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Fast track to Zero Trust

Zero Trust Model is a cybersecurity concept that no longer assumes that actors, systems, or services inside the network perimeter should be automatically trusted. Not trusting anyone is applied by default. The core principle of Zero Trust is to always verify and the best way to do it is through modern MFA.

Schedule a demo with us and we will show you how to add modern MFA to one of your applications in less than 5 minutes without making any changes to its code.

What Is a Zero Trust Approach?

The phenomenon of remote working has shifted enterprise security boundaries to such an extent that securing office networks is no longer enough. Now security teams need to focus on employees’ workstations at homes, coffee shops, or any other place from which employees work. Organizations need an up-to-date security model to manage the complexity of the work-from-anywhere reality. That is why more and more companies are going for the Zero Trust model. By now, everyone knows that corporate firewalls do not guarantee safety.

Organizations that use the Zero Trust model simply assume a breach will take place and, therefore, they verify each and every single request. They no longer distinguish between trusted and untrusted networks. With Zero Trust, everyone is a suspect and needs to be verified.

What Is the Concept of the Zero Trust Model?

The Zero Trust approach is based on three basic principles:

  1. Verify explicitly (Trust nothing)
  2. Grant least privileged access
  3. Assume a breach

In the Zero Trust model, every access request needs to be authenticated, authorized, and encrypted before it can be granted. Identity authentication and authorization are based on all available data points, which include such things as user identity, data classification, location, and health of the device and application. No matter if the user connects from the office space, home office, or a coffee shop – the approach remains the same: always verify, grant least privileged access, and assume that a breach can happen at any time. Strong security policies are at the core of Zero Trust. They enable security teams to secure the workforce (no matter where the employees connect from) while maintaining productivity.

Why Do We Need Zero Trust?

The Zero Trust model was created in 2010 by John Kindervag, at the time a principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc, but the idea was being discussed even before that. In 2003, the issue came up that cybersecurity teams were not really validating what they should be validating, and users within the company network were being given special, undue privileges. The three fundamental pillars of verifying devices and user identity were then established. As a result, applications replaced networks in the center of cybersecurity.

‘Never Trust, Always Verify’

Traditionally, cybersecurity was based on tools such as a VPN. Whenever someone wanted to connect to a virtual private network, they had to sign in. Most companies still use VPNs as a standard, some adding an extra security layer by validating the device used to connect.

However, once the user has signed in, there is no further verification and, therefore, no more layers of control. So, if a criminal manages to infiltrate into the VPN, they can compromise company data.

Apart from securing network perimeters and validating devices used to log in, cybersecurity must consider and address many other aspects of online user activity. For example, should employees only be able to view CRM records, or should they be able to edit them as well? Should the latter only be possible with a company device? Any action can and should be permitted only when certain criteria are recognized as fulfilled. That is the basis of Zero Trust.

How Can We Implement the Zero Trust Model?

  • User privileges and application access rights should always be limited to the minimum that is sufficient for continuous and productive work.
  • It is better to prepare for the worst to secure in the best way possible. Security teams should design the company systems so that the discrete components cannot be compromised by an attacker impacting other components.
  • Take advantage of analytics and monitoring to respond in real-time to threats that are detected faster and made more apparent.
  • No matter if the security team is assessing the organization’s Zero Trust readiness or building plans to improve protection across company identities, devices, applications, data, infrastructure, and networks – each step forward reduces risks and builds trust across the organization.

Zero Trust implementation takes a number of steps, but the first and most important thing to do is to validate the users. Security teams need to be sure that the people behind the screen who try to open company applications are actually who they say they are. Always double-check before granting them access. The most common form of this double verification is multi-factor authentication (MFA) or a special form of two-factor authentication (2FA).

2FA is the first step to Zero Trust. The next step is to learn about the device that the user is connecting with. Is this device personal? Is it corporate property? In the cloud apps era, there are a ton of personal devices that are not managed by the organization and that employees use to connect with company resources.

The final part of the Zero Trust puzzle is to start looking into your applications that are not on-premise. Things that work with on-premise apps do not necessarily work with the apps in the cloud, so it is necessary to be aware of that and handle both in the most efficient way.

