The traditional security approach treats the company network like a castle: outside is dangerous, inside is safe. But employees now work from home, on the road and on personal devices, and applications live in the cloud. The Zero Trust model rests on one principle: never trust a user, device or connection by default; verify every access.
Core principles
- Verify explicitly: Every access considers identity, device health, location and risk together.
- Least privilege: Users reach only the resources they need, only for as long as they need them.
- Assume breach: Treat the attacker as possibly already inside, segment the network and monitor activity.
Zero Trust layer by layer
Identity Connect all applications to a central identity system, enforce multi-factor authentication and require extra verification for risky sign-ins such as unusual locations or suspicious devices.
Devices Allow only managed, up-to-date and encrypted devices to access company data. Define limited, browser-based access for personal devices.
Network Instead of giving access to the whole network through a classic VPN, prefer solutions that connect users only to the applications they need. Separate server and user networks.
Applications and data Classify sensitive data and set sharing and download rules accordingly. Collect access logs from critical applications centrally.
Roadmap for mid-sized companies
- Months 0–3: MFA, central identity and single sign-on; separate admin accounts.
- Months 3–6: Device management, disk encryption and conditional access policies.
- Months 6–12: Application-level remote access, network segmentation and data classification.
- Ongoing: Log monitoring, regular reviews and improvement.
Zero Trust is an approach, not a product. Many of the licences you already have (for example Microsoft 365 business plans) may already include the features needed for the first steps.
ujans assesses your current infrastructure and plans and delivers a phased Zero Trust transformation across identity, devices and access.