CCZT Exam Dumps - Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT)

ZT project implementation requires prioritization as part of the overall ZT project planning activities. One area to consider is prioritization based on risks, which means that the organization should identify and assess the potential threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts that could affect its assets, operations, and reputation, and prioritize the ZT initiatives that address the most critical and urgent risks. Prioritization based on risks helps to align the ZT project with the business objectives and needs, and optimize the use of resources and time.

References =

• Zero Trust Planning - Cloud Security Alliance, section “Scope, Priority, & Business Case”
• The Zero Trust Journey: 4 Phases of Implementation - SEI Blog, section “Second Phase: Assess”
• Planning for a Zero Trust Architecture: A Planning Guide for Federal …, section “Gap Analysis”

Proper risk management should be a key component of any ZT project, especially during implementation and adjustments, because it helps to identify, analyze, evaluate, and treat the potential risks that may affect the ZT and ZTA objectives and outcomes. Proper risk management also helps to prioritize the ZT and ZTA activities and resources based on the risk level and impact, and to monitor and review the risk mitigation strategies and actions.

References = Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) - Cloud Security Alliance, Zero Trust Training (ZTT) - Module 9: Risk Management

The essential components of an organization’s ongoing risk analysis are assessment frequency, metrics, and data. Assessment frequency refers to how often the organization conducts risk assessments to monitor and measure the effectiveness of the zero trust architecture and policies. Metrics refer to the quantitative and qualitative indicators that are used to evaluate the security posture, performance, and compliance of the zero trust architecture. Data refers to the information that is collected, analyzed, and reported from various sources, such as telemetry, logs, audits, and feedback, to support risk analysis and decision making.

References =

• Zero Trust Planning - Cloud Security Alliance, section “Monitor & Measure”
• How to improve risk management using Zero Trust architecture | Microsoft Security Blog, section “Monitoring and reporting”
• Zero Trust Adoption: Managing Risk with Cybersecurity Engineering and Adaptive Risk Assessment - SEI Blog, section “Continuous Monitoring and Improvement”

Device validation helps establish a trusted connection based on certificate-based keys in a ZT deployment. Device validation is the process of verifying the identity and posture of the devices that request access to the protected resources. Device validation relies on the use of certificates, which are digital credentials that bind the device identity to a public key. Certificates are issued by a trusted authority and can be used to authenticate the device and encrypt the communication. Device validation helps to ensure that only healthy and compliant devices can access the resources, and that the connection is secure and confidential.

References =

• Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) prepkit, page 15, section 2.2.3
• Zero Trust and Windows device health - Windows Security, section “Device health attestation on Windows”
• Devices and zero trust | Google Cloud Blog, section “In a zero trust environment, every device has to earn trust in order to be granted access.”

ZTA using enhanced identity governance is an approach to ZTA that strongly emphasizes proper governance of access privileges and entitlements for specific assets. This approach focuses on managing the identity lifecycle, enforcing granular and dynamic policies, and auditing and monitoring access activities. ZTA using enhanced identity governance helps to ensure that only authorized and verified entities can access the protected assets based on the principle of least privilege and the context of the request.

References = Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) - Cloud Security Alliance, Zero Trust Training (ZTT) - Module 5: Enhanced Identity Governance

To detect and stop malicious access attempts in real-time within a Zero Trust Architecture, comprehensive audit logging and continuous monitoring are essential. These measures provide visibility into all access attempts and activities within the network, allowing for the early detection of suspicious behavior. By analyzing logs and monitoring network traffic, security teams can identify and respond to potential threats in real-time, preventing unauthorized access and minimizing the impact of any security incidents.

Data and asset classification should be based on the sensitivity of data, which is the degree to which the data requires protection from unauthorized access, modification, or disclosure. Data sensitivity is determined by the potential impact of data loss, theft, or corruption on the organization, its customers, and its partners. Data sensitivity can also be influenced by legal, regulatory, and contractual obligations.

References =

• Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) prepkit, page 10, section 2.1.1
• Identify and protect sensitive business data with Zero Trust, section 1
• Secure data with Zero Trust, section 1
• SP 800-207, Zero Trust Architecture, page 9, section 3.2.1

Data and asset classification is a prerequisite action to understand the organization’s protect surface clearly because it helps to identify the most critical and sensitive data and assets that need to be protected by Zero Trust principles. Data and asset classification also helps to define the appropriate policies and controls for different levels of data and asset sensitivity.

References = Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) - Cloud Security Alliance, Zero Trust Training (ZTT) - Module 2: Data and Asset Classification

During the monitoring and analytics phase of ZT transaction flows, organizations should collect statistics and profile the behavior of transactions to support a continuous assessment of all transactions. A continuous assessment of all transactions means that the organization constantly evaluates the security posture, performance, and compliance of each transaction, and detects and responds to any anomalies, deviations, or threats. A continuous assessment of all transactions helps to maintain a high level of protection and resilience in the ZTA, and enables the organization to adjust and improve the policies and controls accordingly.

References =

• Zero Trust Planning - Cloud Security Alliance, section “Monitor & Measure”
• The role of visibility and analytics in zero trust architectures, section “The basic NIST tenets of this approach include”
• Move to the Zero Trust Security Model - Trailhead, section “Monitor and Maintain Your Environment”

Different SDP deployment models have different advantages and disadvantages depending on the organization’s use case, such as the type of resources to be protected, the location of the clients and servers, the network topology, the scalability, the performance, and the security requirements. Network architects should consider their use case before selecting an SDP model that best suits their needs and goals.

References =

• Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) prepkit, page 21, section 3.1.2
• 6 SDP Deployment Models to Achieve Zero Trust | CSA, section “Deployment Models Explained”
• Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) and Zero Trust | CSA, page 7, section 3.1
• Why SDP Matters in Zero Trust | SonicWall, section “SDP Deployment Models”

A critical product of the gap analysis process is the implementation’s requirements, which are the specifications and criteria that define the desired outcomes, capabilities, and functionalities of the ZTA. The implementation’s requirements are derived from the gap analysis, which identifies the current state, the target state, and the gaps between them. The implementation’s requirements help to guide the design, development, testing, and deployment of the ZTA, as well as the evaluation of its effectiveness and alignment with the business objectives and needs.

References =

• Zero Trust Planning - Cloud Security Alliance, section “Scope, Priority, & Business Case”
• The Zero Trust Journey: 4 Phases of Implementation - SEI Blog, section “Second Phase: Assess”
• Planning for a Zero Trust Architecture: A Planning Guide for Federal …, section “Gap Analysis”

A key architectural consideration that needs to be taken into account while deploying SDP is how SDP deployment fits into existing network topologies and technologies. This is because SDP deployment may require changes or adaptations to the existing network infrastructure, such as routers, switches, firewalls, VPNs, etc. SDP deployment may also affect the network performance, availability, scalability, and resilience. Therefore, it is important to assess the impact and compatibility of SDP deployment with the existing network topologies and technologies, and to plan and design the SDP deployment accordingly.

References = Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) - Cloud Security Alliance, Zero Trust Training (ZTT) - Module 7: Network Infrastructure and SDP

According to NIST, the key mechanisms for defining, managing, and enforcing policies in a ZTA are the policy decision point (PDP), the policy enforcement point (PEP), and the policy information point (PIP). The PDP is the component that evaluates the policies and the contextual data collected from various sources and generates an access decision. The PEP is the component that enforces the access decision on the resource. The PIP is the component that provides the contextual data to the PDP, such as the user identity, the device posture, the network location, the resource attributes, and the environmental factors.

References =

• Zero Trust Architecture Project - NIST Computer Security Resource Center, slide 9
• What Is Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)? - F5, section “Policy Engine”
• Zero Trust Frameworks Architecture Guide - Cisco, page 4, section “Policy Decision Point”

A comprehensive catalogue of all transactions, dependencies, and services with associated IDs is a potential outcome of an effective ZT implementation because it helps to map the data flows and interactions among the assets and entities in the ZTA. This catalogue enables the ZTA to enforce granular and dynamic policies based on the context and attributes of the transactions, dependencies, and services. It also facilitates the monitoring and auditing of the ZTA activities and performance.

References = Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust (CCZT) - Cloud Security Alliance, Zero Trust Training (ZTT) - Module 3: ZTA Architecture and Components

ABAC is an access control method that uses attributes of the requester, the resource, the environment, and the action to evaluate and enforce policies. ABAC allows for fine-grained and dynamic access control based on the context of the request, rather than predefined roles or privileges. ABAC is suitable for SaaS and PaaS, where the features within a service may vary depending on the customer’s needs, preferences, and subscription level. ABAC can help implement ZT by enforcing the principle of least privilege and verifying every request based on multiple factors.

References =

• Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) Definition
• General Access Control Guidance for Cloud Systems
• A Guide to Secure SaaS Access Control Within an Organization