Zero Trust

Zero Trust is a security framework built on "never trust, always verify." Cloudflare Zero Trust replaces traditional VPNs with identity-aware access controls at the edge.

Key Ideas

• Cloudflare Zero Trust (formerly Cloudflare for Teams) has three components:
  • Cloudflare Access — Identity-aware proxy for internal applications
  • Cloudflare Gateway — Secure web gateway with DNS filtering
  • Cloudflare Tunnel — Secure outbound-only connections to origins
• No inbound firewall ports needed with Cloudflare Tunnel
• Integrates with any identity provider (Okta, Azure AD, Google Workspace)

Principles

• Verify every request (not just the first one)
• Least-privilege access by default
• Inspect and log all traffic
• Assume breach — segment and monitor continuously

Related

• Cloudflare Zero Trust — Product details
• Zero Trust Architecture — Architecture patterns
• Ddos Protection — Complementary security layer