What is Zero Trust?
What is zero trust? I like to use an airport analogy to convey the concept. If you prefer video, I gotchu. Think about airport security. Traditional perimeter-based security, like a virtual private network (VPN), is like flashing your ID at the airport entrance and getting access to everything inside. Not great, right? Zero Trust security takes a different approach - more like how airports actually work. No boarding pass? You'll need to verify who you are at the ticket counter first. Got your pass? Great, but you're still getting checked at every checkpoint after that. This matches how an identity aware proxy works in Zero Trust. What makes Zero Trust powerful is how it thinks about context. Your boarding pass isn't a free pass to wander - it only works for your specific flight, at your specific gate, at the right time. Zero Trust security works the same way. Take production access - just because you're an engineer doesn't mean you get 24/7 access to production. You might only get elevated permissions during your on-call shifts. Here's the big difference: old-school perimeter security is binary - you're either in or out. Zero Trust keeps asking: Are you who you claim to be? Are you where you're supposed to be? Is this the right time for your access? Does your current context justify this access level? Zero Trust isn't about trust issues - it's about being precise. Right people, right access, right time, right context. TLDR; it' all about context. Photo by Icarus Chu on Unsplash
What is zero trust? I like to use an airport analogy to convey the concept.
If you prefer video, I gotchu.
Think about airport security. Traditional perimeter-based security, like a virtual private network (VPN), is like flashing your ID at the airport entrance and getting access to everything inside. Not great, right?
Zero Trust security takes a different approach - more like how airports actually work. No boarding pass? You'll need to verify who you are at the ticket counter first. Got your pass? Great, but you're still getting checked at every checkpoint after that. This matches how an identity aware proxy works in Zero Trust.
What makes Zero Trust powerful is how it thinks about context. Your boarding pass isn't a free pass to wander - it only works for your specific flight, at your specific gate, at the right time.
Zero Trust security works the same way. Take production access - just because you're an engineer doesn't mean you get 24/7 access to production. You might only get elevated permissions during your on-call shifts.
Here's the big difference: old-school perimeter security is binary - you're either in or out. Zero Trust keeps asking:
- Are you who you claim to be?
- Are you where you're supposed to be?
- Is this the right time for your access?
- Does your current context justify this access level?
Zero Trust isn't about trust issues - it's about being precise. Right people, right access, right time, right context.
TLDR; it' all about context.
Photo by Icarus Chu on Unsplash
