The Zero Trust Architecture Mandate
President Biden’s recent executive directive, mandating “all federal agencies and executive departments [to] transition to a zero trust architecture to bolster defenses against … cyber threats,” demands swift action from your agency. Zero Trust Architecture Mandate. As the landscape of remote work and cloud-based assets continues to evolve, traditional IT security strategies like VPNs and firewalls are proving less effective and increasingly perilous. These strategies, relying on perimeter defense, are becoming inefficient for organizations confronting diverse cyber threats. With remote work at its pinnacle and assets predominantly in the cloud, the demand for secure remote access to applications, data, and services has surged. Conventional security measures may no longer suffice in thwarting increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. The paradigm shift in government cybersecurity is evident; perimeter defense is no longer adequate. The surge in hybrid working environments among government employees and inter-agency collaborations introduces new cybersecurity challenges and risks. The escalating frequency, cost, and impact of cyberthreat actions necessitate a robust cybersecurity posture. Cybercriminals, now targeting smaller agencies, underscore the urgency for enhanced network security and more effective remote access solutions than legacy VPNs. Enter zero trust architecture. For government agencies embarking on the zero trust journey, unwinding legacy security processes poses challenges but promises substantial benefits. To initiate this transformation, agencies should consider the following steps: Engage your IT team in a conversation about zero trust architecture: Recognize the importance of zero trust architecture—right now: Develop a checklist of questions to map your zero trust architecture: Educate your organization about the importance of data security: Emphasize the significance of data security, particularly in the context of multifactor authentication (MFA), a crucial component of zero trust architecture. Mitigate “security fatigue” among employees by ensuring a clear understanding of data security policies and the rationale behind them. Consider moving to a Zero Trust tool like Salesforce. Salesforce CRM is one of foremost cloud services today, delivered with a comprehensive security and compliance approach, and via platform which incorporates a number of Zero Trust best practices. On the Salesforce corporation side, Zero Trust helps us all become better protected against advanced persistent threats, nation-state actors, or other attacks, so that we are all more resilient. And as a product to customers, you should have comfort knowing that your data is better protected. The benefits that Zero Trust brings to our organization are the same benefits it brings to our customers. Salesforce also has introduced Salesforce Shield. Salesforce Shield allows you to encrypt your Salesforce data with AES 256-bit encryption at the field-level, as well as manage your own encryption keys. Key takeaways of platform encryption include: AES 256-bit: The highest level of encryption available within Salesforce. Zero Trust Architecture Mandate Executive order May 12, 2021 Content updated November 2023. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more
