In recent years, “zero trust” has moved out of the realm of buzzwords to claim a permanent spot within modern information security. Since our 2020 report, several market factors drove a surge in zero trust security initiatives. Last year, the scope, scale, and perception of remote work each went through a massive shift. Now, 82% of company leaders plan to allow employees to work remotely at least part of the time after the pandemic, and 47% will allow them to permanently work from home full-time. 

At the same time, identity-based attacks skyrocketed last year2. Almost 90% of web application breaches were caused by credential abuse and phishing was present in more than a third of all breaches — up from 25% last year3. Gaps in identity protection also introduce risks like the ransomware attacks that recently shut down schools and hospitals and affected the availability of fuel and food in the United States.