Digital transformation has accelerated and zero-trust architecture has helped businesses invest in more advanced technologies without the risk of advanced cyberattacks. According to WatchGuard’s Pulse survey of 100 IT and security executives, a zero-trust framework stimulates digital transformation for companies, as stated by 6 out of 10 respondents (59%).

Here’s a scenario that was unlikely just two years ago: permanently telecommuting from Honolulu to your financial job on Wall Street. Fast forward to today, the world has accepted that productivity is just as feasible from the beach as it is from a skyscraper. In fact, according to Upwork, nearly 5 million people in the U.S. have moved because of remote work since 2020 with another 19 million planning to do so.

It’s not your imagination; Zero Trust (ZT) is everywhere these days. Indeed, one study reports that 96% of security decision-makers say ZT is critical to their organization’s success, and another study notes that 51% of business leaders are speeding up their deployment of ZT capabilities. But exactly what is Zero Trust and why is it the top security priority for organizations around the globe?

We live in an IT world surrounded by buzzwords that are largely marketing gimmicks. Zero Trust, for example, is a concept no one actually understands and is slapped onto everything, including derivatives like Zero Trust networks (ZTN) and Zero Trust network access (ZTNA). Then there’s Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), Security Service Edge (SSE) and everything that falls under these frameworks such as Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), Secure Web Gateway (SWG).

The wealth of sensitive personal and financial data managed by hospitals and health systems, coupled with known cybersecurity vulnerabilities, makes the healthcare sector an inviting target for cyberattacks. In the last three years, 93% of healthcare organizations have experienced a data breach, and 57% have had more than five breaches.