ompany A is a global company based in the United States that operates in the financial industry. Company A serves its customers with financial products, such as checking accounts, bank cards, and investment products. Company A has recently acquired Company B and needs to integrate with or remove similar capabilities and tools from Company B$.$ Company B is smaller in size, has no dedicated cybersecurity professional role, and utilizes third$-$party support for infrastructure needs. Company B offers specialized software to medical providers and accepts credit cards as a payment option.

The executives of the newly merged company have expressed interest in integrating the use of the cloud to allow for scalability and redundancy. As the security professional of the merged networks, you are tasked with creating a secure network design that includes the use of zero trust principles and that utilizes both on$-$premises and cloud infrastructure. You also have been tasked with ensuring compliance with all regulatory requirements of the merged company, along with utilizing cloud$-$based technologies to provide security capabilities. Company executives have provided a budget of $$50,000$ in the first year to create a secure network design to utilize cloud$-$based services.