What is Zero Trust?
Zero Trust is a security model that removes implicit trust from the network: every user, device and connection is continuously verified before being granted access to a resource, regardless of whether it sits inside or outside the corporate perimeter.
The principle: never trust, always verify
Traditional networks assume that everything inside the firewall is trustworthy. Zero Trust discards that assumption: every access request is treated as if it came from an open network. The user's identity, the device's posture and the context (location, time, behaviour) are evaluated on every connection.
Key components of a Zero Trust architecture
- Strong identity verification with a single encryption key per session.
- Device validation: only known and compliant devices get access.
- Microsegmentation: each user only sees the resources they are entitled to.
- End-to-end encryption on all traffic, with no exceptions.
- Continuous telemetry: context is monitored throughout the session, not just at login.
Zero Trust vs the traditional perimeter
A classic VPN opens a tunnel into the entire internal network as soon as the user authenticates. Zero Trust does the opposite: the user only reaches the specific authorised resource, never "entering" the network. This blocks lateral movement, the most common technique in modern attacks once a credential has been compromised.