Beyond Identity's launch of Zero Trust Authentication is a game-changer in the field of cybersecurity. The sub-category of zero-trust security is a step forward in aligning verification with zero-trust principles. The passwordless capability and phishing resistance features of Zero Trust Authentication enable businesses to verify the identities of people and devices with zero-trust-level certainty. This is crucial because, without such enhanced verification capacities, organizations cannot truly implement zero trust security.
Organizations supporting Zero Trust Authentication, which was created to address the drawbacks of conventional authentication techniques, include Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Optiv, Ping Identity, the Cloud Security Alliance, and the FIDO (Fast Identification Online) Alliance.
While its category-defining book, Zero Trust Authentication, describes the precise capabilities, requirements, policies, and best practises, Beyond Identity said it will provide practical Zero Trust Authentication advice to clients and channel partners through international and local events throughout 2023.
One of the trickier problems that CISOs still have to deal with is authentication, as interoperability, usability, technical constraints, and vulnerabilities frequently make it difficult to identify and authorise individuals and devices effectively.
Zero Trust Authentication's seven prerequisites
In order to distinguish Zero Trust Authentication from conventional authentication, Beyond Identity outlines seven requirements.
Passwordless: No passwords or other shared secrets that can be easily gained from users, recorded on networks, or hacked from databases are used.
Phishing resistance: No chance of obtaining codes, magic links, or other authentication elements via phishing, adversary-in-the-middle, or other assaults.
Capable of verifying user devices: Capable of ensuring that requesting devices are bound to a user and have access to information assets and applications.
Capable of assessing device security posture: Able to identify whether devices adhere to security policies by ensuring that necessary security settings are enabled and security software is operating.
Capable of assessing a wide range of risk signals: Competent of ingesting and analysing data from endpoints as well as security and IT management tools, allowing policy engines to assess risks based on parameters such as user behaviour, device security posture, and detection and response tool status.
Ongoing risk assessment: The ability to analyse risk throughout a session rather than depending on one-time authentication.
Integrating with security infrastructure: Connecting with a range of security infrastructure technologies to increase risk detection, faster reaction to suspicious behaviour, and improve audit and compliance reporting.
Modern authentication techniques are ineffective
Existing identification approaches are failing miserably, says Jasson Casey, CTO at Beyond Identity, to CSO. The conventional method of security was creating a perimeter around the network and placing your trust in the users and equipment inside of it. This strategy, though, is no longer adequate. The perimeter-based paradigm failed since there are many cloud-based resources and users can work or access resources from anywhere.
A network-based perimeter and implicit trust are absent from a zero-trust strategy, Casey continues. Casey contends that as every person and device must instead demonstrate their reliability, zero-trust authentication is a crucial component of any comprehensive zero-trust strategy.
Simply put, efforts to prevent adversaries from penetrating systems, gaining access to accounts, or delivering ransomware won't be successful if an organisation executes the majority of zero-trust features flawlessly while continuing to rely on ineffective authentication techniques.
By eschewing passwords and outdated multifactor authentication (MFA) and adopting the tenet of "never trusting and always confirming," Casey claims that adopting zero-trust authentication enables enterprises to put contemporary, effective security techniques into practice.
“The approach enables several benefits for organizations including a higher level of security by reducing the attack surface and making it more difficult for attackers to move within the network. In addition, it enables more flexible working arrangements as employees can work remotely while maintaining high security. Lastly, it helps organizations to remain compliant with constantly updating regulations by providing a secure, auditable security framework,” Casey concluded.
