Page 151 - Cyber Defense eMagazine August 2024

5. Disadvantages of Zero Trust

After highlighting the key advantages of Zero Trust for an organization is section 3, let’s look at some its
challenges and if it is worth the investment and resources.

Implementation Complexity: Implementing Zero Trust to an appropriate maturity level may be a
challenging task as it requires comprehensive understanding of existing networks, applications, and user
workflows. Beside it may entail implementation of additional advanced security controls which may have
compatibility issues with legacy systems.

User Experience: Additional or enhanced identity and access management controls employed as part
of Zero Trust implementation may lead to user frustration if not implemented effectively. Consequently,
this can lead to resistance in Zero Trust adoption and users might try to bypass security controls thereby
adding additional threat exposure to organization.

Resource Strain: Implementation and maintenance of Zero Trust may be resource intensive as it
requires significant additional man hours to do the required job leading to strain on IT resources.

False Positives: Stringent security controls as part of Zero Trust can lead to false positive events of
legitimate users denied access with their activities flagged as suspicious.

6. How to Overcome Zero Trust Challenges

The issues in adopting a Zero Trust security model can be mitigated with careful planning and organized
implementation techniques, here are some measures:

Staggered Implementation: Adopt zero trust model in phases instead of a big-bang approach to ensure
agile implementation and smooth transition, significantly alleviating the risk of disruption.

Optimize User Experience: Adopt user friendly and seamless authentication technologies like single
sign-on (SSO), adaptive authentication, and context-based access controls to minimize friction while
maintaining strong security.

Training and Communication: Build user awareness campaigns for Zero Trust Model; impart trainings
about new user authentication and access controls technologies and workflows.

Capacity Planning: Spend significant time in planning Zero Trust implementation. Carefully determine
and plan for resources required to implement and maintain Zero Trust model.

Continuous Fine-Tuning: Regularly review your Zero Trust model to meet your security goals. Optimize
pertinent security technologies by regular fine-tuning to reduce false positives.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – August 2024 Edition 151
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