Definition

Zero Trust is a security model built on the assumption that no network location, device, or identity should be implicitly trusted. Every access request must be authenticated, authorized, and continuously validated against policy.

Why it matters

Traditional perimeter-based security assumes that anything inside the network is trustworthy. Zero Trust removes that assumption — internal services authenticate to each other the same way external clients do.

Common misconception

Zero Trust is not a product. Organizations that treat it as a firewall upgrade miss the architectural discipline that makes it work: identity-aware access, least-privilege defaults, and continuous policy evaluation.