Demystifying Zero Trust

In today’s rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, the concept of Zero Trust has emerged as a pivotal strategy for safeguarding digital assets. Originating from the principle “never trust, always verify”, Zero Trust challenges traditional network security models that rely on perimeter defenses. Instead, it advocates for strict access controls and continuous authentication, regardless of whether the user is inside or outside the corporate network perimeter.

Dispelling Assumptions: What Zero Trust is Not?

To understand Zero Trust better, it’s essential to clarify what it is not. Zero Trust is not a, technology, protocol or product. You cannot just purchase a particular piece of technology or product and obtain zero trust.

What is Zero Trust ?

Zero Trust, is best thought of as a security concept or framework. In this context it is best view as a structured approach or set of guidelines that organisations can follow to implement and operationalise Zero Trust principles effectively.

The zero trust security model, also known as zero trust architecture (ZTA), zero trust network access (ZTNA), and perimeterless security describes an approach to the strategy, design and implementation of IT systems.

source: Wikipedia

Principles of Zero Trust

1. Assume breach — Operate on the assumption that a breach is or will soon be present within your environment.
2. Verify everything — Authenticate and authorise all devices, users, and transactions regardless of their source, location, or access method.
3. Ensure least privilege — Grant only the minimum level of access necessary for a user or device to perform its intended function.

Five Pillars of Zero Trust

The Zero trust maturity model published by Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), references 5 pillars to give organisations clear understanding of data assets is critical for a successful implementation of a zero-trust architecture (see ref[1,2] for more information on the pillars of zero trust).

Figure 1.0: Pillars of Zero Trust

• Identity — Refers to the verification of users, systems, or applications attempting to access resources within a network. Identity verification ensures that only authenticated and authorised entities are granted access, regardless of their location or network perimeter.
• Device — Focuses on securing endpoints and devices that access corporate resources. It involves enforcing security policies, verifying device health, and ensuring that devices meet security standards before allowing access to sensitive data or applications.
• Network — Involves securing network infrastructure and traffic flows. This includes implementing segmentation, encryption, and monitoring to prevent unauthorised access and detect anomalies within the network, ensuring secure communication between services and users.
• Application Workload — Refers to securing applications and workloads deployed across various environments. It involves implementing security controls, monitoring application behavior, and ensuring that applications are protected from vulnerabilities and threats throughout their lifecycle.
• Data — Involves protecting sensitive information wherever it resides — whether at rest, in transit, or in use. This pillar focuses on encrypting data, implementing access controls, and monitoring data access and usage to prevent unauthorised access, ensuring data integrity and confidentiality.

The HashiCorp product suite covers a number of zero trust pillars. The table below provides a overview of how the various products could cover the zero trust pillars to deliver Zero Trust Architecture. As mentioned before deploying the technology alone will not allow you to have a Zero Trust Architecture, its need to be configured with workflows and processes this is where consultancies and HashiCorp partners can enable organisations to build a roadmap to align with their business objectives.

Below in Figure 1.1, you can see HashiCorp product alignment to the zero trust pillars.

Figure 1.1: HashiCorp Product alignment with 5 pillars of Zero Trust

The table 1.0 provides a view of which Zero Trust pillars the HashiCorp products fall under.

Table 1.0: Zero Trust Pilars with HashiCorp Products

Why Do we want Zero Trust Architecture?

Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) helps mitigate sophisticated cyber threats and data breaches exemplified by incidents like the SolarWinds supply chain attack, the OPM (Office of Personnel Management) breach, Edward Snowden’s disclosures, and the Sony Pictures hack. Traditional security models, which trust internal network entities by default, have proven inadequate against these high-profile attacks. ZTA, on the other hand, operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify,” ensuring continuous authentication, strict access controls, and robust monitoring. By assuming breach and implementing least privilege access, ZTA minimizes the risk of unauthorised access and lateral movement within networks, thereby protecting sensitive information and critical infrastructure.

