Security Architecture: Scenario-Based Questions

Zero Trust is a security model that assumes no implicit trust — whether inside or outside the network. Every access request must be verified, regardless of origin. This impacts how services authenticate, authorize, and communicate internally.

🔐 Core Principles of Zero Trust

• Never Trust, Always Verify: Authenticate and authorize every connection.
• Least Privilege: Services and users get only the access they need.
• Micro-Segmentation: Divide the network into smaller zones with tight access controls.
• Continuous Monitoring: Evaluate trust dynamically based on behavior, context, and device health.

🏗️ Internal Service Design Impacts

• mTLS (Mutual TLS): Encrypt and authenticate traffic between services.
• Service Mesh: Use Istio, Linkerd, or Consul to enforce Zero Trust policies via identity and sidecars.
• Identity-aware Proxies: Gate access to services based on JWT, OAuth scopes, or user roles.
• Policy Enforcement: Integrate with OPA or custom engines for real-time authz decisions.

🔄 Integration Strategies

• Start with high-value or risky services (e.g., payments, user data).
• Audit existing traffic flows and define trust boundaries.
• Deploy incremental controls with clear observability and fallback paths.
• Train engineering teams on the implications and debugging methods under ZTA.

✅ Best Practices

• Centralize identity and credential issuance.
• Automate certificate rotation (e.g., SPIRE, cert-manager).
• Use behavioral analytics to detect anomalies.
• Continuously test policy boundaries via chaos or attack simulations.

🚫 Common Pitfalls

• Assuming a VPN is sufficient for Zero Trust.
• Overcomplicating with too many custom components too early.
• Neglecting developer experience or observability under strict policies.

📌 Final Insight

Zero Trust isn’t a product — it’s a mindset. It blends strong identity, granular authz, encrypted comms, and real-time analytics. It helps prevent lateral movement and modernizes how we think about internal network trust.