Standard Zero Trust Capabilities

We all need to be on the same sheet of music.

Now that we understand why Zero Trust is so important and how it’s different from previous approaches to security, let’s take a deeper look at what is in Zero Trust. This chapter defines Zero Trust in a simple, clear way using The Open Group’s reference model. It also introduces key Zero Trust capabilities enabled by this model.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Consistency via a simple model and durable capabilities
• The Open Group Zero Trust Reference Model, including an explanation for each key element of this central diagram
• Security disciplines defined in the reference model
• Key Zero Trust capabilities, including important context on each
• Does Zero Trust include network security? (Spoiler: yes!)

Before we get into the model itself, let’s take a moment to discuss why it’s important to define a simple model and its capabilities...