Implementing a Zero Trust Architecture Project Description

This document is a project description for implementing a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) by the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It outlines the collaborative efforts of industry organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions to address cybersecurity challenges. The document explains that conventional network security has relied on perimeter defenses, which are no longer sufficient due to the proliferation of cloud computing and mobile devices. The ZTA approach focuses on securing resources rather than network perimeters, emphasizing the need for verification of subjects, assets, and workloads before granting access. The project aims to develop a modular, end-to-end example ZTA using commercially available technology, resulting in a publicly available NIST Cybersecurity Practice Guide that details the implementation steps necessary for organizations to adopt a ZTA. The scope includes access management for various user types and enterprise resources across different environments.