Zero trust authentication is a strict IT security model that limits permissions and requires proper authentication from every user accessing company resources, whether they are part of or outside of the network.
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Zero trust authentication treats everyone as an equal risk. Traditional IT security models tend to automatically trust users inside the network and see only outside users as potential threats. Yet internal users and accounts can be also compromised, meaning they should not be automatically trusted.
By using the ‘trust nothing’ approach of zero trust authentication, companies can limit risk, protect important information, and save on costs associated with breaches.
How does zero trust authentication work?
Zero trust authentication uses strict principles to limit permissions for users and boost network security, including:
- Identity verification: Users must go through thorough authentication before being granted access to the network. Steps in the authentication process may include multi-factor authentication, strong password requirements, or biometric identification measurements such as fingerprint scans.
- Principle of least privilege (PoLP): The principle of least privilege gives users the minimum degree of access they need to do their work, limiting their freedom to poke around the network and access information that does not fall under their purview.
- Zero trust for internal users: Unlike traditional security approaches, zero trust authentication applies the zero trust posture to internal users, not just external users, to provide continuous security and limit risk.
- Micro-segmentation: Micro-segmentation breaks the network up into many tiny segments, making it easier to limit the permissions granted to each user and preventing unauthorized or unnecessary movement around the network.
- Continuous monitoring: By monitoring network and user activity at all times, suspicious activity can be detected and looked into immediately.
- Access control policies: Zero trust authentication policies are extensive and evolve in real time, staying as up to date as possible to maximize the work efficiency and network security.
- Encryption: Encrypting data at every point of access helps ensure that even after a breach it remains unreadable to unauthorized users.
- Automation and AI: Augmenting zero trust authentication with automation and AI capabilities can simplify continuous monitoring for cybersecurity teams and generate deeper analyses on a large scale to detect risks as fast as possible.
How is zero trust authentication different from traditional security methods?
Traditional network security permissions and monitoring allow users a base level of trust and then verify authorizations beyond that. While relatively easy to implement, this can be risky: granting a base level of permission to all network users means some will have access to data and resources they don’t need, which can lead to security breaches.
As companies have moved to more remote work and cloud-based network systems, network security has become more complex, with more sensitive information at risk of being accessed and breached. Zero trust authentication limits this by treating every user as a potential threat, eliminating the base level of trust.
With zero trust authentication, organizations assign each user or category of user specific permissions based on their role and job requirements and update them as needed. If users can’t access sensitive information, they aren’t an exposure risk.
Why use zero trust authentication?
By using zero trust authentication methods, you can limit your company’s risk of attack and exposure by malicious users. As well, traditional trust-based security measures typically only identify breaches after they’ve occurred, which can cause millions of dollars in losses or damages and compromise business operations. Zero trust authentication is a more proactive form of security that’s focused on preventing breaches in the first place.
A zero trust authentication framework is uniquely capable of handling threats such as:
- Ransomware — which targets both identities and code. If one is breached, zero trust authentication keeps the other secure.
- Device attacks — which capitalize on vulnerabilities in remote devices. Because zero trust authentication is rigorous about validating identities, devices are more secure.
- Internal threats — by which malicious users can access and expose privileged information. Zero trust authentication tracks all user behavior and picks up on suspicious activity so you can respond to breaches as quickly as possible or even stop them before they happen.
The basic premise of zero trust authentication is that it is far more efficient and secure to assume everyone is a threat upfront than to trust everyone and have to react when security incidents occur.
How to implement zero trust authentication
When making the switch to a zero trust authentication framework, it’s important to set up your IT and security teams and your users for success. That means you need to:
- Evaluate and organize: Take a look at your organization as a whole and analyze how it functions at every level. Assess how users access information, what information is being accessed and by whom. Review your current security measures for gaining access. Identify sensitive information. Use this analysis to inform what needs to change in your business’ security and access measures.
- Create classifications: Break information into different levels based on how sensitive it is. Create different titles for users based on their required level of access. Continue to reevaluate which users need access to which information based on their current task load.
- Divide and divide again: Split your access categories into the smallest ones possible to make sure no user is able to see information that is not necessary for their work. Customize and scale permissions for each individual user.
- Make it manageable: Use identity management tools such as multi-factor identification, complex passwords or biometrics to verify users attempting to access information. Create a system to evaluate user tasks and ensure their access level only reflects what is required. Always start by granting as little access as possible.
