ZERO TRUST ARCHITECTURES IN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF IMPLEMENTING IDENTITY-BASED ACCESS CONTROL WITH CISCO ISE

Abstract

The purpose of this case study is the implementation of IBAC using Cisco ISE as a financial organization to enhance the security posture based on Zero Trust Architecture. The current research quantified the impact that Cisco ISE has on the security incidents of the users and their compliance towards the network security, along with the network's performance. Stratified random sampling was used, and data from 100 respondents were collected by conducting a six-month pretest-posttest study. Metrics Assessed The analysis examines critical measurements: unauthorized accesses, insider threat, third party breaches, rate of user compliance, and even system performance, which is presented as the velocity of authentication plus the network latency. There were marked decreases of security incidents reported; unauthorized accesses went down 66.7%, insider threat 66.7%, while third party breach was 62.5%, and these improvements were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The rates of user compliance increased by 50%, 37.7% increase in awareness of policies, and an 80% improvement in attendance to training sessions. System performance also remained sound, with 16.7% improvement in authentication speed, 0.9% in system uptime, and a small, statistically insignificant increase in network latency. The findings indicate that Cisco ISE effectively reduces security incidents, enhances user compliance, and maintains or improves system performance, thus reinforcing the value of Zero Trust principles in strengthening cybersecurity within financial institutions.