‘Zero trust’ a top priority for 80% of C-suite

Amid growing cyber threats and a changing work environment, ‘zero trust’ is increasingly being regarded as a means of improving cybersecurity across organisations, according to the World Economic Forum.

Although not a new concept, zero trust has become more prominent in the last couple of years for a number of reasons. First, it is a central feature of the US Presidential Executive Order 14028 focused on improving the nation`s cybersecurity posture.

The executive order calls on government agencies to implement zero trust as part of the steps taken to modernise approaches to cybersecurity.

The increase in attention on zero trust is also, in part, a result of the massive shift to remote work as well as the growing popularity of the “bring your own device” (BYOD) practices that emphasise the need for organisations to secure their workforce and digital workplaces.

Projections suggest that the zero trust market will grow from $27.4 billion in 2022 to $60.7 billion by 2027.

However, even though 80% of C-suite leaders consider zero trust a top priority for their organisations, it is often misperceived as a silver bullet to all cybersecurity challenges.

And many are only just embarking on zero trust initiatives. Research suggests that just 21% of surveyed organisations have some sort of zero trust architecture in place, while an additional 25% plan to adopt one in the coming 12 months.