Zero trust
A security and governance design principle where trust is never granted permanently based on location or prior verification (being "inside the network," "already in the warehouse"), but is instead checked continuously, at the point of each specific use, based on current, verifiable signals. Originated in network security (Google's BeyondCorp is the canonical published example) and applies directly to data governance: provenance and quality are verified at use, not assumed durable from onboarding.
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 3 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in AI Data Governance: The Data Chair.
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
A security and governance design principle where trust is never granted permanently based on location or prior verification (being "inside the network," "already in the warehouse"), but is instead checked continuously, at the point of each specific use, based on current, verifiable signals. Originated in network security (Google's BeyondCorp is the canonical published example) and applies directly to data governance: provenance and quality are verified at use, not assumed durable from onboarding.
A security model that never trusts by default and always verifies: never trusting data without validation, a model without testing, an integration without monitoring, or access without authentication, applied in identity, access, data, network, and monitoring layers.
An architectural approach, formalized in NIST Special Publication 800-207, in which no user, device, or network location is trusted by default; every access request is authenticated, authorized, and continuously verified based on identity, device posture, and context, regardless of whether the request originates inside or outside the traditional network perimeter.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first 7 topics of every program are free with a free account.
- Least privilege in the estate: who can read what, and the analyst who can read everything · Access and the Keys, AI Data Governance: The Data Chair
- Governance that survives: rebuilding the estate's defenses so the next attack finds less · Adversarial Data Governance, AI Data Governance: The Data Chair
- Enterprise Integration Strategy · Technology, Platforms and Vendors, Business AI Transformation
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.