CSA CCZT key terms

A security model that assumes no user, device, or network location is inherently trusted and requires continuous verification of every request before granting access to resources.

The Zero Trust principle of authenticating and authorizing every request using all available signals, including identity, device health, location, and behavioral context, before access is allowed.

A design mindset that presumes adversaries already operate inside the environment, driving segmentation, least privilege, encryption, and continuous monitoring to limit blast radius.

Granting identities and workloads only the minimum permissions needed for a specific task, for the shortest time required, reducing the damage a compromised account can cause.

The component that evaluates access requests against policy and contextual signals and returns an allow, deny, or step-up decision to the enforcement point.

The gateway or agent that sits in the data path and actually permits, blocks, or restricts traffic based on decisions received from the policy decision point.

An architecture that hides protected resources behind a gateway and grants network access only after an identity and device are authenticated and authorized by a controller.

A technique where a client sends one cryptographically protected packet to a listening service that silently validates it before opening access, keeping the protected service invisible to scanners.

A deployment pattern in which protected services accept no connections from unauthenticated hosts, so they appear nonexistent to unauthorized users and automated scanning tools.

Dividing a network into small logical zones with granular allow-lists so workloads communicate only with approved peers, limiting lateral movement after a compromise.

A trusted service that authenticates users or workloads and issues assertions or tokens describing their identity to relying applications and policy engines.

Requiring two or more independent credential types, such as a password plus a hardware key or push approval, so a stolen password alone cannot grant access.

Authentication methods bound to the legitimate destination, such as FIDO2 security keys or passkeys, that resist credential capture by lookalike sites and adversary-in-the-middle proxies.

Trust relationships that let an identity provider assert a user's identity to other organizations or applications, enabling single sign-on across administrative boundaries without sharing passwords.

A signed XML statement from an identity provider describing a subject's authentication event and attributes, consumed by a service provider to authorize access.

Re-evaluating trust signals throughout a session, not just at login, so access is revoked or narrowed when device health, behavior, or risk changes.

Real-time attributes such as user identity, device state, location, time, threat intelligence, and behavior that a policy engine weighs when scoring an access request.

The assessed security state of an endpoint, including patch level, encryption, malware protection, and configuration compliance, used to decide whether it may access resources.

An authorization model that assigns permissions to roles and roles to users, simplifying administration while supporting separation of duties and least privilege.

An authorization model that evaluates policies against attributes of the subject, resource, action, and environment, enabling fine-grained and context-aware decisions.

Granting elevated or sensitive permissions only for a limited window after an approved request, then automatically revoking them to shrink standing privilege.

Controls that vault, broker, rotate, and record administrative credentials and sessions so high-risk accounts cannot be used freely or without accountability.

An enterprise design in which security policy is centralized, enforcement sits close to resources, and no implicit trust is derived from network location.

The logic a policy engine uses to combine multiple weighted inputs, such as identity confidence and device health, into an access decision or confidence score.

CISA's framework describing progressive stages, from traditional to initial, advanced, and optimal, across pillars such as identity, devices, networks, applications, and data.

An executive-backed plan that defines target outcomes, governance, funding, and phased priorities for moving an organization from perimeter-based trust to continuous verification.

The work of inventorying assets and data flows, mapping use cases, selecting reference architecture components, and sequencing migration steps with measurable milestones.

A limited-scope rollout of Zero Trust controls on a defined user group or application to validate policy, tooling, and user experience before broader expansion.

Labeling information by sensitivity and business value so protection, access policy, and retention rules can be applied consistently and proportionately.

Controls that inspect content and context to detect and block unauthorized movement of sensitive data across endpoints, email, web, and cloud channels.

Protecting data moving between systems with protocols such as TLS or IPsec so interception on shared or untrusted networks does not expose content or credentials.

A TLS handshake in which both client and server present certificates, letting each side cryptographically verify the other's identity before exchanging data.

A verifiable, cryptographically issued identity assigned to a service, container, or application so machine-to-machine access can be authenticated without shared secrets.

Agent-based tooling that continuously records endpoint activity, detects malicious behavior, and supports investigation and containment of compromised devices.

A platform that aggregates logs and alerts from many sources, correlates events, and supports detection, investigation, and compliance reporting across the enterprise.

The U.S. federal special publication that defines Zero Trust Architecture concepts, logical components, deployment models, and migration considerations for enterprises.

Five focus areas named in CISA's model, identity, devices, networks, applications and workloads, and data, each with visibility, analytics, automation, and orchestration cross-cutting capabilities.

A U.S. federal program supplying tools and dashboards that give agencies ongoing visibility into asset inventory, vulnerabilities, and endpoint compliance to support risk-based decisions.

A reverse proxy that authenticates users and enforces per-application policy before forwarding traffic, replacing broad network access with application-level access control.

A converged cloud service combining network and security functions such as zero trust network access, secure web gateway, and firewall as a service, delivered close to users.

A product category that gives users least-privilege, application-specific access through a broker instead of placing them on a flat corporate network.