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Who it's for:
- Information protection practitioners
- Executive management
Zero Trust Guiding Principles
Release Date: 07/18/2023
Working Group: Zero Trust
Zero Trust is a strategic mindset that is highly useful for organizations to adopt as part of their digital transformations and other efforts to increase security and resilience. However, despite being based on long-standing principles, Zero Trust is easily misunderstood and over-complicated due to conflicting messaging within the security industry and a lack of established Zero Trust standards. When properly understood, Zero Trust philosophy and strategy are valuable tools that organizations can use to enhance security, increase resilience, and guide digital transformation.
This document provides a clear understanding of what Zero Trust security is and the guiding principles that any organization can leverage when planning, implementing, and operating Zero Trust. These best practices remain consistent across all Zero Trust pillars, use cases, environments, and products. As expertise and industry knowledge mature, additional authoritative references such as guidance, policies, and legislation may be added.
Principles Covered:
- Begin with the end in mind
- Do not overcomplicate
- Products are not the priority
- Access is a deliberate act
- Inside out, not outside in
- Breaches happen
- Understand your risk appetite
- Ensure the tone from the top
- Instill a Zero Trust culture
- Start small and focus on quick wins
- Continuously monitor
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Related Certificates & Training
For those who want to learn from the industry's first benchmark for measuring Zero Trust skill sets, the CCZT includes foundational Zero Trust components released by CISA and NIST, innovative work in the Software-Defined Perimeter by CSA Research, and guidance from renowned Zero Trust experts such as John Kindervag, Founder of the Zero Trust philosophy.
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