In this systematic literature review, the researchers examine the security benefits of adopting a Zero Trust Security (ZTS) model in remote work settings, as well as the implementation challenges associated with transitioning to a ZTS approach. More organizations are transforming their traditional office operations into employee remote access to the Internet and cloud services; hence, if an organization does not use a ZTS approach, they are at a much greater risk of cyber-attack from within and without due to the complete dismantlement of the network perimeter and the inability of legacy security models based on trust to effectively protect against those attacks. To analyze the literature, the researchers used the PRISMA methodology to identify and refine 1,350 documents from scholarly literature published between the years of 2021 and 2025, resulting in a total of 20 peer-reviewed articles. The findings of the review indicate that ZTS provides a significant improvement to the overall security posture of an organization through continuous and context-based authentication, micro-segmentation, and policy management based on least privilege, which will ultimately limit lateral movement and increase the ability to detect threats. However, the review identified several roadblocks to the successful implementation of ZTS: user resistance resulting from authentication fatigue, integration issues with legacy systems, alert fatigue among security staff, and employee privacy concerns. In summary, the review concludes that the successful implementation of a ZTS model will require organizations to find the balance between the stringent security controls required to support the ZTS approach with a positive user experience. Approaches to support a successful and sustainable implementation of ZTS while maintaining the productivity level of the workforce include risk-based authentication, artificial intelligence-driven contextual analytics, and clear communication strategies.
Ramirez et al. (2026) studied this question.