ZERO TRUST


PROTECTING THE RESOURCES


Zero trust is a cybersecurity concept that never takes for granted that what’s behind the fire wall belongs there. (Image by Getty Images)


ZERO TRUST by Ron Lee


T 26


The Army is moving forward aggressively to implement changes that upend the assumption that everything behind a firewall is safe.


he Army calls its unified network plan multidomain operations. It is the ability to operate, compete and, if necessary, fight and win in all domains, which include air, land, sea, space, and the everchanging


and dynamic arena of cyberspace. Te Army must be ready to address the evolving operational threat environment to transform its capabilities to fight and win in the multidomain operational battlespace. A key component to this lies within transforming the Army’s digital environment as laid out in the Army Digital Transformation Strategy.


Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth signed Te Army Digital Transformation Strategy in October 2021. Te strategy establishes the vision and strategic guidance to transform digi- tal technologies and build the workforce required to achieve the overall Army mission. Tere are three primary objectives:


• A digitally enabled, data-driven Army propelled by digi- tal transformation.


• Organized and mission-aligned digital investments providing greater value to the Army.


• A tech savvy, operationally effective workforce partnered with a robust network of allies, industry and academia.


Army AL&T Magazine Winter 2023


ZERO TRUST ENVIRONMENT Tese objectives are leading the Army toward a zero trust envi- ronment. Zero trust (ZT) is the term for an evolving set of cybersecurity paradigms focused more on data and resources. ZT does not assume anything. It leverages “attributes” to determine access to resources, i.e., user, location, device, etc. Christopher Joseph, division chief of the Policy and Risk Governance Divi- sion in the Office of the U.S. Army Chief Information Officer, said that a key pillar of the ZT initiative is to prioritize protect- ing data, not just networks and servers like in the past.


“Te overall purpose is to improve our cybersecurity posture to ensure Army data and systems are available to the warfighter,” Joseph said. “We must do better. Te enemy adapts extremely fast in this dynamic technology environment. We have to take it to the next level, and ZT allows us to do that.”


Zero trust is not a single, plug-and-play security solution or some- thing that can be simply purchased off the shelf, according to Joseph. “Tis new architecture must be carefully phased in and integrated with existing capabilities to avoid disruptions while achieving the goal of improved security.”


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