Naomi Cooper
Melissa Palmer, president of HashiCorp Federal, said the Department of Defense’s transition toward a multi-cloud environment under the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract would require a shift in the Pentagon’s security approach to ensure a successful adoption.
“To create a secure multi-cloud environment, DOD needs to adopt a proven framework for provisioning, security, networking and application deployment. Standardized workflows at each layer of the stack will ensure rapid authorization to operate,” Palmer wrote in an opinion article C4ISRNET published Thursday.
Palmer noted the importance of advancing zero trust capabilities to reduce the multi-cloud environment’s attack surface by restricting access to authorized users only.
“The Pentagon is still making progress in its zero trust journey, moving towards the goalpost of a FY2027 deadline,” Palmer said.
DOD would also require a more skilled cybersecurity workforce to continue making progress on its multi-cloud adoption effort.
The U.S. military must continue to train its personnel and hire new workers who are efficiently skilled to support the transition.