[Nexus Trend Report] PKI evolution in cybersecurity

PKI evolution in cybersecurity TREND REPORT

1. Introduction

PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) and Zero Trust are two crucial elements in cybersecurity, working hand in hand to enhance digital security and protect sensitive data. PKI establishes a framework for secure communication by utilizing cryptographic keys, certificates, and digital signatures to authenticate and verify the identity of users and devices. On the other hand, Zero Trust is a security model that eliminates the traditional notion of trust within network environments. It operates under the assumption that no user, device, or software should be inherently trusted, regardless of their location – whether they are inside or outside the organizational network perimeter.

Combining PKI with Zero Trust forms a robust defense mechanism against potential threats by continuously validating and authorizing every access request made throughout an organization’s infrastructure. PKI for Zero Trust provides a comprehensive security solution where authentication, authorization, encryption, and monitoring work together seamlessly to foster a more secure digital ecosystem.

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Identity is finally becoming the keystone of cybersecurity, but it’s also becoming a real social issue. ”

2. Zero Trust: a business driver

Zero Trust, or identity-first security, is emerging as a powerful business driver in the digital landscape. With the escalating sophistication of cyber threats and the evolving nature of remote work, organizations are prioritizing a model that assumes no inherent trust and continually verifies user identities.

This approach strengthens data protection, mitigates the risk of unauthorized access, and aligns with regulatory compliance.

By making identity the cornerstone of security strategies, businesses enhance their resilience, build customer trust, and safeguard sensitive information, establishing Zero Trust as a security framework and a fundamental enabler for robust and adaptive business operations.

CISO at a leading Services company

2.1. What is driving Zero Trust adoption

1. Evolving digital landscape

The evolving IT and technological landscape drives Zero Trust adoption by necessitating a security model that can adapt to the complexities of modern computing environments, distributed workforces, cloud-centric architectures, and dynamic threat landscapes, where traditional security models struggle.

Zero Trust emerges as a strategic response, offering continuous verification and least privilege access in the face of intricate and interconnected environments.

2. Increasing cybercrime sophistication

The growing sophistication of cybercrime underscores the need for a security model that can adapt to advanced threats. According to a 2023 report by CrowdStrike, 80% of the attacks involve identity and compromised credentials. Continuous authentication, real-time monitoring, and dynamic verification provide an adaptive defense mechanism for organizations to thwart cyber threats. Zero Trust’s flexibility allows organizations to adapt to emerging cybercrime tactics dynamically, providing a proactive and resilient defense.

3. Regulatory compliance

Organizations recognize the alignment between zero-trust principles and regulations such as GDPR, eIDAS, NIS2, PSD2, CER, CRA, HIPAA, and CCPA, which require robust access controls, encryption measures, and continuous verification.

3. PKI: The Zero Trust enabler

Zero Trust establishes a comprehensive security framework that safeguards user identities, devices, and data through continuous verification and stringent security practices. It requires

• User Identity Validation, Authentication, and Access Control

• Continuous Authentication Mechanisms

• Device and Application Authentication

• Device Trust Policies

• Secure Mobile Device Management (MDM)

• Robust Data Encryption

• Secure Code Signing and Firmware

PKI establishes a secure foundation by validating user identities, enabling authentication, enforcing device trust policies, and ensuring robust data protection through encryption.

While the core requirements of Zero Trust are met with the comprehensive security framework that is PKI, the real-life operational use cases vary vastly depending on factors such as organizational need, scenario, industry, etc. For example, a robust PKI can secure citizen IDs and strengthen national eGovernance initiatives. On the other hand, an automobile manufacturer can leverage PKI to identify their vehicle and ensure encrypted communication with other vehicles, grids, plug-and-charge points, and more, also known as V2X or vehicle-to-everything communication.

In the following sections, we explore a few such use cases where PKI can help governments, public organizations, and enterprises.

3.1. Fortify national and citizen sovereignty

eGovernance:

• Citizen IDs for trusted authentication for secure and trustworthy authentication of citizen identities in various online platforms.

• Secure access to online services like government portals, tax filing systems, and public service platforms.

• Digital signatures to guarantee the authenticity and integrity of digital documents, contracts, and agreements.

National security:

• Protect critical infrastructure such as energy grids, transportation networks, and defense systems.

• Safeguard national financial systems to ensure secure online transactions and financial data integrity.

• Enhance border security with electronic passports to support efficient and secure cross-border travel.

• Fortify military communications with encryption and signing to protect sensitive communications and data exchange.

Citizen response:

• Healthcare data privacy to enable confidential communication between healthcare providers and patients.