- Monitor and analyze: Implement continuous monitoring to keep track of which users are accessing which information. Create a thorough protocol for network users to follow. This way, you can make sure users are complying with company access policies and spot any suspicious behavior or potential security threats in real time.
- Keep it protected: Create strict security policies and enforce them continuously. These policies should be reevaluated and changed as needed to make sure they are as up-to-date and efficient as possible.
- Beef up security: Use data encryption tools to protect sensitive information even after a breach.
- Train your users: Teach and reteach your policies and protocols to network users so they understand how to use secure access practices and recognize suspicious network access behavior.
- Test and test again: Conduct frequent tests on the effectiveness of your identification tools, access barriers and security measures. Adjust as needed.
- Merge internal and external: Use zero trust authentication principles as the default for both internal and external network users. Create protocols for giving access permissions to outside users.
- Respond and repair: Create a rigorous plan for identifying and responding to threats and breaches.
Following zero trust authentication principles is an ongoing task. It’s important to make sure your company policies and protocols for network security are customized to your specific needs and are clear to all users potentially accessing your network. Robust principles and clear understanding of them help make zero trust authentication as effective as possible for your business.
What are the challenges of zero trust authentication?
The main challenges organization face adopting zero trust authentication tend to revolve around the following:
- Deep understanding is often needed to fully understand your company’s network, categorize its resources, determine access levels and create proper policies.
- More complicated access protocols can create obstacles for users in doing their work.
- Making the switch to zero trust authentication can temporarily interrupt existing workflows.
- Employees may resist a “trust no-one” culture shift.
- Older network technologies may be tougher to integrate.
- The cost of switching systems and of dedicating resources to continuous monitoring and policy reevaluation can be challenging depending on your organization’s budget.
- Ensuring that your business’ zero trust policies are in line with industry regulations can be an obstacle.
Is zero trust authentication in line with industry standards?
Yes. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Internal Organization for Standardization (ISO) among others build their standards on the belief that any user accessing your network should be verified using multi-factor authentication to guarantee as much security as possible for businesses. Multi-factor identification is just one of the many tools zero trust authentication uses to ensure identity is validated thoroughly and continuously, per industry standards.
Where can I get help with zero trust authentication?
Trend Vision One™ – Zero Trust Secure Access (ZTSA) is a modern access control solution that continuously verifies user identities and device trust across your digital estate. ZTSA enables secure access to applications, cloud services, and GenAI tools with real-time policy enforcement, risk-based decisions, and unified visibility. By integrating Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), ZTSA helps organizations enforce least-privilege access, reduce reliance on VPNs, and control GenAI risk—all managed from a single platform.
Jayce Chang is the Vice President of Product Management, with a strategic focus on Security Operations, XDR, and Agentic SIEM/SOAR.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is zero login authentication?
Zero login authentication is a way of authenticating users that does not require usernames or passwords when logging on to a network.
What is the difference between VPN and ZTNA?
A VPN gives broad network access to authorized users, while a ZTNA (zero-trust network access) only grants access to small, necessary subcategories of resources.
What is an example of authentication?
Logging in using a username and password, scanning your fingerprint and using a secure PIN are all authentication methods.
What is the difference between SSO and OAuth?
OAuth is an authorization framework that lets third-party applications access resources without credentials. With the SSO method, a login is required for users to get into a system and gain access to its applications.
Why is OAuth not authentication?
OAuth grants access on a user’s behalf but does not verify the identity of the user.
What are the three pillars of verification in ZTNA?
The three pillars of ZTNA (zero trust network access) are least privilege access, always verify, and risk mitigation.
What are the three main areas of focus within the first section of zero trust ‘verify identity and context’?
The three key areas of focus are: who the initiator is, what the attributes of connection are and where the initiator is trying to go.
What are the three pillars of the trust model?
Ability/competence, integrity and benevolence/care are the three pillars of the trust security model.
What are the 5 pillars of zero trust?
The five pillars of the zero trust model are: identity, devices, network/environment, application workload, and data.
What is a real-world example of zero trust?
Hospitals use zero trust to protect patient records and comply with industry privacy standards. Cloud services such as Office 365 use zero trust principles such as multi-factor authentication to verify identity and protect data.