In 2023, we saw an unbelievable number of data breaches, according to research from Forrester. More than 1.5 billion records were exposed worldwide! The top 35 breaches affected every industry, with the public and healthcare sectors hit the hardest. Financial services, insurance, utilities, and telecommunications also faced significant attacks.

These incidents are a real wake-up call for organizations to rethink their security strategies and take a more proactive approach to cybersecurity.

Given this situation, cybersecurity leaders should start looking at ways to include Zero Trust in their security plans. It’s time to rethink how we protect our information!

Zero Trust is now a mainstream cybersecurity strategy

Zero Trust has been known as a best practice for a while, but it’s taken some time for government leaders and businesses to really start building Zero Trust systems.  

According to Forrester's 2023 Security Survey, 72% of decision-makers in enterprise companies (with 1,000 or more employees) are planning to or already working on a zero-trust initiative. Plus, 78% have put resources into developing a zero-trust security strategy.

I think this shift toward Zero Trust shows a big change in how we think about cybersecurity. We’re starting to recognize that breaches will happen, so we're moving away from the old idea of protecting a perimeter and focusing more on containing breaches when they do occur.

Zero Trust change can be an organizational sticking point

Even though more and more companies want to adopt Zero Trust, they still run into challenges that can hold them back. According to the Forrester survey, here are some of the biggest roadblocks for large organizations:

• Lack of key personnel: 47%

• Conflicting priorities: 46%

• Outdated technologies: 46%

• Lack of knowledge: 44%

• Budget: 41%

To tackle these challenges, cybersecurity leaders need to put in some serious effort. They’ll need to:

• Recruit and keep skilled team members

• Make sure cybersecurity goals match up with the company’s bigger goals

• Invest in modern security solutions and infrastructure

• Offer training and education

• Find the funding they need for their security plans

Microsegmentation is a key part of any Zero Trust architecture

The big data breaches we saw in 2023 show that being able to bounce back from cyberattacks is really important for businesses. Organizations need to ensure they can keep things running and protect their critical assets during an attack. The best way to do this is by using a zero-trust approach, which is all about the idea of “never trust, always verify.”

Microsegmentation is a major piece of the zero-trust puzzle. You really can’t have Zero Trust without it. Microsegmentation helps organizations see and reduce risks across their cloud, endpoint, and data center environments.

According to Forrester’s survey, nearly half of the large companies surveyed have already built microsegmentation, 27% are working on it, and 18% plan to build it within the next year. More and more organizations are recognizing that microsegmentation is essential for their zero-trust strategies and it can have a big impact on their overall security efforts.

The way forward with Zero Trust

As cybersecurity leaders deal with the ever-changing world of threats, Zero Trust has become a key principle to help them tackle these challenges.

By embracing a zero-trust approach and using important technologies like microsegmentation, organizations can strengthen their security, lower their risks, and protect their critical assets from cyber threats.

It’s a smart move that can really make a difference.