Six zero-trust networking terms explained: why breaching one laptop shouldn't reach your network
victorialslocum · x · 2026-10-13
An explainer thread with hand-drawn diagrams covering six zero-trust networking concepts, answering "if someone gets onto one laptop, how many machines can they reach?"
- ZTNA: no device, user, or agent is trusted by default; every request is authenticated and authorized, access granted to specific apps, not the network.
- Default deny: nothing is allowed without an explicit policy—opposite of the traditional firewall approach.
- Least privilege: each identity reaches only the resources it needs (e.g., a contractor gets a couple hosts, not the subnet).
- Posture check: access depends on device state—minimum OS version, allowed country/network, running process.
- Lateral movement: attackers hopping machine-to-machine in flat networks—the core threat zero trust blocks.
- Microsegmentation: splitting the network into individually governed zones so a compromised machine can't move laterally.
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