Implementing Zero Trust with BeyondCorp

Overview

Google BeyondCorp Enterprise implements the zero trust security model by eliminating the concept of a trusted network perimeter. Instead of relying on VPNs and network location, BeyondCorp authenticates and authorizes every request based on user identity, device posture, and contextual attributes. Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) serves as the enforcement point, intercepting all requests to protected resources and evaluating them against Access Context Manager policies. This skill covers configuring IAP for web applications, defining access levels based on device trust and network attributes, and auditing access policies for compliance.

Prerequisites

• Google Cloud project with BeyondCorp Enterprise license
• IAP API enabled (iap.googleapis.com)
• Access Context Manager API enabled (accesscontextmanager.googleapis.com)
• GCP resources to protect (Compute Engine, App Engine, or GKE services)
• Endpoint Verification deployed on managed devices
• Python 3.9+ with google-cloud-iap library

Steps

Step 1: Enable IAP on Target Resources

Configure Identity-Aware Proxy on Compute Engine, App Engine, or HTTPS load balancer backends.