Who Do You Trust? Zero-Trust Networks

[powerpress]

Episode 56 of the podcast is a conversation with Dr. Lisa J. Porter on zero-trust architectures. Porter started the current conversation on calibrating expectations about trust and security in the broad network context.

In January we wrote about the presentation she gave at the 2019 Silicon Flatirons spectrum event. She followed up with presentation at this year’s ISART conference 5G Spectrum and a Zero-Trust Network that took its theme from her ideas.

This podcast explores the fundamental insight behind zero-trust – the fact that no complex system is ever provably secure – as it applies to system design in general and 5G in particular.

Toward the end, you’ll enjoy the movie reviews and reflections on skepticism as a world view.  But before we get to that, Dr. Porter explains how zero-trust comes out of DoD’s need to operate war-fighting in places where networks can’t be trusted.

These may be existing networks and they may be temporary wireless mesh network assembled on the spot. This need relates to the current push to eradicate network equipment from untrusted suppliers.

Chasing Huawei and ZTE out of the American market makes a lot of sense, but we shouldn’t imagine that such an action makes our networks secure all by itself. If we learned anything at all from the Snowden affair, it should be that bad actors can evade perimeter measures.

Enjoy the podcast and pass it on.