Zero Trust Principles: Never Trust, Always Verify

Zero Trust is a security model built on the principle that no user, device, or network should be trusted by default — even if it is inside the corporate perimeter. Traditional security assumed that everything inside the firewall was safe, but modern attacks routinely prove that assumption wrong. Zero Trust replaces implicit trust with explicit, continuous verification for every access request.

Zero Trust rests on three foundational principles. Verify explicitly means every request must be authenticated and authorized using all available signals. Use least privilege limits access to only what is required for the task at hand. Assume breach means designing systems as if attackers are already inside, so defenses focus on limiting damage and detecting lateral movement quickly.