Introduction

For years, organizations have invested heavily in firewalls, perimeter sensors, and intrusion detection to keep attackers at bay. But as we continue to see each day, adversaries always manage to slip past these defenses. And the problem doesn’t lie in the technology, but the way in which we operate them.

Enter Zero Trust – The Only Way to Operate Cyber Defense

Traditionally, once a user crossed the initial network perimeter, they were trusted to be valid users. But with credential theft, phishing and impersonation on the rise, it is impossible to determine if the user is who the user claims to be, just because they crossed the initial perimeter. The Zero Trust Architecture, first evidenced in how firewall rules began with deny all and documented by Forrester, expects, continuous verification using multiple parameters for every user, device, or software request, every time it attempts to access something. The NIST Zero Trust standards NIST 800-207 & 1800-35, considered the original guidelines for how a Zero Trust Architecture needs to be operated espouses three approaches to establishing zero trust namely: Enhanced Identity Governance, Microsegmentation, and Software-Defined Perimeters (SDP).

Adoption by the US Department of Defense

Later, the US Department of Defense (DoD) developed a Zero Trust Reference Architecture which defined five major zero trust tenets.

• Assume a Hostile Environment. There are malicious personas both inside and outside the environment. All users, devices, applications, environments, or other network participants (often referred to as NPEs or Non-Privileged Entities)—are considered untrusted by default. Presume Breach. There are hundreds of thousands of attempted cybersecurity attacks against DoD environments every day. Consciously operate and defend resources with the assumption that an adversary has presence within your environment. Enhanced scrutiny of access and authorization decisions to improve response outcomes.
• Never Trust, Always Verify. Deny access by default. Every device, user, application/workload, and data flow are authenticated and explicitly authorized using least privilege, multiple attributes, and dynamic cybersecurity policies.
• Scrutinize Explicitly. All resources are consistently accessed in a secure manner using multiple attributes (dynamic and static) to derive confidence levels for contextual access to resources. Access to resources is conditional and access can dynamically change based on action and confidence levels resulting from those actions.
• Apply Unified Analytics. Apply unified analytics for data, applications, assets, services (DAAS) to include behaviouristics and log each transaction.

The US Department of Defense also identified seven “pillars” to guide the relevant decision makers to stream investment into these areas, in a bid to adopt Zero Trust Architecture. They then baked all these into a very complex guideline to ensure Zero Trust adoption is compliant to the standard. But this also led to the perception that Zero Trust Architecture is too difficult to implement and operate. And many commercial organizations stayed away. The core of Zero Trust Architecture, however, never changed. And they form the basics of how enterprises can implement cyber defense to #bebreachready. Addressing these three approaches in unison is vital to adopting Zero Trust Architecture for the investments that you have already made.

ColorTokens Provides All Three Zero Trust Pillars

ColorTokens is the only solution that pervasively unifies Enhanced Identity Governance, Microsegmentation, and Software-Defined Perimeters under a single platform, across data centers, industrial control systems (OT), and cloud-based infrastructures by seamlessly using a single point of control to verify every request, whether it’s from a human user, a machine, or a software process using the Saas based ColorTokens Xshield Policy Engine. The ColorTokens Policy Engine acts as an administrator to:

• Continuously Verify the identity of every information requester—no matter if they’re connecting to local compute, user endpoints, legacy systems, OT/ICS, cloud workloads, or Kubernetes clusters.
• Enforce Policies Pervasively through Policy Enforcement Points (PEPs) across your infrastructure. If something looks suspicious, it’s contained or blocked immediately.
• Unify All Three Zero Trust Approaches by bridging Enhanced Identity Governance, Microsegmentation, and Software-Defined Perimeters in a single, tightly integrated framework.

The Forrester’s Q3 Wave Report recognises ColorTokens as a ‘Leader’ for its strengths in OT, Healthcare, IoT, and incident response capabilities. Our Xshield Enterprise Microsegmentation Platform™ was also featured in GigaOm’s Radar for Microsegmentation and Constellation Research’s Shortlists for Microsegmentation. So, how does this all translate into true breach readiness? By consolidating the three Zero Trust pillars under one Policy Engine, you gain:

• Real-Time Visibility Across All Environments
  It’s often blind spots, not the perimeter, that fail first. When every device, user, and workload is continuously verified, you spot unusual activity early and stop small issues from mushrooming into full-blown crises.
• Seamless Containment, Not Just Alerts
  Endless notifications can be overwhelming. Here, the Policy Engine doesn’t just warn you; it isolates any suspicious request or compromised machine automatically, so you’re not rushing to cut off an entire segment.
• Maintaining Core Operations Under Attack
  If a segment is compromised, automated microsegmentation and pervasive policy enforcement let you quarantine infected areas without disrupting the rest of the organization—like a fire door that saves the entire building from a blaze.
• Streamlined Compliance and Governance
  With centrally managed, auditable policies, adhering to NIST and other mandates becomes a straightforward process, reassuring both leadership and regulators that you’re in full control of your security posture.
• A Cyber Resilient Future
  Threats evolve daily. Because the Policy Engine adapts in tandem, adjusting rules as your environment scales or vulnerabilities emerge, your Zero Trust framework remains effective against advanced persistent threats (APTs) and novel malware strains.

Wrapping It Up

A truly breach ready posture begins by accepting that attackers will eventually slip through even the strongest perimeter. Adopting all three Zero Trust pillars under a single platform will equip your organization with the continuous verification, automated isolation, and real-time insights necessary to contain threats and keep critical operations running. No more reactive security or chaotic shutdowns. With ColorTokens, you lock down malicious traffic at its source, protect key assets with precision, and maintain business momentum. That’s how you achieve a comprehensive Zero Trust architecture and real, enduring breach readiness to face today’s cyber threats head-on. To know how ColorTokens can help you with Zero Trust pillars, let’s start a conversation.