a comprehensive survey on zero trust architecture for securing modern enterprise networks

The increasing sophistication of cyber threats and the widespread adoption of cloud-based and distributed enterprise networks have rendered traditional perimeter-based security models ineffective. these legacy approaches rely on implicit trust within internal networks, making them vulnerable to insider threats and lateral movement attacks. zero trust architecture (zta) has been introduced as a modern security paradigm that eliminates implicit trust by enforcing continuous verification and strict access control across network resources. this paper presents a comprehensive survey of zero trust architecture with a particular emphasis on its application to enterprise network security. existing zero trust reference models, including standard and industry-driven architectures, are systematically reviewed and analyzed. the survey further examines key enabling technologies such as identity and access management, micro-segmentation, and continuous network monitoring, highlighting their roles in implementing zero trust principles at the network level. in addition, this study discusses the effectiveness of zero trust in mitigating major network-based threats and outlines open challenges and future research directions to support its practical deployment in real-world enterprise environments.