66% of Organizations Embrace Zero Trust, Yet Integration Challenges Persist in 48% of Respondents: Fortinet Survey

Fortinet has released its global 2023 State of Zero Trust report, shedding light on the progress and challenges faced by organizations in implementing zero-trust security measures. The report highlights the efforts made by IT teams to secure remote workers in response to the pandemic and addresses the ongoing obstacles in securing a hybrid workforce.

According to the report, organizations of all sizes are actively working to adopt zero-trust strategies. Since the previous survey conducted in 2021, companies have deployed more solutions as part of their zero-trust initiatives. The number of respondents in the implementation process has risen from 54% in 2021 to 66%. The aim is to establish zero trust across the entire infrastructure to minimize the impact of potential breaches.

However, organizations continue to encounter challenges in implementing their zero-trust strategies. Nearly half of the respondents (48%) identified a lack of integration between on-premises and cloud-based zero-trust solutions as the most significant issue they need to address. Other challenges reported include end-to-end policy enforcement, application latency, and the absence of reliable information for selecting and designing appropriate zero-trust solutions.

The report emphasizes the importance of solutions that cover both on-premises and remote users with a consistent application access policy. Many organizations still need to secure access to applications both on-premises and outside the network. Notably, 75% of respondents reported encountering issues due to relying solely on cloud-based Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA).

The consolidation of vendors and solution interoperability is deemed crucial. Deploying solutions from multiple vendors has resulted in challenges such as introducing new security gaps and increased operational costs. Larger companies, in particular, are seeking to consolidate solutions to streamline operations and reduce overhead.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a key priority. The report reveals that “security effectiveness” ranks as the most significant priority for SASE solutions, with 58% of respondents placing it in their top three priorities. Additionally, 89% of respondents emphasized the importance of integrating SASE with their on-premises solutions.

Despite the notion that everything is shifting to the cloud, most organizations still maintain a hybrid application and data strategy. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) needs to be effective regardless of the location of applications and users. Respondents identified the top areas a hybrid ZTNA strategy should cover, including web applications (81%), on-premises users (76%), remote users (72%), on-premises applications (64%), and SaaS applications (51%).

The State of Zero Trust Report by Fortinet reflects the ongoing efforts made by organizations to strengthen their security measures and adapt to the evolving threat landscape. It also highlights the need to overcome challenges in implementing and maintaining effective zero-trust strategies.