Every CISO I meet hears the same two commands:
"Secure the business."
"But don't slow it down."
That tension defines modern cloud security. You're expected to protect workloads you didn't build, across clouds you don't fully control—and do it all without introducing friction. Fortunately, that's exactly where Aviatrix thrives: frictionless security at the speed of business. We embed Zero Trust principles into the fabric of your network, empowering you to maintain velocity while securing your data.
The need for a Zero Trust approach that enables, rather than obstructing, business speed is only becoming clearer. Our new Aviatrix State of Cloud Network Security: 2025 report, which surveyed more than 400 IT leaders from U.S. enterprises, reveals the stark reality: while 30% of organizations adopt Zero Trust API models, nearly all fall short on truly securing east-west and inter-cloud traffic.
Most tellingly, only 8% of U.S. respondents use zero trust architectures for securing inter-cloud traffic, highlighting a massive maturity gap between strategy and execution.
In this blog, I’ll explain why the zero trust framework is critical for modern, complex cloud networks and how you can implement its principles in your organization.
What You’ll Learn:
How CISA’s Zero Trust Maturity Model Version 2.0 provides a path for organizations to strengthen cloud network security
Why zero trust is essential for cloud workload security
What our State of Cloud Network Security: 2025 report reveals about lack of east-west traffic visibility, shadow AI, and crippling network costs
How Aviatrix’s Cloud Nativity Security Fabric (CNSF) implements zero trust principles to transform cloud network security
The Zero Trust Revolution: From Awareness to Action
Zero trust has become the rallying cry of cloud security, and for good reason. The traditional perimeter-based security model has crumbled under the weight of cloud transformation, remote work, and sophisticated cyber threats. Yet while awareness far outpaces execution, organizations are struggling to translate Zero Trust principles into practical, operational reality.
The recently updated CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model Version 2.0 provides a critical roadmap for this transformation. The model now includes four maturity stages (Traditional, Initial, Advanced, and Optimal) across five distinct pillars: Identity, Devices, Networks, Applications and Workloads, and Data. This framework gives organizations a structured path forward, but the journey from theoretical understanding to practical implementation remains challenging.
Zero Trust for Workloads: The Foundation of Modern Security
At the heart of every zero trust strategy lies workload protection. CISA's updated model defines applications and workloads as "enterprise systems, computer programs, and services that execute on-premises, on mobile devices, and in cloud environments." This broad definition encompasses everything from traditional VMs to containerized microservices to serverless functions—essentially, the digital backbone of your business.
The challenge is real and growing
The threat landscape targeting workloads has never been more severe. Our industry research shows that:
23% of cloud incidents stem from misconfigurations
27% report breaches in public cloud infrastructure
80% of data breaches involve human error or misconfigurations
75% of CISOs agree east-west visibility is more important than north-south—but only 40% actually see that traffic clearly
These statistics paint a clear picture: without robust workload-level protections, organizations are essentially granting attackers free movement across their cloud environments once initial defenses are breached.
The microsegmentation imperative
Zero trust for workloads begins with microsegmentation—the practice of creating secure zones around individual workloads to prevent lateral movement. Our research shows 58% of enterprises have embraced microsegmentation extensively, but the remaining 42% are still immature or not adopting it at all. This gap represents both a significant vulnerability and an enormous opportunity. Effective workload protection requires:
Microsegmentation to isolate each workload
Identity-aware native firewalls with granular policies
Encrypted traffic channels using protocols like TLS 1.3
Continuous monitoring of workload communications
Least privilege access enforcement at the workload level
The East-West Traffic Security Crisis
One of the most overlooked aspects of zero trust implementation is east-west traffic security—the lateral communication between workloads within your infrastructure. This represents the primary attack vector for threat actors seeking to escalate privileges and access sensitive data. Our research reveals alarming gaps in this critical area:
More than half of U.S. respondents call out network traffic visibility as an area needing improvement
Only 20% leverage third-party threat intelligence feeds
52% report difficulty managing east-west traffic for cloud-native applications
The reliance on basic telemetry and fragmented tools creates dangerous blind spots. 76% lean on native cloud tools while 56% use third-party observability platforms, illustrating the operational overhead teams face when trying to maintain comprehensive visibility across multicloud environments.
