Page 22 - Banking Finance July 2025

ARTICLE

Zero Trust

Architecture in

Financial Institutions:

A Strategic Shift in

Namita Mishra
Cybersecurity Senior Manager- Faculty

Union Bank of India
ULA-Operational Excellence
"Never trust, always verify."

The Zero Trust Security Model is a modern approach to cybersecurity that assumes no user or system
should be inherently trusted-whether they're inside or outside the network. It emphasizes rigorous
verification, minimal access, and constant oversight to prevent breaches and limit their impact.

I n an always increasing digital financial landscape, ticated, authorized, and encrypted before granting access.
It requires continuous authentication, authorization, and
cybersecurity is no longer a technical concern alone-it
is a business imperative. As banks and financial institu-
from within the network or remotely.
tions advance their digital transformation efforts, they be- validation, regardless of where access originates-whether
come increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated cyber threats.
From data breaches and phishing to ransomware and insider This architecture functions on key pillars, such as compre-
threats, the traditional perimeter-based security model is hensive identity verification using multi-factor authentica-
proving insufficient. In response, institutions worldwide are tion, least privilege access controls to restrict user permis-
turning to a modern, proactive approach: Zero Trust Archi- sions, and micro-segmentation of networks to isolate sys-
tecture. tems and limit lateral movement. Continuous monitoring of
behaviour and real-time threat detection further strength-
Understanding Zero Trust ens the model, while ensuring that only secure, compliant
devices are granted access.
Zero-trust security models are a modern approach to
cybersecurity that operate on the principle of "never trust,
always verify." Unlike traditional security frameworks that Relevance to Financial Institutions
assume internal systems are safe once access is granted at The critical data managed by financial institutions and their
the perimeter, Zero Trust treats every user, device, and trusted role in the economy makes them more vulnerable
request as potentially compromised. for cyber-attacks. Implementing Zero Trust is especially criti-
cal in this environment. It not only minimizes the risk of data
This model assumes that no user or device, whether inside breaches but also helps protect customer information, pre-
or outside the organization's network, should be trusted by vent insider threats, and secure increasingly mobile and
default. Instead, every access request must be fully authen- remote workforces.

20 | 2025 | JULY | BANKING FINANCE