Achieving Secure Access: How to Implement Zero Trust for Remote Workers

A remote workforce is a uniquely powerful thing. It allows an organization to recruit and retain the best talent for the job regardless of their ability to report to an office suite every morning. Yet, as a certain comic book uncle once informed his young nephew, with great power comes great responsibility. To meet that responsibility of providing both access and security, you need to know how to implement zero trust.

Solutions for in-person workforces that may occasionally “remote in” from their hotel room or kitchen table no longer suffice — not for the variety of tasks and endpoints that remote workforces rely on, and not for the rapidly evolving threat landscape that targets them every day.

Zero trust is the new standard for organizational security. While its core principles of “never trust, always verify” apply across any given organization, they’re especially helpful for hybrid and fully remote workplaces.

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How to implement zero trust for remote workers

Your approach to remote access security should include mandates for multi-factor authentication (MFA) and clear, enforceable bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies. These will help set a baseline of security for remote endpoints.

To round out your approach, you should also pursue zero trust implementation. Here are five points to keep in mind as you work toward this goal.

Move past VPNs and VDIs

Adopting a zero trust security strategy means moving away from technological frameworks that allow for relatively unrestricted and unmonitored access to a network. In other words, the first step in how to implement zero trust across your remote workforce is to reevaluate the use of virtual private networks (VPNs).

Why are VPNs incompatible with zero trust principles? In short, they prioritize access over security. They work on the assumption that if a user has access to the right credentials to log into your private network, they must also be authorized to access everything found therein. Abandoning that mindset also applies to migrating away from virtual desktop infrastructures (VDIs), which work similarly.

Use least-privilege access

When everybody’s working under one roof, it’s easy enough to tell if someone is accessing materials they shouldn’t. A threat actor who arrives in person with falsified credentials to steal your digital “crown jewels” would stick out like a sore thumb. With a distributed workforce, that’s a lot harder to monitor. The best solution is to ensure each employee can only access exactly what they need to work, and nothing more.

You can implement the least-privilege access part of your zero trust security strategy on a case-by-case basis or as part of your security service edge (SSE) solution. While early startups may be able to get by managing access permissions within each individual app and service, the automation and consistency provided by an SSE solution generally make it the best choice for large or growing organizations.

Demand continuous verification

Investing in an SSE solution also enables your organization to mandate continuous verification at critical points in the modern-day kill chain. These automated checks and access requirements could lock out threat actors who have previously evaded your defenses, limiting the potential fallout from compromised accounts even after the fact.

One prominent example of continuous verification is occasionally presenting users who have already successfully logged in with a new login challenge; even if they’ve obtained valid login credentials such as a username or password, requiring a fresh MFA login code from a device they don’t have may be enough to boot them from your network. Another example would be allowing a user on a managed device to download an encrypted dataset, then restricting them from decrypting that dataset if they later transfer it to an unmanaged device.

Integrate mobile devices

Modern workflows don’t exist solely on laptops and desktops. Nor are they contained on devices that your organization manages. To enable your remote workforce to optimize its contributions wherever and whenever possible while keeping your company secure, you must integrate mobile devices into your zero trust security strategy. Rather than hoping employees will only use managed devices during their workday, your BYOD policy and zero trust solutions should account for how and where personal devices will come into play.

That said, it’s also true that traditional security methods aren’t always effective in these scenarios. They require a level of access to personal devices that employees may not be comfortable with, and their resource requirements make them a drain on battery life. That’s why dedicated mobile device security is vital for remote workforces.

Educate your workforce on zero trust implementation

Your IT department can accomplish a lot working from the top down. Ultimately, the security of your digital infrastructure and assets is everyone in your organization's responsibility. Each member of your workforce, whether remote, in-person, or hybrid, needs to know how to implement zero trust practices in their daily operations and why it’s essential that they do so.

After all, “shadow IT” is now the norm. If employees don’t understand why certain security measures are necessary, they may subvert them to make their days a little more convenient. They may also be more likely to fall victim to social engineering attacks if they don’t know what to look for.

No automated defenses can be 100% perfect, but combine them with educated users and your overall cybersecurity posture will be that much stronger. Take the time to ensure each worker understands the part they play in your zero trust security strategy.

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Learn how to enforce zero trust across your ecosystem

Effective zero trust implementation touches every part of your organization’s digital infrastructure. It may require a significant shift in cybersecurity mindset, but the resulting gains in protection and resiliency will likely be worth the upfront investment. To help ensure your organization is setting the right priorities during this pivotal transition, download The Data Protection Playbook: How to Enforce Zero Trust to Your Private Apps.