The Department of Defense’s deadline for full zero trust implementation is 2027, and to accomplish this goal, the organization plans to infuse automation into the process of reviewing zero trust plans from its agencies.
There are currently 39 zero trust plans in the works, and updates are due each October. According to Randy Resnick, director of the Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office within the DOD’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, the previous review process was very labor intensive, and repeating it is “untenable.”
Join us at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Cyber Summit on June 6 to hear Resnick, a 2024 Wash100 awardee, speak during a panel discussion on cyber risks within supply chains. During the event, he will gather with numerous other cyber leaders from both government and industry who will share their insights on the current issues the public sector faces as it dives further into the cyber domain. To learn more and register to attend the event, click here.
While the concept of zero trust has gained popularity, so has artificial intelligence, and these technologies are becoming more accessible for the DOD. Resnick said during the DOD Zero Trust Symposium that using these tools is “where our head is going right now,” Federal News Network reported.
“We need to put it in electronic form where we could actually apply AI tools to actually ask questions and to achieve answers based on the submissions,” he said of the review process, which was last carried out by 35 full-time staff over a four-month period.
These individual plans are a step of the DOD’s Zero Trust Strategy and Roadmap, which was released in November 2022 and contains four key objectives: zero trust cultural adoption, securing and defending DOD information systems, technology acceleration and zero trust enablement.
On a smaller scale, the plan includes 91 specific activities within the target level – the minimum required zero trust capability standard – and 61 within the advanced level.
The strategy also established Resnick’s office.
David McKeown, senior information security officer and deputy CIO for cybersecurity at the DOD, said shortly after it was announced that the strategy defines zero trust outcomes for both the technological and cultural elements of its adoption.
McKeown, a 2023 Wash100 winner, will also speak at the 2024 Cyber Summit. He will deliver the opening keynote address.
To hear more insights from Resnick and McKeown, register for the 2024 Cyber Summit here.
