A Zero Trust Architecture Model for Access Control in Cloud-Native Applications in Multi-Location Environments: NIST SP 800-207A Available for Comment

The initial public draft of NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-207A, A Zero Trust Architecture Model for Access Control in Cloud-Native Applications in Multi-Location Environments, is now available for public comment.

Enterprise application environments consist of geographically distributed and loosely coupled microservices that span multiple cloud and on-premises environments. They are accessed by a userbase from different locations through different devices. This scenario calls for establishing trust in all enterprise access entities, data sources, and computing services through secure communication and the validation of access policies.

Zero trust architecture (ZTA) and the principles on which it is built have been accepted as the state of practice for obtaining necessary security assurances, often enabled by an integrated application service infrastructure, such as a service mesh. ZTA can only be realized through a comprehensive policy framework that dynamically governs the authentication and authorization of all entities through status assessments (e.g., user, service, and requested resource. This guidance recommends:

• The formulation of network-tier and identity-tier policies and
• The configuration of technology components that will enable the deployment and enforcement of different policies (e.g., gateways, infrastructure for service identities, authentication, and authorization tokens with the help of a central coordination infrastructure).

The public comment period for this initial public draft is open through June 7, 2023. See the publication details for a copy of the draft and instructions for submitting comments.

NOTE: A call for patent claims is included on page ii of this draft. For additional information, see the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) Patent Policy – Inclusion of Patents in ITL Publications.