The Pentagon's Zero Trust Push Goes Beyond the Desktop

The DoD has secured users and devices. Now it's turning Zero Trust on weapon systems, industrial controls, and the tactical edge.

By The Defense Desk

The Pentagon is well down its path to implementing Zero Trust principles and architecture for information technology systems related to users and devices — but the harder work is only beginning. [1]

For its next step, the Defense Department will apply those same Zero Trust targets to operational technology such as industrial control systems and Internet of Things devices, along with weapon systems.

[1] Zero Trust coordination across the services — including an understanding of the specific pain points that the various services are experiencing in securing users, devices, and operational technology — is a key focus area of ongoing implementation efforts. [1]

What makes this moment distinctive isn't the ambition — it's the terrain. Extending a trust-nothing architecture into fielded weapons and factory-floor control systems demands a different vocabulary than anything enterprise IT has faced before.

One persistent question: how to measure success. [1]

The architecture is no longer just about who logs in. It's about whether a missile launcher or a power substation can be trusted in the same breath as a laptop.

The Pentagon is well down its path to implementing Zero Trust principles and architecture for information technology systems related to users and devices.Breaking Defense