6 Strategies to Help Bridge Your Zero-Trust Security Gaps

August 31, 2025

Article
9 min

6 Strategies to Help Bridge Your Zero-Trust Security Gaps

This blog unpacks the key challenges Canadian organizations face in operationalizing zero trust and provides six actionable strategies to bridge gaps in adoption alongside how CDW Canada’s can help streamline zero-trust security implementation.

CDW Expert CDW Expert
What's Inside
Canada Cybersecurity Trends 2025

Security benefits such as improved access control and sensitive data protection are key reasons why Canadian organizations are adoptng zero-trust strategies. However, a large proportion of adopters continue to find implementing zero trust a challenge.

As per CDW’s 2025 Canadian Cybersecurity Study, 63 percent of Canadian organizations struggle to translate high-level zero-trust strategies into actionable technical requirements.

Even after conducting zero-trust maturity assessments, 37 percent of organizations have found the resulting reports impractical or too abstract to guide action.

These gaps between strategy and execution of the zero-trust approach can undermine its efficacy and often leave organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks.

In this blog, we bring key insights from our CDW Canada security experts Nyron Samaroo, Principal Field Solutions Architect – Security and Courtney Larmand, Team Lead – Risk Advisory Sales. They break down the key reasons behind lagging zero-trust implementation in Canada and offer effective ways that organizations can bridge security gaps. 

Access the full 2025 Canadian Cybersecurity Study →

Why do organizations struggle to operationalize zero trust?

Zero trust operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify” which means all requests  to access data in an organization must be validated.

To enable this, organizations need to rethink how their current systems handle requests, which is where the challenge begins.

As Samaroo points out, “Zero trust could be overwhelming for organizations as it doesn’t have an end objective. It’s a constantly evolving change to how a company operates, implements technology and manages security.”

The Canadian Cybersecurity Study highlights the following zero-trust adoption concerns faced by organizations.

  • 57.9 percent of respondents say there’s a lack of centralized identity and access management (IAM) infrastructure
  • 49 percent of respondents cite incompatibility between legacy systems and zero-trust components
  • 48.7 percent of respondents report the cost of implementing new (zero-trust) technologies to be high

These concerns need a tailored approach that takes the current IT landscape into account while also suggesting a structured implementation roadmap. In the absence of targeted guidance, organizations may experience limited visibility into their infrastructure and operating practices. This leads to unintended consequences to applications and business processes when an unstructured approach is taken to adopt zero trust.

6 strategies that help IT teams bridge zero-trust gaps

From meeting architectural needs to leveraging IAM solutions, here are six strategies designed to help organizations close zero-trust gaps.

1. Conduct a risk and architectural audit

The first step is to identify and isolate implicit trust – an approach that assumes all assets within a security perimeter are trustable. Implicit trust can be risky and may be built into the IT architecture itself, which requires careful inspection.

Organizations can audit their assets to understand which ones need to be configured with zero-trust security. This will also reveal the overall risk the current architecture contains.

For instance, if a critical asset like a customer data platform (CDP) doesn’t have secure multifactor authentication as part of an IAM solution for proper user validation and access controls, it could potentially lead to a breach should the credentials be compromised.

Once you have a list of assets that need attention and it’s determined how they fit into the zero-trust architecture, an implementation plan can be constructed, starting with the most critical and sensitive assets.

“Look at zero trust from an architecture and risk perspective. What are the high-risk areas? Is the current architecture conducive to zero trust? Do we need to modify it as a first step to adopt a zero-trust model? And then go from there,” Samaroo suggested.

This initial audit can help streamline the adoption of zero trust by identifying the current maturity level. It can help IT teams understand the starting point of their zero-trust journey and what key improvements are required to get to the next maturity level.  

“To be able to develop that clear implementation roadmap, we have to take a step back and actually understand the client's current environment and where the gaps really lie in zero trust,” Larmand added.

2. Conduct system compatibility assessments

As per the Canadian Cybersecurity Study, 36.6 percent of organizations indicate that they are unclear on vendor capabilities and fit for their specific zero trust needs. This disconnect can delay decisions and often cause uncertainty when selecting vendor offerings.

When legacy systems are to be modernized, they often present significant barriers to zero-trust implementation. These systems may not be compatible with modern security approaches, causing friction and delays in the adoption process.

Conducting a compatibility assessment helps identify which systems require modification, replacement or special compensating controls to integrate them with zero-trust policies.

