Jane Edwards
A new study has found that 91 percent of federal cybersecurity leaders say the cybersecurity executive order signed in 2021 has made U.S. critical infrastructure and data safer.
MeriTalk said Thursday it surveyed more than 150 federal cyber decision-makers in March for the Impact Assessment: Cyber EO Year One report and found that 82 percent of respondents say allocating budget resources and personnel to zero trust is critical to national security.
The study also showed that 96 percent of respondents believe that federal strategy for zero trust is somewhat or very helpful. Meanwhile, nearly 70 percent of cyber decision-makers say the three-year window for zero trust implementation under the EO is not realistic.
“Getting to zero trust is not easy. The detail provided in the multi-step guidance from OMB provides a path, but there is no single box you can buy to meet the varied needs of the five zero trust pillars,” said Stephen Kovac, chief compliance officer and head of global government affairs at Zscaler.
“You need multiple solutions from varying vendors that work together with seamless integration to achieve true zero trust – it is a team sport. OMB has done a good job in helping to define those rules, with rule one being to keep users off the network. If they can’t reach you, they can’t breach you,” added Kovac.
The report also showed that respondents cited workforce training and expertise, stronger executive buy-in, detailed direction from agency IT leadership and centers of excellence in the government as the top considerations the government should prioritize to achieve progress in cybersecurity.
The report was underwritten by Zscaler, Amazon Web Services and CrowdStrike.
