Zero Trust and Identity: Practical First Steps

Zero Trust is a model where you verify explicitly and assume breach: don't trust the network, verify identity and context for every request. For many organizations, a full Zero Trust architecture is a multi-year journey. The highest-impact starting point is identity and access—get that right and you've reduced a large share of risk while building a foundation for the rest.

Strong Identity Foundation

Get MFA everywhere possible, especially for privileged and cloud admin accounts. Phishing-resistant MFA (e.g., FIDO2/WebAuthn or hardware keys) is increasingly expected for high-value targets. Move toward centralized identity (e.g., SSO) so you can enforce policy in one place—who can access what, from where, and under what conditions. If you're still on scattered local accounts and weak MFA, that's the first project.

Least Privilege and Access Reviews

Review access regularly: who has what, and do they still need it? Trim standing access and use just-in-time or time-bound access where it fits. This reduces blast radius (a compromised account can do less) and aligns with SOC 2, CMMC, and similar frameworks that expect periodic access review. Automate where you can—many identity and cloud platforms support access certification workflows—but don't let tooling delay starting manual reviews.

Segment Over Time

Network and workload segmentation can follow once identity is under control. Map critical assets and data flows, then introduce segmentation incrementally so you don't break business processes. Zero Trust doesn't require ripping out the network overnight; it requires consistent verification and least privilege, which identity and access are the backbone of. Need help with identity or Zero Trust strategy? Get in touch.