• SolarWinds, supply chain attack (Dec 2020) — a sophisticated supply chain cyberattack. Hackers, likely linked to the Russian government, embedded malicious code (SUNBURST) into SolarWinds’ Orion software updates. This malware created a backdoor into the networks of around 18,000 customers, including U.S. government agencies and major corporations, enabling extensive cyber espionage. The breach went undetected for months, highlighting vulnerabilities in software supply chains and emphasising the need for robust cybersecurity measures. ( see ref[5], SolarWinds, 2019–2020 supply chain attacks)
• OPM (Office of Personnel Management) cyber attack (2014–2015) — theft of personal information of over 21.5 milion current, former and prospective federial employees. Occured in 2014 and was discovered in 2015. (see ref[3], Office of Personnel Management data breach)
• Edward Snowden’s disclosure (2013)— in 2013 revealed extensive surveillance programs conducted by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), which involved collecting and analysing global internet communications. Snowden, a former NSA contractor, leaked classified documents detailing these activities to journalists, sparking significant controversy over privacy violations and government overreach.
• Sony Pictures hack (2014) — a cyberattack specifically targeted the Sony Pictures Entertainment studio. The attack involved a group calling themselves the “Guardians of Peace” (GOP), who infiltrated Sony’s network and stole vast amounts of sensitive data, including unreleased films, executive emails, employee personal information, and other confidential materials. (see ref[4], 2014 Sony Pictures hack)

The vulnerabilities highlighted by these types of attacks underscore the importance of having a structured strategy for architecting infrastructure, along with established guardrails, processes, and procedures for addressing identified risks. This is where Zero Trust Architectures (ZTA) can alleviate operational burdens by integrating modern techniques such as DevSecOps for early automation checks. Platform engineering plays a crucial role in enabling developer teams to self-service infrastructure using predefined, secure golden paths.

A Golden Paths (or Paved Road) strategy in platform engineering and Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) provides development teams with pre-approved, secure, and optimised workflows, tools, and processes. This ensures that applications are developed and deployed efficiently and securely, adhering to Zero Trust principles like continuous authentication and least privilege access. The strategy enhances productivity and enforces consistent security measures across the organisation.

Business Drivers

Implementing Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is driven by several key business objectives that enhance cybersecurity resilience, streamline operations, and demonstrate proactive compliance with regulatory standards. By implementing strict access controls, organisations can minimise their attack surface and protect sensitive data from internal and external threats. This approach not only improves overall security posture but also ensures operational efficiency by simplifying access management across diverse IT environments, including cloud and hybrid setups. Compliance with regulatory requirements becomes more manageable, reinforcing trust among stakeholders and enhancing organisational reputation. Adopting ZTA represents a strategic commitment to cybersecurity best practices, supported by industry-endorsed frameworks, to mitigate risks effectively.

Business Drivers:

• Enhanced Security Posture
• Least Privilege Access
• Compliance and Risk Management
• Operational Efficiency
• Adaptability to Modern IT Environments
• Reputation Enhancement

The table 2.0 below captures the key functions that each HashiCorp product can bring towards your Zero Trust Architecture strategy.

Table 2.0: HashiCorp Product alignment with Zero Trust Pillars

HashiCorp Vault & Enabling Zero Trust Architecture

HashiCorp Vault, plays a crucial role in implementing Zero Trust principles by securely storing and tightly controlling access to sensitive data, such as API keys, passwords, and encryption keys. Here’s how HashiCorp Vault can be leveraged to meet business objectives for Zero Trust:

• Centralised Secrets Management — One of the fundamental tenets of Zero Trust is minimising the exposure of credentials. HashiCorp Vault provides a centralised platform for managing and securely distributing secrets across various applications, services, and environments. By consolidating secrets management, organisations reduce the risk of unauthorised access and data breaches.
• Dynamic Secrets Provisioning — Static credentials pose a significant security risk in Zero Trust environments. HashiCorp Vault offers dynamic secrets provisioning, generating short-lived credentials on-demand based on predefined policies. This approach reduces the attack surface and enhances security posture by ensuring credentials are valid only for the duration needed.
• Encryption as a Service — Data encryption is vital for protecting sensitive information in transit and at rest. HashiCorp Vault provides encryption as a service, allowing organizations to encrypt data before storing it in databases, cloud storage, or other systems. With fine-grained access controls and automated key management, Vault ensures data remains protected even if perimeter defenses are breached.
• Identity-based Access Controls — Zero Trust mandates strict access controls based on identity, device, and contextual factors. HashiCorp Vault integrates seamlessly with identity providers and supports role-based access control (RBAC), allowing organizations to enforce granular permissions and least privilege access. This approach limits exposure to sensitive resources and mitigates insider threats.
• Auditability and Compliance — Achieving and maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements is a critical aspect of Zero Trust security. HashiCorp Vault facilitates comprehensive auditing and logging of all access requests and actions, providing visibility into who accessed which secrets and when. This audit trail helps organizations demonstrate compliance with data protection regulations and internal security policies.

