Abstract

With the rise of remote work and cloud-first strategies in 2020, the traditional perimeter-based security model became increasingly obsolete. Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), which emphasizes “never trust, always verify,” emerged as a strategic framework to mitigate evolving cybersecurity threats, especially those exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite its theoretical robustness, implementing Zero Trust in enterprise environments revealed several technical and organizational roadblocks, including identity-centric access control, network segmentation, legacy system compatibility, and the scalability of real-time monitoring. This paper evaluates the underlying principles of Zero Trust from both cybersecurity and organizational perspectives and identifies implementation challenges through a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative threat metrics and qualitative enterprise case studies. By synthesizing insights from cybersecurity engineering, organizational behavior, and risk management, this research proposes a phased framework to streamline Zero Trust adoption in complex network environments. Findings show that tailored ZTA strategies significantly reduced insider threat surfaces and lateral movement during the rapid digital transformations of 2020, but required extensive investment in identity governance and cross-functional coordination.