How important is zero trust?

Ben King, CSO EMEA at Okta, considers the value of zero trust.
Ben King, CSO EMEA at Okta, considers the value of zero trust.

According to Okta’s State of Zero Trust 2020 report, the security concept zero trust has increased in priority for more than three-quarters (78%) of businesses. In fact, almost all companies (90%) are working on a zero trust initiative, up from 41%a year ago. Among European companies, nine in ten have either fully implemented the strategy or plan to do so in the coming months. 

Due to the en-masse move to hybrid work, accelerating cloud adoption and a proliferation of devices, organizations can no longer follow a network perimeter-centric view of security; instead, they need to enable access to their various users regardless of location, device or network.

Identity has become the new perimeter and the most critical component of a zero trust strategy. As organizations have become more flexible in supporting distributed, remote teams, they have also had to change and increase their focus on security. As a result, businesses have needed to adapt and evolve the range of solutions they use to protect identity in all contexts. 

Cybersecurity has been gaining increased focus at board level for years now, and we can expect the importance of strong security leadership and zero trust frameworks to continue to grow. We have seen large-scale organizations embrace cloud and mobile technologies, which necessitates identity becoming the logical point of control. Protecting identities is increasingly hard and building a secure authentication, authorization and user management stack for your application is even harder. The vast number of breaches and massive extent of data loss is evidence of this.

According to Ponemon Institute’s most recent Cost of a Data Breach report, a “mega-breach” of one million records could cost a company US$42mn, while a loss of 50 million records costs an estimated $388 million. The huge rise in large data breaches, which have made headlines around the world, has made zero trust initiatives the next big investment priority. More organizations realize the need to adopt a zero trust framework and stay on top of the latest security advancements to protect their customers, employees, and shareholders from the headache and cost of a breach. London, as a financial hub, is breeding the perfect marketplace for zero trust vendors to thrive. 

READ MORE:

When looking at specific industries, those which commonly store large amounts of sensitive data tend to prioritize zero trust more heavily. In certain industries, zero trust is more critical than ever, often driven by expectations from industry regulators. Justice and public safety agencies, for instance, face intensive Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) compliance requirements. A zero trust framework helps ensure these organizations meet advanced authentication demands. Similarly, security leaders in finance, healthcare and manufacturing understand that it is crucial to be prepared because their industries have been top targets for threat actors for years. While typically coming from a more mature baseline, these industries must likewise stay abreast of the recent threat landscape and technological changes to both attack and secure identities in a hybrid world. 

For more news from Top Business Tech, don’t forget to subscribe to our daily bulletin!

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

Ben King

Ben King is CSO EMEA at Okta.

How E-commerce Marketers Can Win Black Friday

Sue Azari • 11th November 2024

As new global eCommerce players expand their influence across both European and US markets, traditional brands are navigating a rapidly shifting landscape. These fast-growing Asian platforms have gained traction by offering ultra-low prices, rapid product turnarounds, heavy investment in paid user acquisition, and leveraging viral social media trends to create demand almost in real-time. This...

Why microgrids are big news

Craig Tropea • 31st October 2024

As the world continues its march towards a greener future, businesses, communities, and individuals alike are all increasingly turning towards renewable energy sources to power their operations. What is most interesting, though, is how many of them are taking the pro-active position of researching, selecting, and implementing their preferred solutions without the assistance of traditional...

Is automation the silver bullet for customer retention?

Carter Busse • 22nd October 2024

CX innovation has accelerated rapidly since 2020, as business and consumer expectations evolved dramatically during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, finding the best way to engage and respond to customers has become a top business priority and a key business challenge. Not only do customers expect the highest standard, but companies are prioritising superb CX to...

Automated Testing Tools and Their Impact on Software Quality

Natalia Yanchii • 09th October 2024

Test automation refers to using specialized software tools and frameworks to automate the execution of test cases, thereby reducing the time and effort required for manual testing. This approach ensures that automation tests run quickly and consistently, allowing development teams to identify and resolve defects more effectively. Test automation provides greater accuracy by eliminating human...

Custom Software Development

Natalia Yanchii • 04th October 2024

There is a wide performance gap between industry-leading companies and other market players. What helps these top businesses outperform their competitors? McKinsey & Company researchers are confident that these are digital technologies and custom software solutions. Nearly 70% of the top performers develop their proprietary products to differentiate themselves from competitors and drive growth. As...

The Impact of Test Automation on Software Quality

Natalia Yanchii • 04th October 2024

Software systems have become highly complex now, with multiple interconnected components, diverse user interfaces, and business logic. To ensure quality, QA engineers thoroughly test these systems through either automated or manual testing. At Testlum, we met many software development teams who were pressured to deliver new features and updates at a faster pace. The manual...