"Zero-Trust Architecture May Hold the Answer to Cybersecurity Insider Threats"

An MIT Lincoln Laboratory study explored the implementation of zero-trust security, a cybersecurity approach that requires users to prove their authenticity every time they access data or a network application. The goals of the study were to review the implementation of zero-trust architectures in government and industry, identify technical gaps and opportunities, and develop recommendations for the Unites States' approach to a zero-trust system. The first step in the study was to define zero-trust and understand the field's misconceptions about it. For example, some of these misperceptions claim that a zero-trust architecture requires purchasing entirely new equipment or that it renders systems unusable. Jeffrey Gottschalk, the study's co-lead, says that part of the reason there is so much confusion about zero-trust is that it takes what the cybersecurity world has known for many years and applies it in a new way. He emphasizes that it represents a paradigm shift in how we think about security, but it takes many things we already know how to do, such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), encryption, and software-defined networking, and combines them in different ways. The research team examined recent significant cybersecurity incidents to determine which security principles were most responsible for the attack's scope and impact. While several of these attacks used previously unknown implementation vulnerabilities, also known as zero-days, most were caused by the exploitation of operational security principles. The malicious actor had become an insider. By treating every component, service, and user of a system as constantly exposed to and potentially compromised by a malicious actor, zero-trust security principles could protect against this type of insider threat. Each time a user requests access to a new resource, their identity is verified, and every access is mediated, logged, and analyzed. This article continues to discuss key takeaways from the study on zero-trust architectures and how zero-trust security principles could protect against insider threats.

MIT News reports "Zero-Trust Architecture May Hold the Answer to Cybersecurity Insider Threats"