In a cloud world, most IT departments are focused on transitioning from on-premises to the cloud.
This is a significant undertaking that requires a change in mindset: Cloud adoption is not a one-time project but an ongoing process requiring new skills and capabilities for IT staff.
Understanding the tools needed for zero trust can help you achieve the greatest results.
You can take the following steps to understand the tools needed for zero trust:
Understand how data is secured across your organization.
Have a clear understanding of your data and its access policies.
Mitigate the risk of data breaches by ensuring that only authorized users can access your network.
A zero-trust model means that you can protect your data, no matter what happens. The use of this model also means you can mitigate any risks that may occur in the future.
Microsoft’s new zero trust program can help your organization improve its security posture.
What is zero trust? Zero trust is a framework for building and maintaining a security posture that, in essence, holds all users, devices, and applications to the same level of scrutiny. Instead of trusting them per se, you’ll be verifying them for every access request.
It’s not about catching bad actors or stopping malicious intent. It’s about adopting an assumption that everyone inside and outside your network perimeter is untrusted (hence the name). You can do this by establishing defenses that don’t rely on security based on physical boundaries—defenses such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and conditional access.
Microsoft has created a program that supports companies trying to adopt this approach. Dubbed “Zero Trust Deployment Program (ZTDP),” it will let enterprise customers deploy Microsoft 365 cloud services using zero-trust principles across their organizations. Your organization can have access to expert guidance from AIS certified engineering expert consultants who can help you identify potential vulnerabilities while you implement Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) architectures with Azure Active Directory Conditional Access policies. In addition, your developers will receive assistance in designing least-privilege policies for apps and infrastructure so that employees can securely connect with internal resources from anywhere at any time via desktop or mobile devices.
By implementing these types of policies within your organization, you will create a more secure environment for your employees by reducing the risk of an attack through one compromised user account or device by requiring multifactor authentication before granting any access to company resources. This also enables more flexible work styles because employees no longer need to be physically located in an office in order to perform their job duties.
If you want to begin planning how ZTNA might work within your own organization, AIS has service offerings to help guide and implement the Microsoft 365 and Azure services. Start with a free Security Assessment from AIS to help you understand your current gaps in Azure and Microsoft 365 clouds and plan an adoption roadmap to meet your security needs and compliance requirements.
Microsoft's Zero Trust program offers several options for companies that want to embrace this approach.
To help organizations embrace a zero trust security framework, Microsoft offers several products and programs. These include:
Microsoft 365 — This is the bundle of business software that includes Windows 10, Office 365, Enterprise Mobility + Security, and machine learning capabilities.
Azure Active Directory — This is the cloud-based identity and access management service that allows users to securely sign in to apps they need.
Microsoft Sentinel — This is a cloud-native SIEM solution that builds a timeline of events from various data signals, such as endpoint protection and access control devices, sending notifications for any suspicious activity.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud — works with Microsoft Sentinel to detect and respond to threats on local networks and cloud services.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint — protects devices from malware attacks by identifying malicious files before they infect a device.