Zero Trust Identity: A Practical Introduction

Zero Trust is often reduced to a marketing buzzword, but the underlying principle is straightforward: no user or device is trusted by default, regardless of whether they're inside or outside the network perimeter.

In practice, this starts with strong identity verification — MFA everywhere, not just for admin accounts. It extends to device posture checks (is this laptop patched and encrypted?) before granting access to sensitive resources.

Micro-segmentation limits lateral movement — even if one system is compromised, an attacker shouldn't be able to freely move to the next. And continuous verification means access isn't a one-time login event; it's re-evaluated based on behavior and context throughout a session.

You don't need to implement all of this on day one. Start with MFA and least-privilege access — the two changes with the highest impact-to-effort ratio.