1. What changes have there been in the IT security needs of modern enterprises？

Since the large-scale implementation of remote work, the number of cybercrime cases has surged and is still on the rise, and network security has therefore received more and more attention. Faced with the new working environment, enterprises are also thinking about the measures needed to protect network and asset security.

The continuous emphasis on security needs by enterprises has become a major hot topic in the IT market. However, although the热度 of IT security is high, the difficulty and complexity of realizing security needs have not decreased accordingly, especially for enterprises with limited resources and budgets, implementing security still requires a high cost.

In fact, security solutions do not have to be very complex. This article will explain the basic knowledge that enterprises need to understand to maintain IT security in a thorough and straightforward manner.

1. What changes have there been in the IT security needs of modern enterprises?

With the increasing demand for efficiency, flexibility, and mobile devices in office places, enterprises have begun to turn to cloud services. During the remote work trend that began in 2020, in order to continue to provide enterprise IT resources to remote employees, more and more enterprises have adopted SaaS cloud services. Now, hybrid cloud or pure cloud infrastructure, as well as SaaS tools, have become the standard configuration for all kinds of enterprises.

On the other hand, many enterprises have continued to use the original network boundary security model during the remote work period, which creates firewalls as network boundaries within the enterprise internal network, allowing anyone who enters the boundary internally through username and password or other methods to move freely within the enterprise internal network.

However, the concept of local network has basically disappeared, and there is no physical infrastructure to establish boundaries within the enterprise internal network. Firewalls and other boundary security technologies also cannot protect cloud resources outside the internal infrastructure of the company. In this situation, how can enterprises protect the new cloud-based environment?

2. What is zero trust security?

Zero trust is a security solution that meets the needs of modern cloud environments, filling the gaps left by traditional network boundary security frameworks, and has been widely popular in the past few years, just like remote work.

Zero trust has also become a common term in the IT market, but people often think that the concept of zero trust is too complex. In fact, the essence of zero trust is very simple, that is, to enforce the principle of least privilege (PLP), and to require authentication at any point in the network.

3. How to achieve zero trust?

The zero trust industry leader Forrester's 'Zero Trust Deployment Guide' lists specific steps to achieve zero trust security:

1) Evaluate the current state of the enterprise environment.Enterprises should understand the maturity of zero trust deployment, long-term security plans, and other elements and operations that may affect the implementation of zero trust. Evaluating the current state of the environment can also reveal areas that are not mature in terms of security, so that when planning the zero trust deployment roadmap, it is known which areas need to be prioritized.

2) Set goals.Enterprises can set the overall goal of zero trust deployment based on the maturity assessment of zero trust deployment and the information in the existing security plan, and then break down the overall goal into individual goals, determining the deadlines for achievement.

3) Plan the zero trust deployment roadmap.After determining the framework, you can fill in the details, including the functions to be implemented and the deployment time.

4) Implement in stages according to the roadmap.Zero trust deployment should be progressive and cautious, and receiving an incomplete zero trust state is also an indispensable part of the entire deployment process.

The zero trust deployment roadmap mentioned above divides the zero trust architecture into five key components:

• Identity

• Device

• Workload

• Network

• Data

Enterprises can break down the roadmap based on these five key elements and set specific goals. The roadmap is based on the goals set by the enterprise, the current infrastructure, the security plan, and available resources, so each enterprise's roadmap is different.

4) How to maintain IT security simply and effectively?

Complex security solutions may actually hinder implementation and affect deployment effectiveness. The following 6 zero trust measures can ensure a simple and effective user experience:

1) Push-based or Biometric Multi-factor Authentication

Push-based multi-factor authentication (MFA) allows users to complete identity verification by confirming a push notification on their personal device. Biometric-based multi-factor authentication (MFA) supports fingerprint or facial recognition. Both methods do not require entering a password or carrying a security key.

2) Single Sign-On

Single Sign-On (SSO) does not require users to remember each account's username and password; a single set of username and password can log into multiple resources. Ning盾 Single Sign-On SSO system can achieve a single identity pass to all business applications within the enterprise, and can automatically manage account lifecycles, automatically transfer identity data, provide self-service for users, and automatically approve identities, meeting the special needs of enterprises.

3) Mobile Device Management

Mobile Device Management (MDM) tools can manage devices including personal devices used for office work, allowing users to work safely with familiar devices at home.

4) Patch Management

Patch management ensures that employees' devices are always updated to the latest version, both for security and to ensure that employees have a smoother experience.

5) Conditional Access Policies

Conditional access policies allow enterprises to relax the requirements for conventional or identifiable login when users follow security guidelines.

6) Directory Service

Enterprises can synchronize more IT resources to the directory to achieve a more seamless user experience. Directory services can unify and streamline all content, report to the same data source, and include other features such as integrating more tools into single sign-on (SSO) solutions and intelligent automated device allocation.

The popularity of zero trust is fundamentally due to the fact that enterprises hope to maintain compliance of all users with simple IT security solutions, ultimately achieving the overall security goal.