Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

      19 June 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      19 June 2025

      WhatsApp founders hated ads – Meta is adding them anyway

      19 June 2025

      China’s car factories run cold as price war masks deep overcapacity

      19 June 2025

      Yellow Card, Visa in deal to hasten stablecoin uptake in Africa

      19 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Information security » A software-defined perimeter enables the most comprehensive zero-trust strategy

    A software-defined perimeter enables the most comprehensive zero-trust strategy

    Promoted | The traditional perimeter-based security model is no longer effective, writes CYBER1 Solutions MD Jayson O'Reilly.
    By CYBER1 Solutions9 May 2023
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    As the world moves increasingly to remote and hybrid work, a growing number of smart devices connect to the internet of things (IoT), and as companies adopt a “cloud-first” approach, security teams are battling to secure multiple access points.

    These challenges are amplified by a culture of “bring your own everything” – be it device, application or connection – have made it more challenging for organisations to secure their users, networks and data.

    The traditional perimeter-based security model is no longer effective, driving businesses to adopt a newer, more effective approach to cybersecurity. One such approach is the software-defined perimeter (SDP), which enables the most comprehensive zero-trust strategy.

    Traditional security models are inadequate

    Historically, the perimeter was the main focus of cybersecurity. It utilised a range of tools such as firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and other network security technologies that acted as sentinels at the gate, enforcing a castle-and-moat approach that ensured that all bad actors and traffic were kept out.

    However, with the rise of cloud computing and distributed workforces, the perimeter has become porous and fluid, rendering traditional security models ineffective.

    Attackers can easily bypass perimeter security by using stolen credentials or other methods, and with social engineering growing increasingly sophisticated, getting their hands on these credentials isn’t too difficult either.

    A zero-trust approach

    This dissolving perimeter saw the rise of the zero-trust security model that assumes that every device, service and user on the network is untrusted. With zero trust, anyone attempting to access business resources, even individuals already inside the network, is not automatically trusted.

    In this way, every time a user requests access they are verified, even if they were authenticated a few minutes before. No access to network resources is granted by default, and access is only granted on the principles of least privilege, ensuring that users access only what they strictly need to do their jobs.

    With zero trust, several key principles that are based on the NIST guidelines are addressed, such as continuous verification, by always verifying access, every time and for all resources. In addition, it limits any potential fallout, minimising exposure and impact should an internal or external breach occur. Finally, it automates context collection and response, harnessing behavioural data and getting context from the full IT stack to ensure the best response.

    The zero-trust model employs several layers of security controls, including authentication, authorisation and encryption.

    The software-defined perimeter

    The SDP is a network architecture that implements zero-trust principles to provide more secure remote access than virtual private networks.

    This approach controls access to resources based on identity and forms a virtual boundary around all resources that are networked. By building a perimeter through software instead of hardware, an SDP can obscure an entity’s infrastructure from malicious outsiders, irrespective of where it is located.

    In this way, an SDP helps shrink the attack surface and prevent or mitigate internal and external network security threats. Much like zero trust, SDP works on the principles of “verify first, access after”, which means that access is only granted after the user and device have been authenticated and authorised.

    SDP employs a range of security controls, including multifactor authentication, device profiling and encryption to create a secure network perimeter. It also uses a dynamic access model, which means that access to network resources is only granted for the duration of the session and is revoked when the session ends.

    A comprehensive zero-trust strategy

    Moreover, SDP enables the most comprehensive zero-trust strategy possible by providing a dynamic and flexible security model that can be applied to any network or application. The approach is not limited to a specific network or device, which means that it can be used to secure cloud, on-premises and hybrid environments.

    SDP also provides a granular level of access control, meaning that access is only granted on a strictly need-to-know basis. Again, this reduces the attack surface and minimises the risk of a security breach. With SDP, real-time visibility into network activity is gained, which enables security teams to detect and respond to security incidents quickly.

    Flexibility and scalability

    Finally, SDP also offers a high level of scalability and flexibility. It can be deployed quickly and easily, and it can be used to secure networks and applications of any size and complexity, making it an ideal solution for businesses in every industry, from the smallest companies to their giant corporate counterparts.

    For all these reasons, by adopting SDP, organisations can improve their overall security posture and reduce their risk of a security breach.

    About CYBER1 Solutions
    CYBER1 Solutions is a cybersecurity specialist operating in Southern Africa, East and West Africa, and Dubai, and elsewhere in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

    Our solutions deliver information security; IT risk management; fraud detection; governance and compliance; and a full range of managed services. We also provide bespoke security services across the spectrum, with a portfolio that ranges from the formulation of our customers’ security strategies to the daily operation of endpoint security solutions. To do this, we partner with world-leading security vendors to deliver cutting-edge technologies augmented by our wide range of professional services.

    Our services allow organisations in every sector to prevent attacks by providing the visibility into vulnerabilities they need to rapidly detect compromises, respond to breaches and stop attacks before they become an issue.

    For more information, visit www.c1-s.com.

    • The author, Jayson O’Reilly, is MD of CYBER1 Solutions
    • Read more articles by CYBER1 Solutions on TechCentral
    • This promoted content was paid for by the party concerned


    CYBER1 Solutions Jayson O'Reilly SDP software-define perimeter Zero Trust zero trust security
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleHow conversation and speech analytics can achieve enterprise-wide benefits
    Next Article Clearing the fog around investing in crypto

    Related Posts

    Zero trust: why the future of security starts with a fundamental shift in thinking

    15 May 2025

    SAPS cannot fight cybercrime on its own

    12 March 2025

    TCS+ | CYBER1 Solutions on choosing a managed security service provider

    15 October 2024
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Company News

    Why parents choose CambriLearn for online education

    19 June 2025

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025

    Sage brings together HR leaders to explore the future of payroll and people management

    18 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.