• Crisis response and emergency services supported by secure information exchange among emergency services and government agencies during crises.

• Secure communication for public alerts with verified and authentic alerts during emergencies.

• Validate national credentials such as residence permits, driving licenses, and vaccination certificates with federal records.

International relations and collaboration:

• Secure information sharing between intelligence agencies of different countries to address global security threats.

• Collaborative defense systems between allied nations, strengthening collaborative defense efforts.

• Joint research and development protecting sensitive intellectual property.

3.2. Develop a secure ecosystem for businesses

3.2.1. Trusted identities for corporate users

Employee identity and access management

• Employee identity verification to ensure that employees have the appropriate access permissions based on their roles.

• Secure authentication and access with MFA to workstations, corporate networks, email systems, and intranet portals to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive systems and data.

• Single sign-on (SSO) streamlines access for employees to multiple corporate applications with a single set of credentials.

• Prevent identity sprawl to reduce attack surfaces by controlling the proliferation of identities and associated accounts

Remote work security

• Secure VPN connections to enable employees to access corporate resources securely while working remotely.

• Secure files shared remotely with encryption to maintain data integrity and confidentiality.

Digital transactions and document signing

• Digital document signing to sign contracts and agreements, ensuring the integrity, authenticity, and non-repudiation of critical business documents.

• Sign financial transactions and approvals to protect corporate assets and data integrity.

Email security

• Encrypt email communication for corporate emails to safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access during transmission.

• Email authentication and anti-phishing ensures the trustworthiness of communication.

Compliance and audit trail:

• Achieve and maintain compliance by ensuring secure and auditable access to sensitive data and systems.

• Digital audit trails provide a comprehensive record of user activities for compliance and security audits.

3.2.2. Securing the corporate infrastructure

Device authentication

• Secure device authentication ensures that only authorized devices can access the networks and resources of the organization, preventing external actors from gaining entry

Application authentication

• Certificate-based application authentication ensures that only authenticated and authorized applications can interact with each other and different network components.

Secure device and application communication

• Encrypted device and application communication between workstations, servers, and applications protect sensitive data from interception during transmission.

Mobile device security

• Mobile Device Management (MDM) PKI supports secure mobile device management, enabling organizations to control and secure mobile devices used in the workplace.

• Securing corporate applications on mobile devices helps protect sensitive corporate data accessed via mobile devices.

Code signing

• Code signing protects organizations against malware injection in software, a key solution to block supply chain attacks.

Consumer IoT

• IoT device authentication before connecting to the telecom infrastructure prevents unauthorized devices from accessing the network.

• Secure consumer device onboarding ensures data integrity and confidentiality to prevent intrusion, impersonation, and hijacking.

• Encrypted communication between IoT devices and telecom infrastructure safeguards against eavesdropping and data tampering.

Manufacturing

• Supply chain and device lifecycle security is guaranteed by providing unique identities assigned to IoT devices during manufacturing.

• Automated certificate renewal reduces service interruptions and manual intervention, ensuring continued security.

• Encrypted machine-to-machine (M2M) communication in OT/IIoT environments safeguards sensitive data and prevents unauthorized control or data manipulation.

• Secure edge computing by securing edge devices and communication in IIoT environments to support trustworthy edge computing processes.

Automobile

• Secure Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication between Internet-backed components within vehicles, ensuring the authenticity and confidentiality of data exchanged.

• Ensure firmware integrity with secure and authenticated Over-the-Air (OTA) updates for vehicle firmware and software.

Energy

• Protect communication within smart grids ensures the integrity and confidentiality of data exchanged to help guarantee trustworthiness and high availability.

• Secure advanced metering infrastructure, including individual smart meter infrastructure components and their data communication.

Healthcare

• Encrypted communication between IoT medical devices and healthcare systems supports compliance with privacy regulations.

• Medical device integrity is assured with code signing for medical device firmware.

4. The rise of cloud adoption

It is well-established that most organizations are moving towards a more comprehensive cloud strategy. Adopting the SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model offers a compelling value proposition by addressing critical business needs such as cost efficiency, scalability, accessibility, and security.

As organizations seek agility, cost-effectiveness, and a focus on core competencies, the SaaS model continues to gain prominence as a preferred approach to software delivery and management.

Why are organizations moving to the Cloud?

• Cloud infrastructure provides unmatched SCALABILITY, allowing organizations to adapt computing resources to changing demands.

• The cloud’s centralized management SIMPLIFIES COMPLEXITIES of the traditional IT infrastructure and reduces operational overhead, allowing IT teams to concentrate on strategic initiatives rather than routine tasks.

