Ep. 289 How Microsegmentation and Zero Trust Protect Federal Data from Modern Threats

Connect to John Gilroy on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-gilroy/

Want to listen to other episodes? www.Federaltechpodcast.com

It is rare to see AI applied to federal cybersecurity mandates.

However, today, we will sit down with Louis Echenbaum from Color Tokens. He will unpack the concept of using AI to help federal leaders improve their ability to implement microsegmentation.

We all know about Executive Order 14028 and the OMNB Memo M-22-09, which are forcing federal agencies to deploy a robust Zero Trust framework. The key components include identity and access management, asset management, continuous monitoring, and micro segmentation.

During the interview, Louis Echenbaum expands on current challenges like legacy systems and visibility. For example, what happens once a malicious actor breaches a federal system? Some call this east-west traffic.

The general response is to prioritize and segment data so the intruder is denied access.

This concept looks good on paper, but in the real world, leaders encounter some issues. First, how can they know exactly what is on their network? This is perplexing in environments where endpoints are in areas that cannot be upgraded.

Further, the move to a hybrid cloud offers varying levels of data segmentation. One system administrator may be competent with a specific cloud service provider but does not know all the details of another company. This skills gap can lead to coverage gaps and opportunities for attack.

The solution Echenbaum suggests is to leverage AI to improve visibility and give leaders ways to prioritize datasets into appropriate microsegments.