According to a recent poll conducted by Deloitte, C-suite and other executives at organizations that have adopted Zero Trust believe that complexity and compatibility issues with legacy systems and environments pose the biggest challenge to adoption. However, despite this, efforts to adopt Zero Trust will be driven in the coming year by an expected increase in cyber threats and the need to better manage third-party risks.
Andrew Rafla, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory's Zero Trust offering leader and a principal at Deloitte & Touche LLP, said, "Adopting Zero Trust can help organizations secure both legacy and modern applications, data, networks, and devices, which can help effectively manage an increasingly complex cyber threat landscape. While legacy environments can challenge Zero Trust adoption, they are also a primary driver for transformation. You cannot replace a mainframe overnight, but you can rapidly change how that environment is accessed to significantly reduce risk."
Within Zero Trust adoption programs, the poll respondents prioritized enhancements focused on data security and identity and access management. This indicates the importance of responsibly handling data, protecting privacy, and implementing modernized access controls within the enterprise.
Chalan Aras, a Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory managing director focusing on Zero Trust, Deloitte & Touche LLP, said, "Zero Trust managed services and solutions can help organizations replace virtual device infrastructure (VDI) for third-party access, enable data security for both local applications and SaaS solutions, embrace a flexible bring your own device paradigm and help realize material cost savings. Working with a managed service provider can help enable accelerated and efficient Zero Trust transformation by combining advanced technological capabilities with deep functional and industry knowledge—allowing organizations to confidently operate amidst an evolving threat landscape."
Zero Trust is a security model that requires strict identity verification for every person or device attempting to access a network or system, regardless of whether they are within or outside the network perimeter. The Zero Trust model assumes that every user, device, and network component is potentially hostile and requires verification before access is granted. The adoption of this model can significantly reduce cyber risks and enhance the security posture of an organization.
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