Organizations should also work closely with vendors to understand how existing technologies can be adapted to support zero-trust principles. This proactive approach will prevent delays in implementation and ensure smoother integration.

3. Create data and application classification

“I think the main hardship that organizations face is data classification. A lot of organizations may not fully know what data they have,” Larmand commented. “They may not have a formal inventory or a classification policy or a mechanism to label their data.”

A lack of data classification can lead to reduced visibility into how organizational data is being accessed. The access to important data types, such as financial data, may not have as stringent controls as expected, which can lead to vulnerabilities.

Therefore, it’s important to create a holistic view of data and application resources that users actively engage with. Once an organization has an idea of how their data is stored and accessed, they can implement a role-based access strategy (RBAC).

How RBAC helps strengthen access controls

RBAC is a method of managing user permissions based on roles within an organization. Instead of granting access to resources on an individual basis, RBAC assigns users to roles and each role is associated with specific access rights to systems, applications and data.

RBAC plays a key role in enforcing zero trust by ensuring that users only have access to the data and systems they need to perform their duties. By using RBAC, IT administrators can ensure that the following zero-trust principles are enforced:

  • Enable fine-grained access control for roles that go beyond simple user-based controls
  • Implement the principle of least privilege by limiting access to only the required resources
  • Facilitate access decisions that take context into account (e.g., location, time, device, user behaviour)

4. Leverage IAM solutions

The Canadian Cybersecurity Study reports that a lack of IAM infrastructure often becomes a challenge in zero-trust implementation. It prevents IT administrators from gaining a single view of how access and permissions to resources are configured across the organization.

Identity and access management (IAM) systems, therefore, are at the core of a zero-trust strategy. To implement zero trust effectively, organizations must deploy adaptive IAM controls that provide granular, context-aware access to data, applications and networks.

By using IAM solutions, organizations can ensure that only authenticated and authorized users gain access to sensitive resources based on their role in the organization, minimizing the risk of insider threats and unauthorized access.

5. Develop a clear implementation roadmap

A well-defined roadmap is essential to operationalizing zero trust. This roadmap should convert zero-trust strategies into actionable steps, with clear responsibilities assigned to relevant teams.

By creating short, medium and long-term milestones, security teams can take incremental actions that will collectively lead to the full realization of zero-trust principles.

A roadmap also helps manage the complex nature of zero-trust adoption, breaking down the work into digestible, manageable projects and allowing teams to track progress against defined objectives.

One key aspect of building a roadmap is understanding current implementation maturity. A quick assessment of how an organization is using its security investments can help identify underused assets, misconfigurations and actual purchase needs.

“Many times, the expectation is that zero trust may cost a company additional funds in acquiring new technology. However, they can conduct a review of their existing stack to see if they're using it efficiently, which can contribute to the road mapping exercise,” Samaroo noted.

6. Upskill security teams around collaboration and zero-trust practices

A key point that Nyron Samaroo emphasizes in adopting zero trust is the necessity of collaboration across various teams within the organization. He explains, “It’s a collaborative effort between the application owners, the network team, the monitoring and operations team, the security team and risk and compliance.”

Zero trust cannot be successfully implemented by security teams alone; it requires cross-functional cooperation. Different departments must work together to ensure that access policies are aligned, the right technologies are in place and organizational processes support a unified security posture.

Additionally, many organizations may struggle with a lack of expertise around zero-trust enforcement mechanisms such as microsegmentation, continuous authentication, etc.

Therefore, upskilling should cover both the theoretical principles of zero trust as well as practical enforcement techniques. This way organizations can ensure their zero-trust implementation is smooth, consistent and harmonious.

How CDW helps you streamline your zero-trust security design

CDW Canada can help you streamline your zero-trust security design by combining expert cybersecurity services, risk advisory guidance and advanced technology partnerships.

Our cybersecurity services include security assessments, program implementations, incident response planning and business continuity strategies. These are aimed at enhancing your organization's security posture.

Additionally, our Risk Advisory Services team helps assess your current security landscape, develop tailored zero-trust strategies and ensure ongoing implementation success.

Leveraging partnerships with leading technology partners, CDW provides cutting-edge solutions such as secure access service edge (SASE), identity and access management (IAM) and extended detection and response (XDR) to support zero-trust frameworks.

This integration of expert advice and leading technologies ensures a comprehensive, scalable and effective zero-trust implementation tailored to your unique needs.