Data is the lifeblood of any organization. With workers now accessing data from a range of devices and locations—from Federal agencies to Starbucks—the traditional perimeter has been rendered obsolete and the risk of data breaches has grown. As federal agencies adapt to this new threat landscape, they need to secure access for their now-distributed workforce and provide data protection. That can’t be done without a data-first approach to Zero Trust architecture.
The Department of Defense breaks Zero Trust into seven pillars, each of which is a key focus area for implementation of Zero Trust controls. The first five pillars are users, devices, networks, applications, and data. As seen below, the last two pillars build on the first five.
With regard to data, federal agencies must have a comprehensive data management strategy (i.e. encrypting data at rest and in transit) as well as data loss prevention (monitoring, analysis, and control of data whether in use, in transit, or at rest) strategies in place. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools are endpoint protection systems that watch what a user does when they interact with data. But as the existence of other pillars suggests, a true Zero Trust approach doesn’t stop there.
