Zero Trust Architecture Implementation

Zero trust has gone from buzzword to baseline expectation for anyone serious about shrinking their attack surface, but understanding the principle doesn't get it built. This self-paced course starts with the tenets of zero trust and why organizations are adopting it, walks you through a current-state maturity assessment using the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model, and then works through the pillars in turn: identity and access modernization, device, network and workload trust enforcement, and application, data and policy enforcement.

From there you'll cover the visibility, analytics and automation that turn zero trust from aspiration into daily operation, finishing by designing your own staged implementation plan complete with governance and metrics. The principles apply just as directly to a commercial environment as anywhere else, so what you build here transfers to any organization's security architecture work.

What You Will Learn

• Explain zero trust principles and the drivers behind its adoption
• Assess current-state maturity using the CISA ZT Maturity Model
• Modernize identity, credential, and access management
• Enforce trust across devices, networks, and workloads
• Architect application, data, and policy enforcement
• Apply visibility, analytics, and automation for threat response
• Build a staged zero trust implementation roadmap

Course Outline

Module 1: Zero Trust Principles and Federal Implementation Drivers

• Examine zero trust principles, core tenets, and the federal policies and mandates driving adoption across government environments.

Module 2: Current-State Assessment and Zero Trust Maturity

• Evaluate the current security environment and establish a maturity baseline using the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model.

Module 3: Identity, Credential, and Access Modernization

• Apply identity, credential, and access management principles as the foundation of a zero trust architecture.

Module 4: Device, Network, and Workload Trust Enforcement

• Enforce trust requirements across devices, networks, workloads, and other components of the technology environment.

Module 5: Application, Data, and Policy Enforcement Architecture

• Design policy enforcement mechanisms that protect applications and data based on identity, context, risk, and least-privilege access.

Module 6: Visibility, Analytics, Automation, and Threat Response

• Use centralized visibility, security analytics, automation, and threat response capabilities to support continuous trust evaluation.

Module 7: Implementation Roadmaps, Governance, and Performance Metrics

• Develop a phased implementation roadmap, establish governance responsibilities, and define metrics for measuring zero trust progress and performance.

Module 8: Designing a Zero Trust Implementation Plan Capstone

• Produce a comprehensive zero trust implementation plan that addresses maturity, architecture, governance, priorities, milestones, and performance measures.