Securing Hybrid Environments with Zero Trust

“Never trust, always verify.” It’s not just a slogan—it’s the foundation of the Zero Trust model. But when your organization runs on a hybrid IT environment with a mix of on-premises infrastructure, cloud services, and a distributed remote workforce, actually putting Zero Trust into practice gets complicated fast. Hybrid environments are messy. You’re dealing with legacy systems that weren’t designed with identity-based security in mind, multiple cloud platforms with different access control models, and users logging in from coffee shops, home offices, and mobile devices.

Despite these complexities, implementing Zero Trust is essential. At its core, Zero Trust is built on three principles: verify explicitly, use least-privileged access, and assume breach. Applying these ideas consistently across a patchwork of systems is a technical challenge. The good news is there are clear steps and best practices that can help you make real progress, starting with identity.

Identity as the New Security Control Plane

In a Zero Trust architecture (ZTA), identity becomes your security control plane. That means centralizing authentication and authorization across your environment. Most organizations start by standardizing on a modern identity provider (IdP), like Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, or Ping, to serve as the single source of truth for user and device identity. From there, it’s critical to integrate all your apps, whether cloud-based or on-premises, so access is routed through your identity provider. This lets you enforce strong authentication methods like multi-factor authentication (MFA), apply conditional access policies based on user risk and device compliance, and start building granular access control into every request. For those stubborn on-prem apps that don’t natively support modern protocols. tools like Microsoft Entra application proxy or third-party Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) platforms can bridge the gap.

Going Beyond Network Segmentation

While identity is the first pillar, it’s only part of the equation. Limiting lateral movement inside your environment requires segmentation. Traditionally, this meant network segmentation using VLANs and firewalls, but that approach doesn’t scale in hybrid environments. Instead, modern micro-segmentation relies on software-defined policies focused on identity and context rather than IP addresses. This may involve using cloud-native security groups and ACLs or leveraging platforms like Illumio or Akamai’s Guardicore to create segmentation policies that follow workloads and users regardless of where they live. The goal is to create a world where each service, user, or device can only access what it absolutely needs to.

Trusting the Device: Endpoint Security

Another key pillar of Zero Trust is securing the endpoint. This is especially critical in remote or hybrid work models where users may be working from unmanaged laptops or personal phones. A first step is deploying Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) platforms, such as CrowdStrike, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, or SentinelOne, which give you visibility and real-time threat detection. Then pair EDR with Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) tools like Microsoft Intune or Omnissa Workspace ONE to allow you to enforce device health checks before access is granted. Ideally, your access control policies should be able to distinguish between a compliant corporate laptop and an out-of-date BYOD device and then respond accordingly.

Enforcing Access with Policy Decision and Enforcement Points

Zero Trust includes verifying identities and devices and also enforcing access decisions in real time. This is done through the use of Policy Decision Points (PDPs) and Policy Enforcement Points (PEPs), two critical components of a Zero Trust architecture. PDPs evaluate access requests based on identity, device health, location, and other contextual signals, applying granular policies that reflect organizational risk tolerance and business requirements. PEPs then act on those decisions by granting or denying access at the moment it’s requested. Together, PDPs and PEPs ensure that every request is scrutinized, and no implicit trust is granted simply because a user is on the network. This approach enables organizations to implement conditional, dynamic access policies that adapt to evolving risk in real-time.

In practice, these functions are implemented through technologies like identity providers that act as PDPs, evaluating conditional access rules and enforcement mechanisms like reverse proxies, secure access gateways, or ZTNA platforms that serve as PEPs. Endpoint management tools and cloud-native security controls also play a role, enforcing policies at the device and workload levels. By integrating these technologies, you create a dynamic policy layer that continuously assesses and enforces trust.

Rethinking the VPN

Traditional VPNs are a bottleneck in Zero Trust. They operate on the flawed assumption that once a user is on the network, they can be trusted. That model no longer holds up. Many organizations are phasing out their VPNs in favor of ZTNA solutions like Zscaler, Cloudflare Access, or Tailscale, which allow users to access individual applications without gaining broader network access. Even if you can’t replace the VPN overnight, you can start by tightening access control lists and enforcing MFA. Over time, moving more apps behind reverse proxies or identity-aware gateways will let you break free from network-based access altogether.

Visibility and Continuous Monitoring

No Zero Trust implementation is complete without strong monitoring and response capabilities. All access logs—whether from your IdP, EDR, firewalls, or cloud services—should be centralized into a modern SIEM like Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, or Google Security Operations. From there, you can add User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) to detect anomalies and risky behavior.

But this monitoring isn’t just for alerts. When integrated with a Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) platform, such as Swimlane, Splunk SOAR, Palo Alto Cortex XSOAR, or IBM QRadar SOAR, it can power automated response actions like locking accounts, revoking sessions, or triggering re-authentication challenges when a user’s risk level spikes. Some platforms even support Continuous Access Evaluation to adjust access in real time based on telemetry.

Final Thoughts

Zero Trust is a shift in how we approach security. In hybrid environments, that shift can be especially challenging when legacy infrastructure and modern cloud apps need to coexist. But Zero Trust isn’t all-or-nothing. It’s about incremental improvements: standardizing identity, enforcing MFA, segmenting access, verifying device health, and tightening visibility. Each step gets you closer to an environment where users and services only have the access they need, when they need it.

If your team is struggling with where to start or how to tackle Zero Trust, you’re not alone. Many organizations are in the same boat. But with a strong roadmap, the right tools, and some expert guidance, it’s achievable and worth the effort.

Need help building or accelerating your Zero Trust strategy? Let’s talk today.