RoadMap to Zero Trust Architecture

In this article, we provided a brief glimpse into how Zero Trust Architecture and HashiCorp products can aid in delivering Zero Trust Architectures with an organisation. When starting a programme such as this there are some key decisions that should be undertaken, such as:

1. Understand what you currently have in place within the organisation in terms of technology and skill set. A review of new strategic tooling may be necessary.
2. Define your security posture, including policies and standards, into a high-level design.
3. Acknoledge that implementing those security policies and standards will take time. Introducing products can help provide clarity in terms of well-defined workflows. As mentioned before, Zero Trust is not a product; it is how you use the tooling to address security concerns.
4. Continuously review your IT estate to improve on actions taken.

Roadmap

Organizations wanting to introduce Zero Trust Architectures can take a phased approach:

1. Assessment: Evaluate the current state of technology and skills within the organization.
2. Planning: Define security policies, standards and create a high level design.
3. Implementation: Introduce tools and products to enforce the defined security policies and standards, ensuring clear workflows.
4. Continuous Improvement: Regularly review and refine the IT estate and security measures to adapt to evolving threats and requirements.

Figure 2. illustrates how a typical roadmap might look with each phase.

Figure 2: Roadmap to Zero Trust

Delivering Zero Trust

Figure 3. illustrates objectives for each phase this would be adjusted for each case based on understanding scope and outcome of a maturity assessment.

Figure 3: Zero Trust Delivery

• Phase 1: Initial Assessment & Planning — the organisation conducts an initial maturity assessment to understand the current security controls and practices in place. This involves a thorough evaluation using the CIAA model to identify critical assets, data flows, and existing security measures. Engaging stakeholders across security, IT, and business units helps define the Zero Trust goals and objectives. Reviewing the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model (see ref[1], CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model) allows the organisation to determine its current maturity level and set targeted maturity levels to guide the implementation process.
• Phase 2: Design & Architecture — the organisation focuses on creating a comprehensive Zero Trust Architecture. This design incorporates the principles of confidentiality, integrity, availability, and accountability (CIAA) to ensure robust security. Key components include micro-segmentation, least privilege access, and continuous monitoring. DevSecOps practices are integrated to embed security into the development lifecycle, ensuring that security controls are part of the CI/CD pipelines and development processes. This phase sets the foundation for a secure, resilient, and adaptable security architecture.
• Phase 3: Implementation & Integration — the organisation puts the designed Zero Trust controls into practice. This includes deploying identity and access management (IAM) solutions such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO), and implementing network segmentation and micro-segmentation. Security monitoring and incident response capabilities are integrated to provide real-time visibility and rapid response to threats. Platform engineering practices are adopted to ensure consistency and scalability across all environments, facilitating seamless and secure deployment of applications and services.
• Phase 4: Continuous Monitoring & Improvement — this phase focuses on maintaining and enhancing the Zero Trust Architecture. This involves establishing continuous monitoring and logging for all critical systems and data flows, and implementing automated incident response and threat hunting capabilities. Regular reviews and updates of Zero Trust policies and controls are conducted based on emerging threats and changes in the business environment. Ongoing training and awareness programs ensure that all employees remain vigilant and informed about the latest security practices, fostering a culture of continuous security improvement.

As organisations embrace Zero Trust principles to mitigate cybersecurity risks, technologies like HashiCorp Vault play a pivotal role in securing sensitive data and ensuring continuous compliance. By adopting Vault’s capabilities for secrets management, dynamic secrets provisioning, encryption, and identity-based access controls, businesses can effectively implement Zero Trust architectures tailored to their specific needs.

In conclusion, the journey towards Zero Trust is not just about adopting new technologies but embracing a paradigm shift in cybersecurity strategy — one that prioritizes continuous verification, least privilege access, and robust data protection. HashiCorp Vault stands as a cornerstone in this journey, enabling organizations to achieve their business objectives securely in an increasingly interconnected digital landscape.

References

1. doc — Zero Trust Maturity Model, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
2. doc — Zero Trust Cybersecurity Current Trends, American Council for Technology (ACT) and Industry Advisory Council (IAC) (2019).
3. web — Office of Personnel Management data breach
4. web — 2014 Sony Pictures hack
5. web — SolarWinds, 2019–2020 supply chain attacks
6. web — Edward Snowdne Profile