August 7, 2025
Introduction to Zero Trust
Introduction to Zero Trust provides a foundational understanding of the "never trust, always verify" security model, highlighting its necessity in today's distributed and threat-filled digital landscape. It introduces Microsoft's six-pillar framework for Zero Trust, outlining how their tools align with core principles like "Verify Explicitly," "Least Privilege," and "Assume Breach" across various organizational assets.
This foundational module introduces the Zero Trust security model, marking a significant shift from outdated "castle-and-moat" security. It emphasizes a core mantra: "Never trust, always verify." This means no user, device, or network segment is inherently trusted; every access request is rigorously authenticated, authorized, and validated, regardless of origin.
The module highlights why Zero Trust is crucial today. With the rise of cloud adoption, remote work, and sophisticated cyber threats like ransomware and insider attacks, the traditional network perimeter has dissolved, making old security approaches ineffective.
You'll learn Microsoft's three core Zero Trust principles:
Verify Explicitly: All access decisions are based on all available data points—who, what device, where, what application, and any detected risks.
Use Least Privilege Access: Granting only the minimum necessary permissions for tasks and for the shortest possible time, drastically reducing potential damage from a compromise.
Assume Breach: Operating under the assumption that a breach is inevitable. This drives proactive measures like micro-segmentation and continuous monitoring to limit impact and ensure rapid response.
Finally, the module introduces the six pillars across which Zero Trust is applied: Identities, Endpoints, Data, Applications, Infrastructure, and Network. Understanding these pillars is key to seeing how Microsoft's diverse security tools integrate to build a comprehensive, modern defense. This module sets the essential strategic context for the entire learning path.