Ne-Trust: Negative Trust Architectures

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[Ne-Trust] Negative Trust Architectures

IT systems face an increasing threat from insiders - individuals who often move through systems undetected, exploring IT infrastructure and causing damage. The growing awareness of this attack vector is further amplified by the use of artificial intelligence (AI). These current and future challenges also extend to the realms of public administration, defense, and security agencies. To be prepared for such threat scenarios, IT security paradigms are of critical importance: they shape the fundamental ways in which IT systems are designed, operated, and protected. "Zero Trust" is the most well-established example; however, as a countermeasure against insider threats, this approach has its limitations. Key foundational documents, such as the NIST SP 800-207 guideline, point to remaining gaps and areas that require further research. Against this backdrop, there is a need to explore an advanced, novel paradigm for more effectively defending against insiders. The goal of "Ne-Trust" is to enable demonstrably better detection and more proactive defense against the evolving and increasingly complex insider threats to IT systems, thereby advancing beyond the Zero Trust model. The program is built upon the innovative concept of "Negative Trust" - a term related to Zero Trust, yet one that can also function as an independent designation for a distinct paradigm. While initial attempts to define "Negative Trust" have been made - for instance, in the context of deception technology - a comprehensive scientific and interdisciplinary examination of the term, aimed at establishing it as a standalone, evolved IT security paradigm, has yet to be conducted. Ne-Trust addresses precisely this gap, creating an opportunity for the first-ever scientific exploration and development of "negative-trust" architectures. In doing so, the Cyber Agency opens the door to novel and disruptive research perspectives, providing early impetus for the cybersecurity paradigms and IT security architectures of the future - and beyond. This forward-looking vision - along with the potential for a quantum leap in the defensive capabilities of IT systems and the comprehensive examination of conceptual, technological, social, and legal issues - underscores both the ambitious and the high-risk nature of this research program.