Industry Insights

What is Zero Trust Security? | Core Principles of Zero Trust Model

What is Zero Trust?

Zero Trust is a cybersecurity paradigm that assumes no user, device, or network segment is inherently trustworthy—even if it’s inside the corporate perimeter. Instead of granting implicit trust based on location or network membership, Zero Trust requires every access attempt to be verified and authorized, reducing the attack surface and preventing lateral movement by attackers.

ZTNA emerged as organizations shifted from static, perimeter-based networks to dynamic, cloud-centric, and remote work environments. Traditional models that granted implicit trust were no longer adequate, so ZTNA was developed to continuously verify every access request, addressing vulnerabilities such as lateral movement and unauthorized access in today’s decentralized IT landscape.

Highly regulated sectors like financial services, healthcare, government, and technology—as well as retail—are particularly impacted, as these industries demand robust, adaptive network security to protect sensitive data in an increasingly remote-access environment.

Core Principles of the Zero Trust Model

Zero Trust is built on the principle of “Never Trust, Always Verify,” where every access request must be authenticated before granting any privileges. By enforcing least privilege access, micro-segmentation, continuous monitoring, and context-aware decision-making based on user identity, device health, location, and behavior, organizations dynamically adjust access rights to minimize risk and prevent lateral movement.

• Never Trust, Always Verify:

  Every access request is treated as untrusted until verified.

• Least Privilege:

  Users and devices are granted the minimum access necessary for their roles.

• Micro-Segmentation:

  The network is divided into isolated segments to prevent lateral movement.

• Continuous Monitoring and Adaptation:

  Security posture is continuously evaluated, and access rights are adjusted based on real-time risk assessments.

Context-Aware Access:

Decisions are based on a combination of user identity, device health, location, and behavior.

How Zero Trust Works

Zero Trust works by requiring every user and device to undergo rigorous identity and context verification—using factors like multi-factor authentication, device health, geolocation, and time-of-day checks—before granting them only the minimum necessary access, while dividing networks into isolated segments to limit lateral movement. Continuous monitoring of user behavior and risk factors further ensures that access rights are dynamically adjusted in real time, maintaining a resilient and adaptive security posture.

Identity Verification:

Every user and device must prove its identity through robust authentication and pass a security posture check before accessing any resource.

Context Verification:

Zero Trust involves evaluating behaviors such as multi-factor authentication, device health (including OS version and patch status), geolocation, and time-of-day access. By continuously assessing these factors, organizations can dynamically enforce security policies and tailor access controls to each user’s risk profile.

Least Privilege Access:

Access is granted only to the minimum resources needed for a task, reducing the risk if credentials are compromised.

Micro-Segmentation:

Networks and user groups are divided into smaller segments to ensure that even if one segment is breached, the attacker cannot move freely laterally.

Continuous Monitoring:

Ongoing evaluation of user behavior and device health ensures that access rights can be adjusted in real time as risk levels change.

Zero Trust Use Cases

Zero Trust use cases address a wide spectrum of modern IT challenges by securing remote access for offsite workers, protecting SaaS and cloud applications with granular, identity-based policies, and segmenting internal networks to limit lateral movement. Additionally, Zero Trust extends its robust security controls to IoT devices by ensuring comprehensive visibility and enforces consistent protection across hybrid work environments, whether users are in the office, at home, or on the go.

• Remote Access:

  Securing connections for remote workers by ensuring each connection is verified regardless of location.

• Cloud Applications:

  Protecting access to SaaS and cloud-hosted applications through granular identity-based policies with least privilege access.

• Internal Network Segmentation:

  Limiting lateral movement within enterprise networks by segmenting resources and enforcing strict access controls.

• IoT Security:

  Providing visibility and control over IoT devices that may not traditionally be managed by IT.

• Hybrid Work Environments:

  Ensuring consistent security whether users are in the office, at home, or on the go.

How to Implement Zero Trust

Implementing Zero Trust starts with identifying critical assets and users by mapping out your data, applications, and devices, and then enforcing strong identity verification using multi-factor authentication, while dividing your network into smaller segments with granular access policies. Next, continuously monitor the security posture of users and devices with integrated analytics and logging, and leverage a unified security platform that combines ZTNA, SWG, SD-WAN, and other security functions to dynamically adapt access controls as needed.

• Identify Critical Assets and Users:

  Map out your data, applications, and devices to understand what needs protection.

• Implement Strong Identity and Access Management:

  Use multi-factor authentication and robust identity verification systems to ensure that only authorized users can access specific resources.

• Adopt Micro-Segmentation:

  Divide your network into smaller segments and enforce granular access policies for each segment.

• Deploy Continuous Monitoring:

  Integrate analytics and logging to continuously assess the security posture of users and devices, adapting access rights as needed.

• Leverage a Unified Security Platform:

  Use a solution—often delivered via a SASE architecture—that integrates Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), SD-WAN, and other security functions under a single management console.

Why Versa for Zero Trust?

Versa Networks offers a comprehensive approach to Zero Trust through its Unified SASE platform. Here’s why Versa stands out:

Integrated Security and Networking:

Versa’s platform brings together SD-WAN, ZTNA, SWG, CASB, and other functions into a single, unified solution. This means consistent security policy enforcement across on-premises, remote, and cloud environments.
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Continuous Verification and Adaptive Policies:

Versa’s solution continuously monitors user behavior and device posture, dynamically adjusting access controls in real time. This adaptive security minimizes the risk of unauthorized access.
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Granular Control and Simplified Management:

With a single-pane-of-glass management console, Versa simplifies policy management and reduces the complexity associated with multiple point solutions. This unified approach ensures that policies remain consistent and comprehensive.
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Proven Deployments:

Versa’s technology has been successfully deployed in challenging environments—such as DISA’s Thunderdome program—demonstrating its effectiveness in delivering conditional Zero Trust access even at the network edge.

Experience the Versa difference—register for a demo today to see how our Unified SASE platform delivers integrated, adaptive Zero Trust security across on-premises, remote, and cloud environments.