The perimeter-based approach to security no longer protects data that lives across cloud services and remote working. Zero Trust is the response. It assumes that no network or user can be trusted by default, and it secures data wherever it sits. It has become an expectation, and much of what it takes is already within reach.
Why it matters to the board
Zero Trust principles are what supervisors and cyber insurers increasingly look for. NIS2 lists access control and multi-factor authentication among its required measures, and insurers now set conditions on segmentation, privileged access, and authentication before they will write cover. Strong access governance has become a condition of operating and of being insured, which makes it a board matter.
Zero Trust assumes that no network or user can be trusted by default, and secures data wherever it sits.
Most of the capability is already bought
For organisations already on a major cloud platform such as AWS, the building blocks of Zero Trust are already available: identity and access management, network segmentation, encryption, continuous monitoring, and automation. The gap is rarely a missing product. It is knowing where access risk sits today, sequencing the work, and governing the design.
The building blocks are already in the platform you run. The work is sequencing and governance.
What the board should require
A defensible baseline of where access and privilege risk sits, a roadmap driven by business risk, and governance of the design that stays independent of the firms whose products are being bought. With those three in place, Zero Trust becomes a programme the board can oversee and account for.