Electrosoft CEO Dr. Sarbari Gupta was quoted in a recent AFCEA SIGNAL Magazine article by Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence, USA (Ret.), the president and CEO of AFCEA International. Lawrence’s “President's Commentary: A Programmatic Approach to Zero-Trust Nirvana” article reflects on the progress and next steps related to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum, M-22-09, issued in January 2022.
M-22-09 was a “call to action” for the adoption of zero-trust cybersecurity principles and capabilities to protect our nation’s critical data. Lt. Gen. Lawrence finds the progress “impressive,” highlighting strategies and guidance from the Department of Defense, National Security Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – as well as a rapidly expanding portfolio of solutions from industry.
In the article, Lt. Gen. Lawrence also acknowledges, “But zero trust is nirvana, as Sarbari Gupta, a member of AFCEA’s Zero Trust Strategies Subcommittee, puts it. It is the ultimate goal, the transcendent state.”
Lt. Gen. Lawrence suggests, “Struggling organizations might consider a Program Management 101 approach. Begin with a high-level strategy, identify which sectors need to be involved, designate leaders across the organization, assign specific responsibilities and empower those leaders to plan and implement the next steps needed within their respective domains.”
In an earlier SIGNAL Magazine article, Dr. Gupta outlined such an approach, urging agencies to “Conduct an inventory of current IT resources, end entities and business processes. Why? Because such an effort will help agencies identify and prioritize the risks they can address through zero-trust principles and, more specifically, the M-22-09 ZT actions.”
Lt. Gen. Lawrence and Dr. Gupta agree that achieving cybersecurity “nirvana” is a multi-year journey that starts with small, achievable tasks such as inventorying assets and creating a strategic roadmap.
Read the full Lt. Gen. Lawrence article on AFCEA’s website here.
Or download a PDF of Dr. Gupta’s SIGNAL Magazine “Meet the Challenge of Achieving Zero Trust” article.