How Do You Start with Zero Trust?

Implementing multi-factor authentication is the first step. You can use User Access Security Broker to install MFA on a large scale across the entire organization. User Access Security Broker is different from traditional solutions for deploying multi-factor authentication, as it does not require any software development. Secfense solution can deploy MFA on any app by adding a security broker to the company infrastructure and then rerouting network traffic through this broker. To read more about User Access Security Broker, visit the Solutions section on our website.

Secfense User Access Security Broker F.A.Q.

Another simple step that brings organizations closer to adopting the Zero Trust approach is the use of microauthorizations. An admin can enable them in an application with User Access Security Broker. Microauthorizations are best defined as additional authentication requests that show up whenever users try to access specific resources within the app or want to perform an action that requires extra authentication. These authentication requests can be resolved by the users themselves (Owner scenario) or by an authorized employee (Supervisor scenario). You can read more about microauthorizations in our Solutions section.

 

How to add Two-Factor Authentication to any application in minutes
How to Introduce Zero Trust and Passwordless Authentication Globally

Schedule a call with us to find out:

  • how to start with Zero Trust and introduce MFA across your organization
  • how could your company benefit from microauthorizations
  • how could you deploy and scale strong authentication within your entire organization
  • how to upgrade your authentication mechanisms with new strong authentication standards

 

Testimonials

We are faced with new challenges every day. We must always be one step ahead of the attackers and know what they are going to do before they do it. We are convinced that the User Access Security Broker will bring security to a new level, both for those working at the office and from home. For us, working with Secfense is an opportunity to exchange experience with developers who put great value on out-of-the-box thinking.

Krzysztof Słotwiński

Business Continuity and Computer Security Officer

BNP Paribas Bank Poland

As part of the pre-implementation analysis, we verified that users utilize a wide range of client platforms: desktop computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and traditional mobile phones. Each of these devices differs in technological advancement, features, and level of security. Because of this, and also due to the recommendation of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (UKNF), we decided to introduce additional protection in the form of multi-factor authentication mechanisms based on FIDO. As a result, users of our applications can log in safely, avoiding common cyber threats such as phishing, account takeover, and theft of their own and their clients’ data.

Marcin Bobruk

CEO

Sandis

We are excited to partner with Secfense to enhance our user access security for our web apps. By integrating their User Access Security Broker, we ensure seamless and secure protection for our applications and systems, delivering superior security and convenience to our customers.

Charm Abeywardana

IT & Infrastructure

Visium Networks

Before investing in Secfense, we had the opportunity to talk to its existing clients. Their reactions were unanimous: wow, it’s so easy to use. We were particularly impressed by the fact that implementing their solution does not require the involvement of IT developers. It gives Secfense a huge advantage over the competition, and at the same time opens the door to potential customers who so far were afraid of changes related to the implementation of multi-factor authentication solutions.

Mateusz Bodio

Managing Director

RKKVC

Even when the network and infrastructure are secured enough, social engineering and passwords can be used to gain control of the system by attackers. Multifactor authentication is the current trend. Secfense addresses this and allows you to build zero trust security and upgrade your current systems to passwordless applications within minutes, solving this problem right away,” said Eduard Kučera, Partner at Presto Ventures and cybersecurity expert – former Director in hugely successful Czech multinational cyber security firm Avast.

Eduard Kučera

Partner

Presto Ventures

One of the biggest challenges the world is facing today is securing our identity online. That’s why we were so keen to have Secfense in our portfolio. They make it possible to introduce strong authentication in an automated way. Until now, organizations had to selectively protect applications because the deployment of new technology was very hard, or even impossible. With Secfense, the implementation of multi-factor authentication is no longer a problem, and all organizations can use the highest standards of authentication security.

Stanislav Ivanov

Founding Partner

Tera Ventures

Two-factor authentication is known to be one of the best ways to protect against phishing; however, its implementation has always been difficult. Secfense helped us solve that problem. With their security broker, we were able to introduce various 2FA methods on our web applications at once.

Dariusz Pitala

Head of IT

MPEC S.A.