Zero Trust Architecture
Zero Trust is the dam's design principle: water (traffic) only flows where policy allows, continuously checked. Identity, device posture, network path, and application context all feed the decision.
Aligned with NIST SP 800-207 thinking: policy decision points, policy enforcement points, and visibility that assumes the adversary is already probing the gates.
Building blocks of a ZT program
Zero Trust is a journey, not a purchase order. Angry Beaver treats it as staged construction:
Inventory
Users, devices, apps, and data paths you cannot protect if you cannot name.
Strong identity
MFA, phishing-resistant options, privileged access paths, and session hygiene.
Segment
Break flat networks; put policy between workloads instead of around a soft center.
Observe
Logs and signals that feed policy decisions and incident response.
The dam metaphor matters here: every gate is intentional. Implicit trust is the leak you stop designing for.