Zero Trust for AI: The Next Frontier
As artificial intelligence transforms every aspect of business operations, it's also introducing new security challenges that traditional Zero Trust models weren't designed to address. AI workloads present unique risks:
Shadow AI workloads spinning up without proper governance
Sensitive data flowing between AI training environments and production systems
Dependencies on public pre-trained models without adequate security controls
High-bandwidth, low-latency communication requirements that can bypass traditional security controls
To handle AI securely, organizations need specialized zero trust architectures that provide:
Encrypted, identity-aware pathways for AI pipeline communications
Secure access to data lakes and model endpoints with granular permissions
Real-time monitoring and logging across hybrid and multicloud environments
Governance frameworks that ensure AI innovation doesn't compromise security
With Aviatrix, AI teams get the secure, high-performance networking fabric they need to innovate without compromise—because in today's world, speed only matters if it's secured.
The Implementation Reality: Bridging Theory and Practice
While most organizations understand zero trust concepts, implementation remains challenging. Two out of three respondents (67%) struggle to integrate cloud security tools effectively within their broader security stack, and 55% experience performance overhead with half citing scalability challenges.
DevOps and East-West Traffic: The Operational Challenge
Modern application architectures compound these challenges. Almost half (46%) of U.S. respondents face major challenges securing DevOps pipelines, with another 39% experiencing minor issues. The fast-paced, ephemeral nature of cloud-native applications creates security gaps that traditional tools can't address effectively.
These challenges highlight why cloud-native security shouldn't mean fractured policies. Organizations need consistent protection across IaaS and Kubernetes environments, with policies that can adapt to the dynamic nature of modern workloads.
The Cost of Complexity
Security complexity is a financial challenge as well as an operational one. Our research shows:
63% of U.S. respondents faced unexpected firewall costs in the past year
69% were on the hook for more than $50,000 in unexpected costs and 35% for more than $100,000
These cost overruns occur despite 94% of respondents rating their forecasting accuracy as good or very good, suggesting hidden complexities in cloud security implementations that organizations don't fully understand until deployment.
CISA's Updated Framework: A Practical Roadmap
The updated CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model adds an additional maturity stage—"Initial"—alongside traditional, advanced, and optimal, providing organizations with more granular guidance for their zero trust journey. Key updates in Version 2.0 include:
Applications and Workloads Pillar Enhancements: New focus on Secure Application Development and Deployment Workflow and criteria for moving towards immutable workloads
Emphasis on Automation: At every stage of maturity, including initial, automated processes and systems are mentioned as criteria for meeting maturity goals
Cross-Cutting Capabilities: Enhanced focus on Visibility and Analytics, Automation and Orchestration, and Governance across all pillars
This structured approach gives organizations a clear progression path, but success depends on having the right architectural foundation to support these capabilities.
Aviatrix Cloud Native Security Fabric: Zero Trust at Business Speed
The Aviatrix Cloud Native Security Fabric (CNSF) represents a fundamental shift in how we approach cloud security. Unlike traditional security approaches that bolt-on controls at network chokepoints, CNSF is woven directly into the cloud infrastructure fabric, providing in-line Zero Trust policy enforcement everywhere workloads communicate. This architectural difference is what makes true Zero Trust possible at cloud scale.
What makes CNSF different
CNSF doesn't replace existing security tools. Instead, it activates and extends them by embedding enforcement directly into the cloud fabric—making security investments more powerful where they currently can't reach. Think of it as the connective tissue that translates security insights into immediate action. CNSF represents zero trust for the spaces between workloads.
While traditional zero trust focused on "who" (identity) and "what" (endpoints), CNSF completes the model by addressing "how"—the communication pathways that connect everything together.
Core CNSF Capabilities
1. Embedded, Identity-Aware Security
Dynamic workload identity: Every workload-to-workload connection can be authenticated and authorized based on workload identity—whether it's a traditional IaaS virtual machine, a Kubernetes pod leveraging cloud-native constructs like tags and namespaces, or containerized applications
SmartGroups segmentation: Aviatrix uses its SmartGroups feature to segment networks and enforce security policies, blocking threat actors from moving laterally or escalating privileges to gain persistent access
Zero trust by default: All communication can be denied unless explicitly allowed by policy. There's no concept of "trusted internal" traffic—every connection must be verified.