• Cloud services enable organizations to leverage external expertise, filling SKILL GAPS WITHIN INTERNAL TEAMS; enabling them to stay focused on their core business.

4.1. What does it mean for PKI adoption

Governments entrust PKI with citizen identity authentication and secure online services, while enterprises fortify internal security through encrypted communications. PKI’s role in fostering a safe and interconnected future is undeniable.

As all verticals embrace PKI-based, identity-first security, the demand for certificates to roll out digital signatures, device authentication, and encryption has grown exponentially. So, it is not surprising that organizations are exploring PKI-as-a-Service, PKIaaS, as the next logical step in their Zero Trust journey.

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71%

PKI deployments are expected to be in the cloud by 2025

Companies increasingly prefer cloud-based PKI services due to scalability, ease of integration, simplicity of operations, and regulatory compliance.

How different industry segments respond to PKIaaS

• M ost large companies deploy PKIaaS with some exceptions where Key Management is done on-premises.

“For large companies, integration is a big deciding factor. Many companies reject big players because they could not integrate well with existing systems,” /Expert, IAM Integrator (Strategy& Market Research Report)

• Small and Medium-sized enterprises wish to adopt simple, hassle-free solutions. Often restricted by resources, they prefer solutions that can be quickly deployed, easily rolled out, and do not necessitate extensive training. Outsourcing PKI to an expert provider also takes the burden of extensive in-house skill development.

• T he Specialized sector (government and public) has high-security and regulatory needs. They prefer a highly regulated PKI cloud service with a local or regional player or an on-premises deployment.

*Strategy & Market Research Report

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When deciding on a solution, I ask myself if my vendor can satisfy my future feature needs for the next five years ”

Cybersecurity Consulting Expert, PWC

4.2. What organizations expect from PKIaaS

With the need for PKIaaS clearly established, let us explore what organizations expect from a PKI solution.

• Multi-purpose PKI

Customers want a solution capable of seamlessly managing identities across diverse domains, encompassing users, employees, corporate devices, and smart things. This unified approach lets them streamline certificate issuance, ensure consistent security measures, and simplify identity management, meeting the evolving demands of modern, interconnected ecosystems.

• Device-agnostic solution

A device-agnostic PKIaaS solution means universal certificate management, accommodating a spectrum of devices such as corporate laptops, smartphones, IoT smart things like sensors and wearables, and diverse consumer devices. This winclusivity streamlines security across the entire digital landscape, providing a unified approach for certificate management that adapts to the diverse array of devices within customers’ ecosystems.

• Automation for certificate enrollment and management

Automation ensures certificate enrolment and management can be executed without the need for user interaction. It reduces the potential for human error and enhances efficiency by automating renewal, issuance, and revocation processes.

• Adaptive, risk-based authentication

Organizations seek risk-based authentication, including Single Sign-On (SSO) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), to guarantee strong authentication within their PKIaaS solution. This ensures a dynamic security approach that adapts to contextual risk factors, enhancing user authentication while providing a seamless and secure experience across diverse access points.

• Multi-tenancy and interoperability

Multi-tenancy enables efficient and secure sharing of PKI resources among multiple independent entities within an organization or in a collaborative ecosystem. At the same time, interoperability ensures that a PKI can operate seamlessly in a heterogeneous IT landscape. Both aspects are crucial for a PKI solution’s adaptability, scalability, and collaborative potential in complex and dynamic digital environments.

• Compliant and secure

By promoting trust and security, PKI becomes the core of any organization’s digital infrastructure. This means the PKI platform itself must be designed and maintained in a way that brings a certain level of assurance. Compliance with the guidelines laid down by Common Criteria is often considered crucial in this regard.

• Future-proof

A resilient PKI system must minimize the risk of obsolescence and ensure long-term relevance by being compatible with evolving technologies and security standards. Organizations and PKI providers are also exploring quantum-safe algorithms to build a future-proof PKI solution capable of securing digital communication in a post-quantum era.

Summary

With cloud adoption becoming ubiquitous, organizations increasingly recognize the advantages of entrusting their Public Key Infrastructure to specialized providers.

This move towards PKI-as-a-Service (PKIaaS) is a natural progression in the Zero Trust journey, offering a unified and future-proof security infrastructure. Outsourcing PKI management allows organizations to achieve a more secure digital environment, focus on their core business, simplify complex processes, and lower costs. This trend highlights the growing recognition that PKI’s future lies in the cloud.

With PKIaaS, organizations can efficiently manage their cryptographic infrastructure, improve their security posture, and better adapt to emerging cybersecurity threats.

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Our commitment to excellence and innovation drives us to build a secure tomorrow with trusted identities ”