Why Network Detection & Response is a Key Component of Zero Trust Architecture

Zero Trust is a straightforward concept: never trust, always verify. With the June 2025 release of NIST SP 1800-35 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Zero Trust is back in the cybersecurity spotlight. But now the focus has shifted from the what of Zero Trust to the how of building a Zero Trust Architecture.

Understanding Zero Trust Architecture

A Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) assumes that threats can originate from anywhere—not just from outside the network perimeter, but also from the inside. This means that every access request is untrusted and must be continuously authenticated and authorized based on real-time context, such as user identity, device health, and observed network behavior. The goal is to minimize risk by enforcing least-privilege, which restricts access so that users and systems are granted only the permissions they need for a specific task.

The newly released NIST publication is notable because it serves as a practical guide that demonstrates how to build a ZTA using commercially available technologies. A core theme of the new guidance is the transition from static, perimeter-based security to a dynamic model of continuous verification. By providing network-level visibility, continuous monitoring, advanced threat detection, and the intelligence to facilitate rapid response, network detection and response (NDR) platforms like CYBERSPAN® directly support several of the key objectives outlined by NIST for building and maintaining an effective ZTA.

Network Visibility and Continuous Monitoring

Since threats can originate from within the network, Zero Trust requires full network visibility to effectively scan for signs of compromise that have bypassed network access controls or that come from insider threats. CYBERSPAN® provides the comprehensive network visibility and continuous monitoring that is essential for a ZTA by acting as a single, agentless sensor on the network. It connects to a network switch via a SPAN or mirror port to collect and analyze metadata from all traffic that passes through it.

This approach tackles a fundamental challenge outlined by NIST: many organizations lack a full inventory of assets and networked resources. By observing all network flows, CYBERSPAN® discovers and identifies every active asset—including unmanaged devices and shadow IT—to provide the end-to-end, real-time inventory necessary to maintain accurate asset visibility and reduce blind spots across the network.

Using behavioral analytics and machine learning, CYBERSPAN® establishes a baseline of network behavior by learning what normal communication patterns look like and then continuously monitoring for deviations. The network telemetry it gathers also serves as an authoritative and immutable record of all activity, which allows organizations to audit and validate that access policies are being enforced correctly.

Threat Detection and Anomaly Identification

NIST SP 1800-35 stresses that organizations must be prepared to detect threats that evade or bypass preventive controls. CYBERSPAN®’s AI-driven engine is trained to detect a wide range of threats, from overt attacks like ransomware and data exfiltration to more subtle indicators of compromise such as port knocking, proxy misuse, and command-and-control communications.

This includes threats that originate from inside the network itself. Whether it’s a malicious insider or an external attacker who has already gained a foothold, detecting lateral movement—or “east-west traffic”—is critical. CYBERSPAN®’s continuous analysis of all network flows identifies the tell-tale signs of lateral movement that traditional perimeter defenses would miss.

Beyond basic detection, CYBERSPAN®’s integration with the MITRE ATT&CK® framework provides context and actionability. When it detects an anomaly, CYBERSPAN® maps the activity to specific malicious tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). By analyzing these TTPs in real time, CYBERSPAN® predicts likely next steps in an attack sequence, giving security teams the early warning they need to prioritize defensive actions and stay ahead of evolving threats. Additionally, CYBERSPAN® incorporates other external threat intelligence, such as IP geolocation data and known malicious IP addresses, which further enriches detections with real-world context.

Rapid Response and Incident Containment

Following the detection and contextualization of threats, a ZTA demands rapid response and containment to limit the impact of a breach. As NIST guidance emphasizes, detection must be paired with the ability to act on those signals to quarantine compromised elements and remediate incidents before they spread.

While it is not an inline blocking tool, CYBERSPAN® provides the actionable intelligence needed to drive containment and remediation. When CYBERSPAN® identifies a threat and maps it to a specific MITRE ATT&CK® TTP, its “Mitigations” tab provides immediate, concrete recommendations. This includes direct links to the ATT&CK framework’s own mitigation strategies and even provides suggested Snort-formatted firewall rules that security teams can implement to block malicious traffic.

Furthermore, CYBERSPAN® acts as a force multiplier for an organization’s existing security stack. A significant hurdle identified in the NIST SP 1800-35 lab implementations was the difficulty in integrating disparate security tools. CYBERSPAN® is designed to overcome this challenge through a robust, API-driven framework and support for standard formats like STIX and JSON. These capabilities allow CYBERSPAN® to seamlessly share its network intelligence with the broader security ecosystem, including Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), and Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) platforms. This integration enables CYBERSPAN® alerts to trigger automated response playbooks and bridges the gap between network activity and identity-based access decisions—a core principle of Zero Trust.

Finally, to support deep forensic analysis and full remediation, CYBERSPAN® provides unmatched data provenance. Security analysts can drill down from a high-level event into the specific evidence and individual network connections that triggered an alert. Users can download the raw packet capture (PCAP) traffic associated with any event or connection to see the forensic data needed to fully scope an incident and eradicate the threat.

The CYBERSPAN® Advantage

An effective NDR solution provides the foundational pillars of visibility, detection, and response that are essential for a successful ZTA. The final piece is understanding how a well-designed NDR platform like CYBERSPAN® makes the implementation of ZTA an achievable goal for organizations of any size.

In addition to the tool integration capabilities that substantially reduce operational complexity, CYBERSPAN®’s agentless architecture dramatically simplifies deployment and reduces the maintenance burden. By eliminating the need for endpoint agents, CYBERSPAN®’s enterprise-grade network security is accessible for organizations with limited IT resources

CYBERSPAN® also resolves the practical challenges of ZTA adoption. NIST SP 1800-35 highlights the need for Zero Trust solutions to work across diverse environments, and CYBERSPAN’s flexible deployment options—as a physical appliance, an on-premises virtual machine, or in a private cloud—allow it to adapt to any infrastructure without disrupting existing systems.

Furthermore, CYBERSPAN® addresses a major concern for many organizations: data privacy. By performing all of its analysis locally on the deployed sensor, CYBERSPAN® ensures that sensitive network traffic data never leaves the customer’s environment. This privacy-by-design approach aligns with ZTA’s focus on minimizing data exposure while providing robust security.

Implementing a ZTA is a journey of continuous improvement, not a one-time project. NIST’s guidance acknowledges this, recommending that organizations start with their existing capabilities and build incrementally. CYBERSPAN® is engineered to be a cornerstone of this journey, providing the critical NDR capabilities that enable organizations to mature their security posture over time.