2. High-Performance Encryption (HPE)
Patented parallel processing: Aviatrix has built a patented technology that creates multiple IPSec tunnels between two Aviatrix Gateways and aligns each tunnel to a unique CPU core on each machine, giving you the full IPSec performance that an x86 machine can really offer
100 Gbps performance: High Performance Encryption (HPE), a patented solution that secures data while providing performance of up to 100 Gbps
Network-wide protection: Unlike MACSec which exposes data at every router hop, HPE provides true network encryption
3. Real-Time Policy Enforcement
In-line inspection and control: CNSF operates in the data path, not as a sidecar, ensuring every packet is inspected and controlled
Egress filtering: If a bad actor uses AI to infiltrate a system, Aviatrix's egress filtering prevents them from smuggling data out
Anomaly detection: Built-in capabilities to detect and respond to unusual traffic patterns in real-time
AI-ready security architecture
As AI workloads become increasingly critical, CNSF provides specialized protections:
Secure AI data pipelines: CNSF can help agentic AI collect and secure sensitive data through High Performance Encryption (HPE), which closes security gaps around data collection for AI agents without compromising security
ML infrastructure protection: Secure connectivity and visibility for AI model access with anomaly detection to prevent data theft
Command and control prevention: Solutions like Aviatrix's Cloud Native Security Fabric provide the infrastructure foundation to prevent data exfiltration by controlling exactly how and where AI workloads can communicate
Operational excellence
Unified control plane across security, networking, and DevOps teams
Flat-rate licensing that eliminates unpredictable cloud firewall costs
Cloud-native automation that adapts policies as workloads scale and move
ACE training programs to rapidly upskill your existing staff
The CNSF Advantage: Real-World Impact
Unlike traditional security solutions that struggle with cloud-native AI deployments and dynamic workloads, CNSF provides the granular control and visibility needed to secure modern applications without impeding functionality. This represents a maturation of security strategies—moving beyond hoping that application-level controls will be sufficient to implementing foundational network protections.
Consider a real-world scenario: What would have happened if MGM had implemented CNSF during their devastating ransomware attack? When attackers attempted to pivot from the cloud identity plane to the on-premise infrastructure management network, CNSF would have sat in the data path, enforcing zero trust policy in real-time. The connection attempt—despite using valid credentials—wouldn't match any allow rule. The fabric would block it instantly, log the attempt, and alert security teams to the anomalous activity. The attack would stop at the network layer, preventing the systemic disaster that cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.
This network-centric approach to zero trust security represents the fundamental shift our industry needs. By enforcing a default-deny posture for all workload-to-workload communication, CNSF neutralizes threats at the point of entry, dramatically reducing potential damage and destroying the attacker's return on investment.
Platform and ecosystem approach
Aviatrix is building CNSF as both a platform and an ecosystem. Rather than creating another security silo, CNSF serves as the essential connective tissue that makes existing security investments more powerful. It allows tools like Wiz to convert posture findings into runtime enforcement, creating a unified security fabric that operates at cloud speed.
The Path Forward: Practical Zero Trust Implementation
Zero trust for workloads isn't a destination—it's a journey that requires the right architectural foundation, clear implementation roadmap, and operational discipline. Based on CISA's updated guidance and our industry research, organizations should focus on:
Start with Workload Visibility: You can't protect what you can't see. Implement comprehensive east-west traffic monitoring across all environments.
Implement Progressive Microsegmentation: Begin with critical workloads and expand coverage systematically.
Automate Policy Enforcement: Manual processes don't scale. Build automation into your security architecture from day one.
Plan for AI Workloads: Future-proof your zero trust implementation with AI-ready networking and security controls.
Measure and Optimize: Use CISA's maturity model to benchmark progress and identify improvement opportunities.
Conclusion: Zero Trust 2.0 as a Business Enabler
As a CISO, your mandate is clear: secure the business—but keep it moving.
Security that bottlenecks innovation is still a risk. Security you can't see or protect—provides zero protection. The threats are real, the complexity is increasing, and the traditional approaches aren't sufficient for today's cloud-native, AI-driven world. Aviatrix brings zero trust to workloads, AI, east-west traffic, and multicloud environments—frictionlessly, transparently, and effectively. We eliminate the traditional trade-offs between security and performance, between compliance and innovation, between protection and speed.
With proven results across hundreds of enterprise customers, comprehensive training programs, and a platform designed specifically for cloud-scale operations, Aviatrix helps organizations close the zero trust implementation gap once and for all.
Ready to secure at business speed?
Request your Aviatrix demo today and discover how zero trust for workloads can accelerate rather than hinder your digital transformation.
Download the full State of Cloud Network Security: 2025 report to learn more about network security trends.
Discover Aviatrix’s Cloud Native Security Fabric provides the missing control layer for cloud workload security.
