Securing Cloud-Native Infrastructure with Zero Trust Architecture

Modern application development has been revolutionized by cloud-native infrastructure which has become the focus of scalability, agility and efficiency. However, the inherent security risks that come with this new model – workload fluctuation, structural decentralization, and the fleeting nature of containers – call for a new approach to security. Conventional threat perimeter control strategies do not effectively mitigate these problems at all, and therefore are ill-suited for native-cloud environments. Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) with its” never trust, always verify” vision offers an answer. This paper examines the applicability of the ZTA model to the cloud-native infrastructure, to help the reader understand how ZTA may also be used in this setting. This criminalizes domain had pointed some areas of concentration as; identity assurance, use of the principle of least privilege, micro-segmentation and continuous monitoring which are essential in the security of distributed systems. Furthermore, this research explores the underlying technologies that turn Zero Trust into the order of the day, including service meshes, identity platforms, or container security solutions. By examining typical difficulties that can be met during the preparation for the transition to Zero Trust – from misconfigurations to API breaches and supply chain challenges – the book offers specific recommendations and a guide for organizations willing to become Zero Trust-ready. To this end, the paper shows the pragmatic applicability of Zero Trust by integrating ZTA with current DevOps paradigms and automating policy application. Because cyber threats continue to evolve, integrating ZTA is no longer considered optional — but rather imperative for successfully achieving cloud-native security. This research is designed to help the security professionals, DevOps engineers, and organization leaders seeking to implement Zero Trust to the cloud-native environments.