What Is Zero Trust?

Zero Trust is a security model that assumes no user, device, or network is trusted by default. Instead of a hard perimeter with a soft interior, every access request is verified explicitly using identity, device posture, and context, and is granted with the least privilege necessary.

The core principles

• Verify explicitly: authenticate and authorize every request on signals like identity, device health, location, and risk.
• Least privilege: grant the minimum access needed, ideally just in time.
• Assume breach: segment, monitor, and limit blast radius as if an attacker is already inside.

Why identity is the foundation

Once the network is no longer the perimeter, identity becomes the perimeter. That is why Zero Trust programs lean on strong authentication, phishing-resistant MFA, continuous authorization, and identity threat detection.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

ZTNA is the access-layer implementation that replaces VPNs with identity-aware, per-application access. Browse Zero Trust vendors and our zero-trust rollout guide.

Where to start

Read the Zero Trust architecture guide, then map your identity stack against the principles above.