Zero Trust Security and Multifactor Authentication in Fog Computing Environment

This quantitative correlational research study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the implementation of zero-trust security and multifactor authentication (MFA) in a fog computing environment. Fog computing is an emerging decentralized technology that extends cloud computing capabilities near the user. A fog computing environment helps in faster communication with the internet of things (IoT) devices and reduces data transmission overheads. However, the use of fog computing technology in information technology (IT) organizations is minimal in the United States. Many IT organizations lack trust in fog computing security, and these security issues can compromise high-priority systems within the network. Robust security mechanisms such as zero trust security and MFA are effective in non-perimeter-based systems such as the fog computing environment. This research study used the extended technology acceptance model (TAM) as the theoretical framework to evaluate the relationship between independent variables perceived usability, perceived ease of use, perceived security, perceived reliability, and dependent variable fog computing security adoption in IT. The study conducted a survey and collected samples from 125 IT professionals with experience in cloud/fog computing and zero-trust security. The study’s results suggested that robust security mechanisms are necessary to use fog computing in the IT industry successfully.