Security Forem

Sunny Sinha
Sunny Sinha

Posted on

Why Zero Trust Is Failing Without Identity Governance

Why Zero Trust Is Failing Without Identity Governance

Zero Trust is everywhere.

Every security vendor talks about it.
Every roadmap promises it.
Every organization claims to be "on the Zero Trust journey."
And yet breaches keep happening.

  • Credentials get abused.
  • Apps get compromised.
  • Admin access goes unnoticed.
  • Shadow SaaS spreads quietly.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

Zero Trust is failing not because the idea is wrong, but because identity governance is missing.

What Zero Trust Got Right

Zero Trust fundamentally changed security thinking.
Instead of trusting networks, it focuses on:

  • Verifying identity
  • Authenticating continuously
  • Applying least privilege
  • Eliminating implicit trust

Conceptually, it's sound. But implementation is where things fall apart.

The Big Lie: "We Have Zero Trust Because We Have MFA"

Many organizations believe Zero Trust =
 ✔ SSO
 ✔ MFA
 ✔ Conditional access

That's not Zero Trust.
That's Zero Visibility.

MFA only proves someone authenticated.

  • It does not prove:
  • The app should exist
  • The access is still valid
  • The user should still have admin rights
  • The token hasn't been abused
  • The OAuth grant isn't excessive
  • The app is owned by anyone

Zero Trust verifies who you are- but ignores what you're accessing.
And that's the gap attackers exploit.

Identity Is Verified But Access Is Never Governed

Here's what modern IAM setups usually protect well:

  • Login
  • Authentication
  • Session creation

Here's what they rarely govern well:

  • SaaS sprawl
  • App ownership
  • Admin privileges
  • OAuth permissions
  • Non-human identities
  • Dormant accounts
  • Shadow integrations

Zero Trust assumes access decisions are clean.

In reality, access decisions are often based on:

  • Outdated roles
  • Forgotten permissions
  • Stale group memberships
  • Apps no one owns anymore

That's not Zero Trust.That's Zero Accountability.

Why Identity Governance Is the Missing Layer

Zero Trust answers:
"Should this identity be allowed right now?"

Identity Governance answers:
"Should this access exist at all?"

Without governance:

  • Least privilege can't be enforced long-term
  • Continuous verification becomes meaningless
  • Admin roles accumulate silently
  • SaaS environments become impossible to reason about
  • Audits become painful
  • Security teams chase ghosts

Governance gives Zero Trust memory, context, and accountability.

SaaS Broke the Zero Trust Model

Zero Trust was originally designed around:

  • Networks
  • Devices
  • Known applications

Modern enterprises run on:

  • Hundreds of SaaS apps
  • OAuth-based integrations
  • APIs and tokens
  • Bots and AI agents
  • App-specific admin models

Most of this lives outside traditional IAM visibility.
You can't apply Zero Trust to systems you can't see.

The New Reality: Zero Trust + Identity Governance

The future security model looks like this:

  1. Authentication (IAM)
  • Who are you?
  • Are you verified?
  • Is your session trustworthy?
  1. Identity Governance 
  • Should you still have this access?
  • Who approved it?
  • Who owns the app?
  • Is it still required?
  1. Continuous Enforcement
  • Detect drift.
  • Remove excess.
  • Revoke stale access.
  • Flag anomalies.

Without step 2, Zero Trust collapses under its own assumptions.

Why This Matters Right Now

  • Organizations adopting:
  • AI tools
  • Automation
  • SaaS integrations
  • Remote work
  • Third-party access

Are creating more identities, more access paths, and more risk than ever before.
Zero Trust alone cannot scale to this reality.
Identity governance is no longer optional.It's foundational.

Final Thought 

Zero Trust didn't fail.
Incomplete Zero Trust failed.
Security teams focused on authentication and forgot about ownership, lifecycle, and governance.

Until identity governance becomes a first-class security control,
Zero Trust will remain a promise not a protection.

Top comments (0)