In October, John Sahlin, vice president, Cyber Solutions, General Dynamic Information Technology (GDIT), Falls Church, Virginia, spent time with the chapter sharing his thoughts on the prerequisites for successful zero-trust implementation in the federal government. During his discussion, Sahlin revealed five truths about zero trust. First, it is not a product despite many software vendors trying to sell their zero-trust wares as the solution. It is "an evolving set of cybersecurity paradigms that move defenses from static, network-based perimeters to focus on users, assets and resource."
Second, the best practices aren't new, but the technology is. It entails cyber teams and adhering to security best practices.
Third, saying you have a mandate is the worst reason to move to zero trust. It's important because the challenge faced is cyber adversaries are evolving. For instance, it takes just under 19 minutes on the average to commit a breach, and over 43% of breaches are insider threats.
Fourth, zero trust is a journey, so you have to plan accordingly. For example, consider the appropriate suite of tools for your organization; how well-trained and experienced you are; whether you know how to use the tools; and whether you need a guide. An organization cannot simply buy new tools and do zero trust. There is maturity in evolution-it is more than just technology.
Fifth, the seven pillars model is not ideal for operationalizing zero trust. It's very complex and involved. Capabilities need to be broken out into activities. Once this is done, an organization has a much more definitive path to execution.
Sahlin emphasized the utility of developing use cases. He said use cases make zero trust real. Sahlin covered GDIT's zero-trust architecture experiences/lessons learned and concluded by pointing out that zero trust is not a good way to lock down data, but it is a better way to share data.
Also in October, the chapter partnered with Federal Direct Access Expositions to conduct the exposition at the Warhawk Community Center, Bellevue, Nebraska. The expo had over 225 registered attendees and featured 43 different companies: 16th AF Magic/55th Operations Group Training, Offutt Air Force Base Nebraska; AFCEA Greater Omaha Chapter, Bellevue, Nebraska; AFL, Duncan, South Carolina; All Points, Merritt Island, Florida; Allegion Government, Carmel, Indiana; American Systems, Chantilly, Virginia; Applied Research Associates, Albuquerque, New Mexico; AVI-SPL, Tampa, Florida; BMC Software, Santa Clara, California; CIS Secure, Dulles, Virginia; Cohesity, San Jose, California; Corning, Corning, New York; Crestron Electronics, Rockleigh, New Jersey; CRFS, Chantilly, Virginia; Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, Ashburn, Virgina; David Clark Company, Worcester, Massachusetts; GDIT, Falls Church, Virginia; General Dynamics Mission Systems, Fairfax, Virginia; GoEngineer, Midvale, Utah; Great Lakes Case and Cabinet, Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Spring, Texas; Inotek, Omaha, Nebraska; Lantronix, Cranbury, New Jersey; Lexmark, Lexington, Kentucky; Logistics365 Inc., Norfolk, Nebraska;M2 Technology, San Antonio, Texas; Mvation Worldwide, Glen Cove, New York; Nebraska Air National Guard, Lincoln Nebraska; Norseman Defense Technologies, Elkridge, Maryland; Owl Cyber Defense, Columbia, Massachusetts; Planar Systems, Hillsboro, Oregon; Plug-In Storage, West Haven, Connecticut; Rubrik, Palo Alto, California; SD3 IT, The Villages, Florida; Security Engineered Machinery; Shyft Solutions, Omaha, Nebraska; Spectro Cloud, San Jose, California; Sterling, North Sioux City, South Dakota; The Intellekt Group, San Antonio, Texas; T-Mobile, Bellevue, Washington; VAST Data Federal, Vienna, Virginia; Vertiv, Columbus, Ohio; VMWare, Palo Alto, California; and World Wide Technology, Maryland Heights, Missouri. The Expo has been coincident with the chapter's October luncheon for the past several years. The pairing of the two events has resulted in a tremendous success for both activities. |
