Zero trust: never trust, verify

In today's digital world, security threats are becoming more sophisticated and sophisticated. In this environment, companies need to go beyond traditional security models and adopt new approaches. One of these is “Zero Trust (Zero Trust).”

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The Zero Trust security model is a modern security approach based on the “never trust, verify” philosophy. In the traditional security model, the internal network was considered secure and only the traffic coming from the outside is concerned, but this method has the limitation of being able to overlook internal threats. The Zero Trust model was designed to overcome these limitations.

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In this article, we'll take a closer look at the basic concepts and key elements of Zero Trust, as well as the key benefits and importance of Cisco Duo, which can effectively implement it.

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The basic concept of Zero Trust

The Zero Trust security model is centered around the following principles:

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1. Verify everything: Verifies the identity of all users and devices, whether internal or external, every time they try to access them. This applies not only to the simple login process, but also to accessing networks and applications.

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2. Least privilege principle: Ensure that users and systems are granted only the minimum required permissions. This helps prevent abuse or misuse of permissions.

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3. Segmented access control: Control access by segmenting networks and data. For example, divide the network into multiple zones and apply separate access policies for each zone.

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Key elements of Zero Trust

The following elements are required to implement a Zero Trust security model:

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1. Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Use additional authentication methods to increase security because a simple password may be weak. Examples include push notifications, phone authentication, and biometrics.

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2. Real time monitoring: You can quickly detect and respond to anomalies or potential threats by monitoring the status of networks and systems in real time.

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3. Sophisticated policy settings: You can fine-tune access rights for each user and device and grant or restrict permissions as needed.

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Key benefits of Zero Trust

Adopting a Zero Trust model offers a number of benefits. By thoroughly verifying every access attempt, it is possible to further secure the network and data from internal and external threats.

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Furthermore, since Zero Trust can be flexibly applied to various environments such as on-premise, cloud, and hybrid, security can be enhanced according to the characteristics of the organization. As a result, security incidents can be prevented in advance, and costs for data recovery or legal response in the event of an incident can be reduced, providing great economic benefits.

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Why is Zero Trust important?

There are many reasons why Zero Trust is important in today's digital world. First, security threats from within, such as internal employees and partners, are increasing. Zero Trust can effectively respond to these internal threats. In particular, as remote work spread after the COVID-19 pandemic, access to internal networks from outside became common, and Zero Trust guarantees secure access even in remote work environments.

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Although IT environments have recently become complex due to the use of cloud services and various devices, Zero Trust can maintain an organization's security status by providing consistent security even in such a complex environment.

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Cisco Duo: The optimal solution to achieve zero trust

Multiple solutions are needed to effectively implement a Zero Trust security model. Among them, Cisco Duo is a very powerful and efficient tool, and I highly recommend it for the following reasons:

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1. Strong multi-factor authentication (MFA) that supports multiple authentication methods

Cisco Duo supports multiple factor authentication (MFA) methods to maximize security. This can provide additional security that isn't protected by a single password. The main authentication methods include:

• push notifications: Users can easily complete authentication by receiving a push notification from the Duo mobile app when they log in.
• Phone verification: Duo makes a verification call to the user's phone to proceed with the verification process.
• SMS authentication: Users can authenticate by entering a verification code sent via SMS.
• biometric: Provides secure authentication through biometrics such as fingerprints and face recognition.

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2. Easy integration and flexible application

Cisco Duo can be easily integrated with various applications, services, and network infrastructure, enabling Zero Trust security without major changes to existing systems. It is compatible with various operating systems such as Windows, Mac, and Linux, and can be easily applied to both cloud-based services and on-premise applications.

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Furthermore, it provides a flexible and powerful security environment by using Duo's API to build customized security solutions. Above all, it is highly compatible with Cisco products, so organizations using Cisco infrastructure can enhance security more efficiently and seamlessly.

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3. User friendly interface

Duo provides an intuitive and easy interface to help users complete the verification process with ease. This can minimize user inconvenience while increasing security, and the Duo mobile app provides a user-friendly interface to help users easily authenticate.

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Additionally, administrators can easily manage users and devices and set security policies through a web-based management console.

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4. Real-time monitoring and statistics

With real-time monitoring capabilities, Cisco Duo can continuously track authentication attempts and security status, providing administrators with critical information in real time and quickly detecting potential threats.

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It provides detailed logs and reports of authentication attempts to easily understand the security status, and has effective threat detection functions such as automatically detecting anomalies and immediately sending alerts to administrators.

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5. Proven reliability and scalability

Cisco Duo is a proven solution that is already being used by various companies and organizations, and is highly reliable and stable. Duo's flexible scalability is suitable for everyone from small startups to large global enterprises, and it can be flexibly expanded as the company grows, providing a long-term efficient security solution while minimizing initial introduction costs.

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6. Strong security features

Duo proactively blocks potential security threats through advanced security technology, such as AI-based anomaly detection capabilities, so that 'continuous verification', which is a core principle of the Zero Trust model can be fully implemented.

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In particular, AI can be used to detect abnormal activity and respond quickly, and customized security policies can be applied to each user and device through granular policy settings.

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At the end

Cisco Duo is an optimized solution for implementing a Zero Trust security model. Strong multi-factor authentication, easy integration, user-friendly interface, real-time monitoring, proven reliability and scalability, and strong security features help enterprises build a secure and reliable security environment.

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Safer your organization by adopting Cisco Duo to achieve zero trust security.

👉 Contact us for a Cisco Duo subscription

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