Zero trust in multi-cloud environments: A framework for consistent policy enforcement

The proliferation of multi-cloud environments has introduced complexities in managing security policies and enforcing consistent protection against evolving cyber threats. Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) has emerged as a crucial framework to address these challenges. This paper discusses the importance of ZTA in multi-cloud settings, outlining its benefits, advantages, and potential disadvantages. It explores how consistent policy enforcement can safeguard cloud environments from cyber threats and how Zero Trust principles can minimize attack surfaces. Furthermore, the study highlights ZTA's role in mitigating ransomware attacks and reducing vendor risks, ultimately presenting a robust approach for securing multi-cloud ecosystems. In simple terms a zero-trust environment does not make any assumptions about the trustworthiness of users. Instead, it uses a "least privilege" approach in which users are only given the least privilege access that they need to do their job and no more. This approach can help organizations improve their cybersecurity posture by making it more difficult for attackers to access sensitive data. It also simplifies security management by eliminating the need to manage complex firewall rules. In contrast, in a traditional trust-based environment, organizations typically have perimeter-based security that relies on firewalls and other security controls to keep the bad guys out. Zero-trust environments are often considered more secure than traditional trust-based ones, but some tradeoffs must be considered. For example, zero-trust environments can require more effort to set up and manage and may not be compatible with all legacy applications.