Distributed Identity for Zero Trust and Segmented Access Control: A Novel Approach to Securing Network Infrastructure

Distributed Identity is the transition from centralized identity with Decentralized Identifiers (DID) and Verifiable Credentials (VC) for secure and privacy positive authentications. With distributed identity, identity data is brought back under the control of the user, freeing them from the single point of failure presented by credentials, and hence preventing credential-based attacks. In this study, some security improvement to the Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) with use of the distributed identity were be evaluated, especially on migrations laterally within segmented networks. Furthermore, it discusses the implementation specification of the framework, the benefits and disadvantages of the method to organizations, and the compatibility and generalizability issues. Moreover, the study also considers privacy and regulatory issues like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Data Privacy Act (CCPA) along with possible solutions. However, the study indicates that distributed identities can give an order of magnitude improvement to overall security posture through contextual and least privileged authorization as well as user privacy. Results show that by integrating distributed identity into ZTA, unauthorized lateral movement is reduced approximately 65%, authentication security is increased 78 percent relative to traditional, and it is not possible for a credential to be compromised through a phishing attack more than 80 percent of the time. Also, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Data Privacy Act (CCPA) compliance are bolstered because of increased user identity data control. It identifies privacy and regulatory compliance problems and looks at solutions of these problems. The findings indicate that a great improvement in overall security posture can be had by incorporating distributed identities and promoting contextual and least-privilege authorization while protecting user privacy. The research suggests that technical standards need to be refined, distributed identity needs to be expanded into practice, and that it be discussed as an application to the current digital security landscape.