Harnessing Automation to Reach Zero Trust Goals

All federal agencies are working to meet the Office of Management and Budget mandate to establish a zero trust architecture for their systems – a key element in improving cybersecurity across agencies.

The National Security Agency (NSA) has laid out the seven pillars of Zero Trust: User, Device, Network & Environment, Application & Workload, Data, Automation & Orchestration, and Visibility & Analytics. In July the agency released its final report on the automation and orchestration pillar, stating that “organizations should employ automation and orchestration methods to address repetitive, labor intensive, and predictable tasks for critical functions and access control.”

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the kinds of tasks most suited to using automation and orchestration, such as labor-intensive or repetitive work
• Outline the use of analytics and algorithms, including machine learning and AI, to streamline operations and enhance outcomes
• Review the integration of automated tasks in meeting cybersecurity requirements and challenges
• Evaluate ways to use automation to address workforce challenges, such as budget constraints and workload sizes