Legacy Tech Poses a Challenge to Zero Trust Adoption, While Risk Management Needs Continue to Drive its Advancement

Execs look to Zero Trust to help manage third party, data protection, and identity and access risks

NEW YORK, April 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- C-suite and other executives at organizations adopting Zero Trust say complexity and compatibility issues with legacy systems and environments pose the greatest challenge to adoption (44.6%), according to a new Deloitte poll. Yet, Zero Trust adoption efforts at polled executives' organizations will be driven in the year ahead by an expected increase in cyber threats (30.1%) and the need to better manage third-party risks (25.1%). 

"Adopting Zero Trust can help organizations secure both legacy and modern applications, data, networks, and devices, which can help effectively manage an increasingly complex cyber threat landscape," said Andrew Rafla, Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory's Zero Trust offering leader and a principal, Deloitte & Touche LLP.  "While legacy environments can challenge Zero Trust adoption, they are also a primary driver for transformation. You cannot replace a mainframe over night, but you can rapidly change how that environment is accessed to significantly reduce risk. It is also possible to reduce friction for end users by limiting disruption to their native experiences and enhancing IT operational efforts associated with the adoption of modernized controls."

Within Zero Trust adoption programs, respondents are most likely to prioritize enhancements focused on data security (26.1%) and identity and access management (21.5%)—outlining the importance of responsibly handling data, protecting privacy and implementing modernized access controls within the enterprise.

"Zero Trust managed services and solutions can help organizations replace virtual device infrastructure (VDI) for third-party access, enable data security for both local applications and SaaS solutions, embrace a flexible bring your own device paradigm and help realize material cost savings," said Chalan Aras, a Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory managing director focusing on Zero Trust, Deloitte & Touche LLP.  "Working with a managed service provider can help enable accelerated and efficient Zero Trust transformation by combining advanced technological capabilities with deep functional and industry knowledge—allowing organizations to confidently operate amidst an evolving threat landscape."

Learn more about Deloitte's Zero Trust advisory, implementation, and managed service offerings here.

About the online poll

More than 350 C-suite and other executives from organizations adopting Zero Trust were polled online Jan. 31, 2023,  during a Deloitte webcast titled, "Is Zero Trust the way?". Answer rates differed by question.

About Deloitte
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SOURCE Deloitte