In an era of escalating digital threats, the Pentagon reassures that its adoption of the zero trust cybersecurity framework is firmly on schedule for completion by 2027.
David McKeown, the Deputy Chief Information Officer and Senior Information Security Officer at the Department of Defense (DOD), shed light on the diligent efforts underway to ensure a seamless rollout of the initiative. The Zero Trust Strategy and Roadmap, published last November, outlines the framework.
Partnerships with the private sector play a pivotal role in achieving the objectives of the roadmap, McKeown stated. “We’ve been partnering very heavily with commercial cloud providers,” he said, detailing how they’re working to realize the 91 capabilities to reach the target of zero trust.
Upon full implementation, the Zero Trust Cybersecurity framework will propel the DOD beyond conventional network security measures. The novel approach promises to curtail exposure to cyberattacks, facilitate risk management and data sharing, and swiftly contain and remediate hostile activities.
The roadmap enumerates four overarching goals: cultural adoption, securing and defending DOD information systems, accelerating technology, and enabling zero trust. It’s an “ambitious undertaking,” as McKeown characterized it during the strategy’s unveiling.
Driving the initiative is Randy Resnick, Director of the Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office. “He is leading the charge… and deploying zero trust across the DOD,” McKeown confirmed, praising Resnick’s efforts in coordinating with various services and agencies.
The DOD’s progress in executing the zero trust framework was showcased at the Government Executive 2023 Cyber Summit in Washington.
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