Most companies are in the process of embracing Zero Trust, especially those with a distributed or hybrid workforce, but the majority haven’t fully realized the benefits this relatively new cybersecurity practice provides.
Cloud security experts Zscaler surveyed over 1,900 senior IT decision makers in organizations that have already begun migrating applications and services to the cloud for 2023 State of Zero Trust Shift Report (Opens in a new tab)found that only 19% had set up a business-specific, trust-based hybrid infrastructure.
An additional 50% are currently in the process of implementing in which there is no confidence, or are in the planning stage.
Arguments for Zero Trust
However, only 22% of those surveyed are “quite confident” that their organization is leveraging the full potential of cloud infrastructure, including those of Zero Trust.
There are many objective benefits of implementing Zero Trust in the work environment, but for Zscaler, improving the employee experience is the strongest argument.
52% of those surveyed agreed that Zero Trust would solve the problem of inconsistent access experience for on-premises and cloud-based applications and data.
Otherwise, IT leaders anticipate a lack of confidence in addressing productivity loss due to network access issues (46%), and some claim the technology will help employees access business applications and data from personal devices (39%).
Zscaler found that IT-dependent companies are making Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) a priority investment in enduring transformations of remote and hybrid work environments over the next 12 months.
More than a third (35%) intend to fully embrace a remote work culture, while an additional quarter (27%) are considering a hybrid model. Only two in five (38%) would keep their workers fully in the office.
As an emerging set of security principles, Zero Trust still has a long way to go before it can completely replace older approaches to digital business security.
According to the report, more than half of the respondents (54%) consider legacy networks, VPNs, and perimeter-based firewalls to be outdated technologies, ineffective in protecting against cyberattacks and providing adequate visibility into application traffic.
Furthermore, two-thirds (68%) agree that secure transformation to the cloud is impossible with legacy network security infrastructure.
Zscaler claims that Zero Trust has “clear advantages” over traditional firewalls and VPNs, when it comes to secure remote access to critical applications. From the data, it is clear that enterprises may see meaning.
