August 21, 2025

Identity as the Cornerstone of Zero Trust Security

Users are accessing resources from anywhere—across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments—expanding the attack surface. Identity attacks continue to rise, reinforcing the need to treat identity as a core security control.

Zero Trust starts with knowing who is on the network

Identity is the cornerstone of a Zero Trust strategy: organizations must determine who the user is (employee, guest, supplier, temporary worker), what access they should get, and apply a least-access policy that allows only the resources necessary for the role, with the ability to revoke access as needed.

Controls that enable and manage access

Authentication: establish or re-verify identity via login, certificates, and/or multifactor input.
Single Sign-On (SSO): streamline logins while maintaining security.
Role-based Access: use identity information to govern access to company resources.

Fortinet Solutions for Integrated identity (on-premises and cloud)

FortiAuthenticator: centralized IAM with SSO and MFA options, self-service portals, and deployment as appliance or VM.
FortiToken: MFA using mobile app with push and hardware form factors (including passwordless FIDO support).
FortiTrust Identity: identity as-a-service delivering authentication, MFA, and SSO from anywhere.
FortiToken Cloud (MFA as-a-Service): adaptive authentication and centralized MFA management.

User experience and security enhancements

Integrated and centralized IAM to simplify and reduce IT workload.
MFA options (email, SMS, token, certificates, passwordless) plus adaptive factors such as location and time-of-day.
SSO for ease of use and self-service portals for users.

Alignment and platform context

Identity-centric security aligns with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to improve risk management and operates within the Fortinet Security Fabric platform alongside Secure Networking, Unified SASE, and AI-driven SecOps.

Why organizations choose this approach

All-inclusive IAM (authentication, MFA, SSO, PAM) integrated as the source of identity.
Centralized management and licensing with flexible deployment options across appliances, software, and cloud.
Zero Trust access for user identity with least-privilege authentication and strong, adaptive methods (including passwordless).

Taken together, these capabilities reinforce identity as the foundation for Zero Trust: verifying users, applying least-privilege access, and improving the overall security posture while keeping user experience manageable across hybrid environments.

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