Building the next generation of zero trust with Sentima

Cybersecurity remains one of the biggest challenges facing businesses today. The latest IBM Data Breach Report revealed that 83% of organizations experienced more than one data breach during 2022. Over the years, the methods used by hackers and other malicious actors have evolved rapidly. At the same time, organizations are tasked with protecting increasingly complex architectures including cloud and edge computing. The jump in working from home also stretches the ability of security teams to repel attacks.

In response, organizations have added layers of security technologies from the earliest monolithic firewalls to today’s segmented networks that protect systems from user devices to datacenters. However, these new fragmented processes risk leaving entry points that put an IT infrastructure at risk.  

This is where Sentima comes in. Sentima's Zero Trust approach traces its roots to Google's BeyondCorp initiative, which started in 2011, and is founded on the premise that nothing can be trusted, and everything must be validated and attested. This means we consider the context of every movement, device, user, and data point to create a more robust security framework.

This proactive method not only helps prevent breaches but also significantly reduces cybersecurity costs by outperforming and replacing traditional tools. As pioneers in our field, we also meet the guidelines set out by the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model which are important for any organization that takes federal funding or does business with federal organizations. Sentima continuously measures the workloads and nodes in your infrastructure to provide highly secure, ephemeral credentials that are used both for securing connections and individual requests. 

Sentima secures digital transactions in three ways. The first establishes a Zero Trust between service-to-service, user-to-service, and service-to-databases through SPIFFE/SPIRE, eliminating service accounts and passwords and preventing breaches. The second phase creates a proprietary chain of custody through cryptographic attested claims, restricting unwanted movements and mitigating the need for Firewalls, VPNs (Virtual Private Network), SIEM (Security information and event management), and XDR (extended detection and response tools. The third phase incorporates context awareness, adding the who, why, what, and when of a digital transaction, transitioning to modern access controls that prevent cybersecurity risks by making decisions based on the health of an end-to-end system.

Stepping up to the cloud

As an early stage company, we selected Google Cloud as a partner and platform upon which we built our company. But when it came to security expertise and advanced technology, Google Cloud stood out for several reasons.

Scalable infrastructure: Google Cloud provides a highly scalable infrastructure that can support Sentima's growth and expansion. The platform offers integration and deployment of Sentima's cybersecurity solution, enabling scaling of resources as needed.

Trust with the retail sector and our wider customer base: Our customers in retail and healthcare trust Google Cloud.

Advanced security features: By partnering with Google Cloud, we can leverage Google Cloud's extensive security expertise and infrastructure to further enhance our platform's capabilities. In addition, Google Cloud’s built-in security tools including Cloud Key Management, Confidential Computing, and Assured Open Source Software complement Sentima's converged security controls, providing a solution for clients.

Machine learning integration: Google Cloud’s suite of AI and machine learning tools, such as TensorFlow and Vertex AI Platform, enable us to integrate machine learning algorithms more efficiently with our platform. These tools improve classification, prediction, interpretation, and generation capabilities, allowing for better anticipation of user needs and enhanced security abstraction.

Generative AI: Google Cloud generative AI can be used to create dynamic policies by analyzing contextual data, identifying patterns, and generating predictions to inform access control decisions. This enables the creation of intelligent access control systems that can adjust to changes in context, reduce false positives and negatives, proactively detect threats, and continuously learn and improve.

Zero Trust security for cloud-focused architecture: The Google Cloud BeyondCorp Enterprise provides secure access to applications and resources and offers integrated threat and data protection when paired with Google Chrome. BeyondCorp Enterprise and Sentima work together to enable our customers to secure access to their systems and data.

Data-driven insights: Google Cloud big data and analytics services, such as BigQuery and Dataflow, can help Sentima process and analyze large volumes of data in real-time. This enables us to provide more accurate contextual awareness and dynamic policy adjustments.

Wide range of integration possibilities: Google Cloud's extensive range of APIs and services support seamless integration with various systems, tools, and applications. This enables Sentima to integrate our technology and augment the impact of other security tools used to protect enterprises.

Massive value for lean startups

Google Cloud was also the most cost-effective option to build Sentima uponWe took advantage of Google for Startups Cloud Program which gave us the opportunity to explore the platform and select products that allowed our growth and ability to scale globally. Through this program, we discovered Compute Engine to run virtual machines on Google Cloud, Google Kubernetes Engine as our implementation of the Kubernetes platform, Looker for data analysis, and Cloud Storage for unstructured data.

We’re excited about the potential about our current partnership and what the future holds. Like Google, we believe a zero trust approach to securing systems and data is essential for organizations to defend against the threats they face. With Google Cloud as our long-term partner, we can help our customers become more secure, efficient, and, above all, competitive.

If you want to learn more about how Google Cloud can help your startup, visit our page here to get more information about our program, and sign up for our communications to get a look at our community activities, digital events, special offers, and more.