Gary Barlet: Cyber Resilience Improvements Reflect Zero Trust, Cyber Investment ROI

Illumio’s federal chief technology officer said in a commentary for Federal News Network that cyber resilience improvements will determine if the U.S. government’s national cybersecurity strategy is generating a return on investment.

Gary Barlet, a Potomac Officers Club member, shared that the U.S. government’s collective cyber resilience will grow if federal agencies see ROIs in their zero trust strategies.

He added that to properly implement zero trust, government agencies need to grasp cybersecurity basics like vulnerability identification and patching, make small yet necessary steps like establishing dynamic network rules and maintaining visibility across networks, and implement cultural change where operators assume that breaches are imminent, Federal News Network reported.

Department of Defense officials have also shared their thoughts on improving zero trust over recent months.

Defense Intelligence Agency Chief Information Officer Doug Cossa said during POC’s 9th Annual Intelligence Summit in September that breakdowns amid zero trust implementation are a good sign because they prove that devices do not meet the agency’s “comply-to-connect” scheme. According to Cossa, non-connection instances prove that zero trust is working, and it gives IT professionals opportunities to comply with the scheme.