieving authentication on a network, one can exploit trust.

The Concept of Zero Trust

With the rapid rise in breaches, cybersecurity has now become a hot topic discussed everywhere from boardrooms to social platforms. The worry is no longer just about data loss or financial loss – the entire business is at stake. This leads us to Zero Trust - a name emerging from the chaos and uncertainty. But why Zero Trust, and why now?

As cloud technology and mobility evolved, the infrastructural landscape experienced a revolution. No longer were workers confined to LAN environments. Applications had spread to the cloud, and users accessed devices and applications from everywhere. This necessitated a shift from the trust-all model to trust-but-verify, bringing forth the principle of Zero Trust which insists on Trusting no one. As a result of this access model, an attack gets contained within a small boundary or perimeter due to the provision of least privileged access.

Core Principles of Zero Trust

Forester, Gartner, and Nest offer key frameworks on the Zero Trust extended ecosystem. They share three common core principles:

  1. Ensure all resources are accessed securely regardless of location
  2. Adopt a least privileged strategy and strictly enforce access control
  3. Inspect and log all traffic

Zero Trust functions as an integrated system using contextual information from identity, security, IT infrastructure, risk, and analytics tools to dynamically enforce consistent security policies across the enterprise.

Zero Trust Deployment Models

There are four primary Zero Trust deployment models:

  • Resource based
  • Enclave based
  • Cloud rooted
  • Micro-segmentation based

Zero Trust Use Cases

From securing remote access to managing multi-cloud and hybrid workloads, Zero Trust plays a vital role. Traditional VPNs, for example, are not equipped to manage the security and operational issues brought on by rapid deployment. The adoption of Zero Trust can help overcome these issues.

Benefits of Using a Zero Trust Model

Implementing a Zero Trust model has several advantages. It aids in protecting customer data, dramatically reduces the attack surface, provides an integrated security infrastructure, simplifies security, enhances the user experience and offers complete visibility into network traffic.

In conclusion, with the increase in remote workforces and the adoption of digital transformation processes, security has come to the forefront. Traditional solutions are often inadequate for tackling these security challenges. As such, Zero Trust solutions offer enhanced security levels without compromising the user experience, making them an invaluable asset in the modern, digitally interconnected world.


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