Failure Pattern
Zero Trust (ZT) frameworks focus on user identity but ignore workload and device identity. Attackers exploit compromised systems to bypass ZT.
What We See in the Field
A compromised workload sends authenticated requests using valid user or service credentials. ZT tools approve the requests because credentials validate successfully.
Underlying Causes
User identity without device validation
Blind reliance on IAM
Metadata-based trust assumptions
Overprivileged internal services
No cryptographic binding to hardware identity
Trust-Native Network Resolution
DTL provides cryptographic workload identity at every session. ZT becomes enforceable because trust starts with who is acting, not who authenticated.
Broken Trust Assumption
This failure pattern has played out repeatedly in real security incidents—not because of missing tools, but because of how trust is assigned.
In breaches such as SolarWinds, Capital One, Okta, and MOVEit, attackers did not bypass security controls. They operated through them, using valid identities, trusted credentials, signed code, and encrypted sessions. Security systems accepted these signals as proof of legitimacy, allowing malicious behavior to proceed.
The common thread across these incidents is structural: identity was assumed based on trust signals, not proven at the moment of execution.