Towards Zero Trust Architecture: A Pilot Study on Information Systems Security Readiness amongst Small and Medium Enterprises

[2605.18901] Towards Zero Trust Architecture: A Pilot Study on Information Systems Security Readiness amongst Small and Medium Enterprises Skip to main content Search Submit Donate Log in Computer Science > Cryptography and Security arXiv:2605.18901 (cs) [Submitted on 17 May 2026 ( v1 ), last revised 20 May 2026 (this version, v2)] Title: Towards Zero Trust Architecture: A Pilot Study on Information Systems Security Readiness amongst Small and Medium Enterprises Authors: Yu Deng , Anushia Inthiran View PDF Abstract: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face growing cyber threats but often lack the resources and expertise needed to adopt Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA). This pilot study examines the drivers and barriers shaping SME perceptions of ZTA necessity and proposes an exploratory staged adoption path. Survey data from 64 IT and security professionals in the Asia-Pacific region show that ZTA familiarity and cloud-computing needs are the strongest positive correlates of perceived necessity, whereas accumulated barriers show only a weak negative association. Identity and access management complexity and scalability emerge as the main implementation hurdles. Based on these findings, we propose a three-stage route for SMEs: strengthening identity governance, segmenting high-value assets, and introducing targeted monitoring in line with operational capacity. The study offers early evidence for more realistic Zero Trust transitions in resource-constrained firms. Comments: 16 pages, 2 figures, 8 tables. Accepted at PACIS 2026 Subjects: Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) ; Computers and Society (cs.CY) ACM classes: K.6.5; K.4.1 Cite as: arXiv:2605.18901 [cs.CR] (or arXiv:2605.18901v2 [cs.CR] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.18901 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite Journal reference: PACIS 2026 Proceedings. 10 Submission history From: Yu Deng [ view email ] [v1] Sun, 17 May 2026 13:02:21 UTC (505 KB) [v2] Wed, 20 May 2026 10:08:14 UTC (505 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View PDF view license Additional Features Audio Summary Current browse context: cs.CR < prev | next > new | recent | 2026-05 Change to browse by: cs cs.CY References & Citations SciX Google Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer ( What is the Explorer? ) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers ( What is Connected Papers? ) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps ( What is Litmaps? ) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations ( What are Smart Citations? ) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv ( What is alphaXiv? ) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers ( What is CatalyzeX? ) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub ( What is DagsHub? ) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub ( What is GotitPub? ) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face ( What is Huggingface? ) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast ( What is ScienceCast? ) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate ( What is Replicate? ) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces ( What is Spaces? ) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI ( What is TXYZ.AI? ) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower ( What are Influence Flowers? ) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender ( What is CORE? ) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs . Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax ( What is MathJax? ) We gratefully acknowledge support from our major funders , member institutions , and all contributors. About · Help · Contact · Subscribe · Copyright · Privacy · Accessibility · Operational Status (opens in new tab)

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