Zero trust security

Google Workspace provides advanced zero trust security capabilities - verifying every user and device before granting access - that offer granular access and data controls to help protect businesses against data loss.

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Google Workspace security shield showing that a document is restricted to only people who have access.

What is zero trust security?

Zero trust security is a framework that requires all users to be authenticated, authorized, and continuously validated before being able to access applications and data. It operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify,” treating every access request as if it originated from an untrusted individual or device. This means that users must undergo strict identity verification and authorization checks each time they attempt to access resources, regardless of their location or device.

Benefits of zero trust

Zero trust assumes that security breaches are inevitable and takes a proactive approach to detect and respond to threats. In today’s ever-evolving threat landscape, defining a zero trust strategy is a necessary and ongoing journey that requires a comprehensive approach involving people, processes, and technology to secure an organization's data and applications. And the benefits of doing so are worth the investment.

Improved security: Zero trust can reduce the attack surface and make it more difficult for attackers to gain access to – and move laterally within – a network, minimizing data exfiltration and exposure of sensitive information.
Enhanced user experience: Zero trust can simplify access management configurations for IT teams and provide a seamless experience for users, even when they are accessing resources from outside the network, using different devices, or in different locations.
Increased agility: Zero trust can enable organizations to more easily adopt new technologies and cloud services, reducing friction in deployment, user authentication, and authorization management.

Zero trust principles: Never trust, always verify

Least privilege access

Individuals are granted the minimum level of access necessary to perform their tasks. By limiting user permissions, organizations can reduce the risk and impact of data breaches and unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Context-aware access

Access decisions are based on a variety of factors, such as user identity, device type, OS version, location, and the sensitivity of the data being accessed. The same users that may otherwise have access to data using a specific device and location, for example, may not have access using a different device.

Continuous evaluation

User and device identities are continuously verified throughout each session. This involves continuous monitoring of user activity, as well as the use of advanced analytics and automation to identify and mitigate potential risks.

Google Workspace is built-in with zero trust capabilities

Google Workspace security shield enforcing context aware access via location.

Google Document showing the following file sensitivity labels: restricted, confidential, internal, and public.

An image symbolizing network security. A shield protects access, with user locations and varying access statuses shown.

Enforce contextual access

Plan access policies to minimize disruption and enforce granular access policies based on attributes like device security and location with context-aware access.

Guide users to do the right thing

Leverage AI for automatic and continuous data classification and labeling. Implement tailored data loss prevention (DLP) policies to protect sensitive data. Set contextual criteria for sharing sensitive content to prevent unintended data loss.

Protect data on virtually any device, anywhere

Protect company data across various devices. Manage device access, erase data remotely, and integrate with third-party solutions for unified endpoint management.

The zero trust advantage: See how businesses benefit

We’ve improved our ability to operate anytime, and anywhere and have increased our ability to securely communicate and coordinate especially during network outages and natural disasters.

Peter Guo, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility & Japan Regional Maintenance Center

SSO with 2FA from Google simplifies user authentication and access from any location and device. Due to this architecture, we could move to work from home practically overnight with minimal impact on customers.

Vishnu Sudhakaran, Full Stack Developer, Zerodha

Our organization has been striving to break away from VPN and office network connections for years. Context-Aware Access has helped us manage our risks by allowing for more flexibility in access policies and allowing them to be applied to the right people, applications, and data. We’ve been able to allow our users to use more of Google Workspace for a broader set of scenarios with more confidence in the safety of that work.

Tim Ehrhart, Domain Lead, Information Security, Roche