Zero Trust and Uniformed Platforms

As the global community becomes more interconnected and diverse, organizations have seen their network space expand to accommodate a variety of advanced digital technologies to include mobile, Internet of Things devices, and a full or hybrid Cloud service models.?Hybrid and work from home solutions have further increased the organization’s enterprise, which may be further complicated by allowing users to use personal devices in addition to official computers, laptops, tablets, and phones.?These digital transformations have improved business operational effectiveness and have changed the way companies operate, communicate, and engage with customers.

However, they have also vastly enlarged the attack surface for hostile actors who have demonstrated their abilities of innovating their attack strategies and methodologies. These vast network architectures offer enterprising adversaries several different vectors to target, attack, and exploit.?In the past, organizations have turned to several security service vendors to address different parts of their network.?This has invariably caused complications for an organization due to compatibility issues, or if these offerings could be implemented and harmonized, achieved only varying degrees of success. Further complicating matters is the fact that the more third parties have access to a network, the greater the chance of one them putting the organization at risk of a supply chain attack or breach.

Such complex network environments with so many endpoints require a Zero Trust application toward security that adheres to the rubric of “never trust, always verify” framework. Despite being widely recognized as an effective means to mitigate the threats of data breaches and supply chain attacks, many organizations have yet to fully deploy Zero Trust in their environments, according to a 2022 IBM report on the data breach costs.?Per IBM, of those organizations surveyed, only 41% had implemented Zero Trust security architecture in their environments, a step up from the previous year’s 35%, but still low given the volume of data breaches that continue to occur.

A Zero Trust model requires that all possible vectors into an organization are monitored, which can be an overwhelming task for security teams often mired in financial and human resource constraints.?Implementing a uniform platform mitigates these problems by consolidating all security activities under a single service product, which is easier for smaller security teams to manage than several fragmented providers.?The purpose of a unform platform is to create a multi-layered security architecture better suited to address the unique attributes of a business’ enterprise.?Once incorporated, platform consolidation increases security practitioners’ agility across the entire enterprise, thereby maximizing the business’ personnel and IT resources, which should help reduce overall costs while providing enhanced security.

More importantly, a uniform platform provides comprehensive visibility into an organization’s complex IT ecosystem, which is critical to helping an organization understand the range of risks to which it is exposed.?A centralized system facilitates faster and more efficient response times through automation, thereby removing the human error component that comes with manual effort.?Time saved will not only reduce money spent on mitigation and remediation, but the faster response will increase the security team’s ability to make decisions, thereby improving customer service and ensuring their satisfaction.

There is a growing appetited for uniformed platform solutions?According to a Forrester survey, more than 90% of respondents expressed interest in uniformed platforms.?This is an important finding as these respondents saw consolidation as being integral to improving application and data security, faster access to data in order to aid more expeditious decision-making, and a “simplified” technology architecture for ease of movement.?Even the notable IT advisory company Gartner? recognizes that unformed platforms are the logical progression for organizations, estimating that 80% of enterprises will have adopted these solutions by 2025.

Like all strategic initiatives, Zero Trust is a culture shift that must be championed by senior leadership and socialized throughout the organization via the C-Suite.?Inclusion of a uniform platform bolsters the Zero Trust approach allowing it to trust but verify all vectors attackers target.?Such a security solution should alleviate some of the CISO’s challenges better positioning the position and the team to be more effective, and in turn, make their organization more resilient in a dynamic cyber threat landscape.

“Doing more with less” is an ongoing reality for security teams that often compete for budget funding. ?Thankfully, uniformed platforms address this very concern. ?When considering uniformed platforms, ease of use and overall manageability are paramount. For example,?Perimeter 81 offers a solution such as this that provides a single pane of glass into a network, providing granular visibility and detailed accounting of the activities therein to optimize security operations.

* The author in no way represents any company, corporation, or brand, mentioned herein. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.”