Raytheon’s Joe Richard: Agencies Should Deploy Zero-Trust Concepts for Multilayered Cyber Defense

Joe Richard, a mission manager at Raytheon Technologies, has said that organizations should consider investing in cyber resilience capabilities to improve systems’ capacity to withstand sophisticated attacks while preventing data loss and downtimes.

Richard wrote in an opinion piece published Monday on GCN that agencies should implement a data-centric and zero-trust framework that incorporates concepts such as advanced encryption in the software layer.

A zero-trust infrastructure enables agencies to closely control access throughout data lifecycles while false paths and decoys help prevent unauthorized access as well as the removal and reverse-engineering of classified information, he said.

According to Richard, a multilayered cyber defense inventory that includes protective technologies for communications, operating systems and hardware will help agencies remain proactive in preventing emerging cyberattacks.

“Resiliency is built by establishing and extending trust through every layer of an enterprise from the critical hardware infrastructure all the way out to the data on the network,” he said. 

“By integrating tools spanning multiple vantage points on a system, agencies can finally fight through an attack to keep their missions going. With some renovations in the form of cyber resiliency, agencies can ensure a stronger security posture.”