Cybersecurity news and professional materials often feature terms that seem complicated at first glance, but the logic behind them is simple to explain. Below, we present three frequently mentioned concepts in plain language.
Zero Trust – “we automatically trust no one and nothing”
The traditional network security model assumed that everything inside the corporate network was trustworthy, and that only traffic coming from the outside world needed to be checked – it’s like checking everyone outside the walls of a castle, but anyone could move freely within the walls. Zero Trust, on the other hand, assumes that every user, device, and system needs to be authenticated and checked continuously, regardless of whether they’re trying to access something from inside or outside the network. In practice, this means that an employee doesn’t automatically get access to every corporate system just because they’re logged into the corporate network – each access request needs to be verified and approved separately.
SOCaaS – outsourced “security guard”
A SOC (Security Operation Center) is a team and system that continuously monitors an organization's IT systems and responds immediately if suspicious activity is detected. Building such a center yourself and operating it 24/7 requires significant investment and a number of experts, which a small or medium-sized enterprise can hardly provide on its own. SOCaaS (Security Operation Center as a Service) makes this service available in an outsourced, cloud-based form: the company can rely on an external service provider's SOC team without building its own infrastructure - it's like hiring a security company to guard it instead of employing its own security personnel.
IT/OT segmentation – separation of the office and the production line
In a manufacturing or food company, two types of systems operate side by side: IT (office IT systems, such as email and administration) and OT (industrial systems that control physical production, such as production lines, sensors). If these two networks are not properly separated from each other, a virus or ransomware that starts on an office computer can easily spread to the production control systems, which can even lead to a complete production shutdown. IT/OT segmentation reduces this risk by physically or logically separating the two networks, so that an office incident cannot automatically spread to the production line.
These concepts are increasingly common in everyday cybersecurity practice - it is worth being aware of them, whether when choosing a service provider or understanding an incident afterwards.