Open Access

REVIEW

Zero Trust Networks: Evolution and Application from Concept to Practice

Yongjun Ren¹, Zhiming Wang¹, Pradip Kumar Sharma², Fayez Alqahtani³, Amr Tolba⁴, Jin Wang^5,*

1 School of Computer Science, School of Cyber Science and Engineering, Engineering Research Center of Digital Forensics, Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
2 Department of Computing Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB243FX, UK
3 Software Engineering Department, College of Computer and Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 12372, Saudi Arabia
4 Computer Science Department, Community College, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11437, Saudi Arabia
5 Sanya Institute of Hunan University of Science and Technology, Sanya, 572024, China

* Corresponding Author: Jin Wang. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Security, Privacy, and Robustness for Trustworthy AI Systems)

Computers, Materials & Continua 2025, 82(2), 1593-1613. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2025.059170

Received 29 September 2024; Accepted 16 December 2024; Issue published 17 February 2025

Abstract

In the context of an increasingly severe cybersecurity landscape and the growing complexity of offensive and defensive techniques, Zero Trust Networks (ZTN) have emerged as a widely recognized technology. Zero Trust not only addresses the shortcomings of traditional perimeter security models but also consistently follows the fundamental principle of “never trust, always verify.” Initially proposed by John Cortez in 2010 and subsequently promoted by Google, the Zero Trust model has become a key approach to addressing the ever-growing security threats in complex network environments. This paper systematically compares the current mainstream cybersecurity models, thoroughly explores the advantages and limitations of the Zero Trust model, and provides an in-depth review of its components and key technologies. Additionally, it analyzes the latest research achievements in the application of Zero Trust technology across various fields, including network security, 6G networks, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing, in the context of specific use cases. The paper also discusses the innovative contributions of the Zero Trust model in these fields, the challenges it faces, and proposes corresponding solutions and future research directions.

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Keywords

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