Using Deterministic Testing to Validate Zero Trust Architectures

Toronto, Canada - September 18, 2025

Why deterministic models are essential to verify Zero Trust security

Zero Trust has become a cornerstone of modern enterprise security strategies. It promises to stop lateral movement by eliminating implicit trust and enforcing continuous verification. However, many organizations deploy Zero Trust controls without verifying whether they actually block real attack paths. SEAS and CypSec use deterministic penetration testing to close this gap.

Conventional penetration tests can confirm individual vulnerabilities but cannot show whether the overall trust architecture works as designed. Deterministic testing approaches this differently: it models the entire network as a graph of nodes and trust relationships, then mathematically calculates every possible path from an initial foothold to critical assets.

This enables direct validation of Zero Trust designs. If any path exists that bypasses authentication boundaries, exploits shared credentials, or leverages residual trust, deterministic analysis will find it. This moves Zero Trust from a conceptual posture to a measurable security property.

SEAS often identifies residual trust paths that survive Zero Trust rollouts, such as administrative backdoors, misaligned IAM roles, or internal services exempted from authentication. These are invisible to traditional pentesting because they require complete path enumeration rather than opportunistic exploitation.

"Zero Trust is a principle. Deterministic testing proves whether you’ve actually achieved it," said the SEAS Research Team.

Deterministic testing also highlights trust chokepoints: systems or credentials that sit on multiple potential paths. Hardening or isolating these nodes can collapse entire lateral movement routes, dramatically strengthening Zero Trust effectiveness without large-scale redesign.

Because deterministic models are repeatable, organizations can re-run them after configuration changes to measure security posture improvements over time. This provides hard evidence to executives and auditors that Zero Trust investments are working as intended.

SEAS and CypSec integrate this validation into CypSec’s risk management platform, enabling security leaders to map, monitor, and continuously improve their Zero Trust deployments based on real attack path data rather than assumptions.

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About SEAS: SEAS Inc. is a Canadian cybersecurity firm specializing in deterministic penetration testing and formal security modeling of complex network environments. For more information, visit seasinc.ca.

About CypSec: CypSec delivers risk management, access governance, and cybersecurity solutions for enterprise and government environments. Its platform integrates deterministic attack path modeling to support structured risk decisions. For more information, visit cypsec.de.

Media Contact: Daria Fediay, Chief Executive Officer at CypSec - daria.fediay@cypsec.de.